in caves near the old HMS Malabar is set to begin in a matter of weeks, Governor Thorold Masefield pledged yesterday.

He said: "The company will start mobilising equipment and getting that here quite soon with a view to starting next month -- later maybe than earlier, but it will get underway.'' Mr. Masefield was speaking as he toured the cave site at Dockyard where waste oil from Royal Navy ships was pumped for decades.

The contaminated cave system extends under the old Casemates Prison up as far as its replacement Westgate.

The oil sludge -- some perhaps as old as the turn of the century -- was discovered in 1995 by a consultant hired to do an environmental study of the Navy base just prior to its closure.

Beyond a roped-off section where a wall was broken down by the consulting firm, the cave floor is thick with black sludge and there is a strong smell of oil.

The UK Ministry of Defence, on behalf of the Royal Navy, will pay for the clean-up.

The work, to be carried out by specialists ERM of Cambridge, England, will begin with clearing out the free oil.

Pumps will then be used to draw up water mixed with oil. The oil will be stored in tanks then probably transported to the US for disposal.

Shell Bermuda general manager Bob Stewart, who toured the dump site with the new Governor, said his firm were on site and were prepared to assist with the clean-up.

He said: "We have had a long relationship with the Royal Navy and a very harmonious one going back to 1951. We would like to help them and Bermuda get rid of this problem.

"We're here and we have the people on the ground -- otherwise the Ministry of Defence would have to bring people in to watch a slow-motion pump.'' He said preliminary estimates suggested three years' work to remove the sludge.

Mr. Stewart explained: "If we speed the process up, we will bring up a lot of water -- and attempting to pump the ocean dry is a difficult proposition. Once it's set up and operating, it's not labour-intensive, but it is time-consuming.'' He added that there appeared to be no seepage from the caves into the sea, despite the amount of oil involved.

Mr. Stewart said: "It could be as much as one million gallons, but nobody can tell until we actually get into it. The estimate, however, gives some idea of the magnitude of the problem.'' He added that the final cost of the massive oil removal operation was difficult to determine.

Mr. Stewart said engine oil from Bermuda shipped to the US covered the cost of transport because it was used to make bitumen for roads. But he added that the oil at Malabar may be too old and dirty to be commercially viable.

ENVIRONMENT ENV