No forecast of storm which caught oil rig, inquiry told
21 November 2016
Weather and sea conditions deteriorated rapidly when the Transocean Winner oil rig was being towed down the west coast of Lewis in August, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
The weather was worst than forecast when the tug, MV Alp Forward, got into severe trouble while towing the 17,6000 tonne structure from Norway to Malta, MPs were told.
The UK Parliament’s transport committee is holding an inquiry into the grounding of the oil rig in Dalmore, Lewis, on 8 August.
The MCA coastguard emergency towing vessel was despatched from its berth Orkney but
took 18 hours -
Sea conditions in the area were “phenomenal,” said Sir Alan Massey, chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
Mr Massey highlighted it is “very unusual” to experience such a sustained period of wild conditions in summer.
This was a force 10 storm with ten metre high seas when the worst in the area for the past five Augusts was a force eight gale, he said.
This was an "extreme example of a maritime casualty" he stressed.
Leo Leusink, operations chief at towing company, ALP Maritime Services, which operates the MV Alp Forward tug, explained the tow was progressing “really well” and her captain was “confident he would pass Lewis” on Sunday 7 August.
But around 6pm the “wind shifted to the west and later to the north west and then it came back to the coastline. At that stage it was too late.
The tug headed further offshore off Lewis and “suddenly I was informed by the master
-
Nothing could be done he added as the drifting platform was too close to shore and darkness fell within two hours.
