Gas company One-Dyas has run into more legal trouble with its plans to drill for gas off the coast of the Wadden Sea islands of Schiermonnikoog and Borkum, this time in Germany.

Judges in Oldenberg have ruled that the electricity cable the company planned to run to the rig would harm marine life near the German Wadden island of Borkum, including reefs. The case was brought by German environmental organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), German media reported.

The court’s decision is a preliminary one and a final ruling will come at a later date but until then, no drilling can take place.

The delay is one of many for One-Dyas which was told to stop its preparations for drilling in April because it had not convincingly shown a Dutch court how it would tackle CO2 emissions. That decision was overturned in May when the company adapted its CO2 strategy.

In June, the Dutch Council of State imposed another delay following a protest by environmental organisations but One-Dyas was ultimately granted permission to continue to prepare for drilling pending a final ruling.

One-Dyas said the court’s decision is “bad news for the security of supply, the economy and the climate”.