A MUCH-DELAYED attempt to bring the biggest vessel ever to sail into the Tyne has been postponed once more.
Just hours before Bonga, a 300,000-tonne floating oil platform, was due to enter the river, the operation was called off.
Hundreds of people were expected to turn out for the spectacle of the giant ship being negotiated the last few miles along the river to the Amec yard at Wallsend, North Tyneside, yesterday.
The Bonga arrived last month after being towed 13,000 miles from South Korea, but bad weather prevented it being brought up the river and it sheltered in Rotterdam.
The vessel will stay on Tyneside for 12 months to undergo a £300m refit before being towed to the Bonga oilfield off Nigeria.
A spokesman for owner Shell said last-minute preparations had not been completed and another attempt to bring the Bonga to Tyneside will be made soon.
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