Grounded oil rig to be moved on to transport vessel
Work has started on moving a 17,000-tonne oil rig which ran aground on the Western Isles to a massive vessel for transport to Turkey.
Work has started on moving a 17,000-tonne oil rig which ran aground on the Western Isles to a massive vessel for transport to Turkey.
The Transocean Winner landed at Dalmore Bay on Lewis in August after detaching from its tug in stormy weather en route from Norway to Malta.
The rig, which was refloated during high tide after three weeks and anchored at the island's Broad Bay, is now having its anchors raised as the transportation process beings.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said it is expected to take 24 hours to remove all eight anchors, before the structure is floated aboard the semi-submersible heavy lift vessel OHT Hawk.
The Hawk will be weighed down before the rig is moved into position and will then rise out of the water with the rig on board.
A temporary exclusion zone of 1,000m will be in place in Broad Bay during the ballasting process until the rig is secured on the Hawk.
The transfer is expected to take place on Friday.
Counter-pollution measures have been put in place and an MCA surveillance aircraft will scan the area from the air.
Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State's representative for maritime salvage and intervention, said: "Our intention all the way along has been to get this operation under way without endangering life or the environment around.
"All the preparation work has been done in anticipation of this moment so that we could be ready when the time comes, as it now has."
The rig's grounding sparked pollution fears due to the 280 tonnes of diesel on board.
Investigations found two of its four fuel tanks were damaged in the incident which resulted in the loss of 53,000 litres of fuel, most of which is thought to have evaporated with no damage to the environment.
The remaining fuel has been safely removed.