Oil rig removal

Work is underway to remove the stricken the Transocean Winner rig from Broad Bay.

A series of gales delayed the start of the operation until Thursday.

Over the next couple of days the stricken rig will be transferred onto the deck of a heavy lift ship to be eventually transported as cargo to a scrapyard in Turkey.

The 17,600 tonne structure - which ran aground on the west side of Lewis nearly two months ago - is still secured to eight anchors.

Hitching a ride on a heavy lift ship is deemed the safest option by salvors.

The semi-submersible vessel, the Hawk, has been chartered and is waiting in position in Broad Bay.

The semi-submersible vessel, Hawk, is waiting in Broad Bay to be ballasted with seawater which will weigh her down so her main deck is about 10 metres below the surface.

The plan is to attached the rig to a number of small tugs which will slowly pull her over the Hawk’s 55 metre wide deck.

When in the correct position, the ship - and her towering cargo - will slowly rise out of the water.

The first stage of the operation to raise half of the rig's eight anchors and secure it to a number of tugs will take 12 hours over today.

The four secondary anchors will also be removed, also a 12 hour operation, leaving the rig attached to tugs.

Overnight into Friday, the Hawk will begin to ballast down – which means it will be semi submerged in the sea.

A temporary exclusion zone of 1000m will be put in place during the ballasting process on the Hawk until such time the rig is secured.

The plan is to tow the rig across to the Hawk on Friday afternoon or evening, weather permitting.

The Hawk will raise out of the water with the rig on deck on Saturday, it is planned.

Pollution counter measures are in place and an MCA surveillance aircraft will overfly the area during this operation.

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."

Following the loading, the Hawk plans to steam to an anchorage outside Stornoway where welders will fasten the rig to the deck of the ship to ensure it does not fall off on the trip to Turkey.

Oil rig removal operation gets started

29 September 2016