Huge oil rig runs aground in Scotland.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

[Ford_Prefect]

1. 17,000-ton drilling platform blown ashore during a storm off of Scotland. Oops!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/08/uk-coastguard-and-salvage-experts-draft-plan-to-refloat-oil-rig

Oil rig runs aground in storm off Western Isles of Scotland. source: The Guardian

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The Transocean Winner, which has 280 tonnes of diesel onboard, ran aground on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis early on Monday morning as it was being towed from Norway to Malta. No one was onboard when the rig’s tow line snapped in heavy seas.

The beach at Dalmore, near Carloway, where the rig is ashore has been closed for safety reasons. A known beauty spot, Dalmore is highly regarded among surfers.

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The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has launched an investigation into the incident, which has reignited the long-running row over the UK government’s decision in 2012 to withdraw emergency tug cover from the west coast.

The only emergency tug available for the north and west of Scotland, the MCA’s vessel Herakles, has been sent to the scene from Orkney.

Alasdair Allan, the local Scottish National party MSP and a Scottish government minister, said he was grateful no one had been hurt but added: “It does leave us with a significant environmental threat to deal with.

“I am also deeply concerned to hear that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s nearest emergency towing vessel was in the region of 14 hours away.”

[forest444]

2. How awful. That thing must have been there since the North Sea boom of the late 1970s.

Not to make light; but this reminds me of a old Doctor Who episode filmed around that time. 'The Terror of the Zygons', I believe it was (with Tom Baker as the Doctor, no less!).

As I recall, the premise of the adventure was that a deep-sea monster had declared war on all the oil rigs being put up off the coast of Scotland at the time. It had a bit of an environmentalist message, you could say.

[Ford_Prefect]

3. It was launched in 1983 and upgraded/refitted in 2006. It appears the towline severed in the storm.

http://www.deepwater.com/Documents/RigSpecs/Transocean%20Winner.pdf