HOUSTON, (Reuters) – BP Plc said yesterday it  had begun reinstalling a critical containment cap over the  gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Operations have now begun to reinstall the cap,” the  London-based energy company said in a statement.

A live video feed of the seabed procedure showed the  containment cap lowered onto the geyser-like crude oil  billowing from the top of failed blowout preventer equipment.

Positioning the cap “may take some time,” BP said, and the  system should begin collecting oil again once it is in place. BP shut down the system yesterday morning when a remote  controlled undersea robot apparently hit the top of the cap,  closing one of three open vents through which oil and gas had  continued to leak, said U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.

The cap system had channeled 16,600 barrels of oil to a  drillship at the water’s surface on Tuesday, its highest  capture rate since it was installed June 3.

Since the cap was removed for safety inspection, oil had  spewed from the leaking well, Allen said. But a second  oil-capture system was operating normally, pulling more than  10,000 barrels a day to the surface and burning it off.

A team of U.S. scientists estimates the leak is gushing up  to 60,000 barrels a day.

Allen also reported the deaths of two workers helping with  the oil spill response. The deaths did not appear work-related  but were under investigation. BP shut down the system when workers thought “some kind of  gas” rose through a line that channels warm water to the cap to  maintain temperature control, Allen said.

BP said both its oil-capture systems had collected or  burned off 27,100 barrels of oil on Tuesday, the highest  capture rate yet.