the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety protests against disposal plan. 21 May 1995: Activists removed from Brent Spar by Grampian police and Shell. 10 June 1995: Shell UK begins to tow Spar to deep Atlantic disposal site. 15 June 1995: German chancellor Helmut Kohl protests to British Prime Minister John Major at G7 summit. 14–20 June 1995: Protesters in Germany threaten to damage 200 Shell service stations. 50 are subsequently damaged, two fire-bombed and one raked with bullets. Greenpeace officially distances itself from any violence related to the Brent Spar controversy. 16 June 1995: Greenpeace wrongly asserts that the Brent Spar still contains 5,500 tonnes of scale and crude oil. 26–30 June 1995: Eleven states call for a moratorium on sea disposal of decommissioned offshore installations at meeting of Oslo and Paris Commissions. Opposed by Britain and Norway. 7 July 1995: Norway grants permission to moor Spar in Erfjord while Shell reconsiders options. 12 July 1995: Shell UK commissions independent Norwegian consultancy Det Norske Veritas (DNV) to conduct an audit of Spar's contents and investigate Greenpeace allegations. 5 September 1995: Greenpeace admits inaccurate claims that Spar contains 5,550 tonnes of oil and apologizes to Shell. 18 October 1995 – DNV present results of their audit, endorsing the original Spar inventory. DNV state that the amount of oil claimed by Greenpeace to be in the Spar was "grossly overestimated". 29 January 1998: Shell announces Brent Spar will be disposed of on shore and used as foundations for a new ferry terminal. 23 July 1998: OSPAR member states announce agreement on onshore disposal of oil facilities in the future. February 1999: BBC 9 O'Clock News screens interview with Conservative former environment minister John Selwyn-Gummer in which he accuses Greenpeace campaigners of telling lies and, as a result, causing damage to the whole environmental movement. 10 July 1999: Decommissioning is completed and the first stages of constructing the ferry terminal are started. 25 November 1999: BBC formally apologizes to Greenpeace over screening of Gummer allegations. Helicopter crash On 25 July 1990, a British International Helicopters Sikorsky S-61 registration 'G-BEWL' coming in from Sumburgh Airport crashed onto the platform as the pilots were attempting to land. The Sikorsky fell into the North Sea, where six of the 13 passengers and crew on board died. References Sources Further reading External links Greenpeace History of the Brent Spar Media relating to Brent Spar at BBC