Officials have said that cleanup of the BP oil spill was disrupted as Alex, now a tropical storm, crossed the Gulf of Mexico hundreds of miles from the recovery effort.

CNN has reported that U. S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft said Coast Guard officials would conduct a survey by air to assess Alex's impact on Thursday.

National Incident Commander Thad Allen said, speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, swells generated by Alex forced a delay in bringing a third production vessel, the Helix Producer, into the operation. He also said that once the vessel is online, the cleanup operation should be able to capture up to 53,000 barrels of oil per day.

He further said, "We will need about three days after the weather calms … for that vessel to be able to hook up to the flexible coupling that it will be required to do. So we're looking at somewhere around mid-week next week to bring the third production vessel online."

Crews recovered 23,000 barrels on Wednesday, Allen further said.

Allen also said that the oil skimming and recovery operation on and near the shore "has been significantly hampered by the weather."

He further added, "The small vessels that do the skimming have a difficult time operating out there; we had to pull them back. The same with the vessels operating in and around the well site itself." (With Inputs from Agencies)