Terror On The North Sea
British authorities are rushing to evacuate two oil platforms off the northern coast of Scotland after a woman claimed to have planted "a device" on one of the platforms. Explosives experts are on alert and the Special Boat Service is reportedly on the way to the rigs.
A full scale security alert has been sparked by a bomb threat on an oil rig off the coast of Scotland and 14 helicopters have been deployed to airlift more than 539 people to safety.
It was believed the security scare was triggered by a woman on board a "floating hotel" next to the rigs, which are 115 miles north-east of Aberdeen, who claimed to have planted a "device".
A Royal Navy bomb disposal unit was reportedly on stand-by and 14 RAF and civilian helicopters have been sent to evacuate the all the staff.
Sources have said that the woman made a verbal bomb threat and was not acting on behalf of any organisation.
The Safe Scandinavia and neighbouring Britannia rig were being emptied of all staff, which could be up to 700 people.
The Special Boat Service was also on the way to the rigs. Based in Poole, Dorset, the SBS is a special forces unit like the SAS and specialises in operations at sea, along coastlines and on river networks.
Bosses on the oil rig called the coastguard on the mainland just before 9.20am and a rapid evacuation plan was put in place.
Sources said 76 of the 539 workers have been evacuated by helicopter.
The alert was sounded on an accommodation platform attached to the Britannia rig by a bridge.
All of the workers escaped across onto the main rig and are now being moved on to helicopters.
The helicopter rescue is being coordinated by a plane flying near the rig.
The RAF Kinloss spokesman said: "We are responding at the request of the coastguard and police to a report of a security incident.
"This is not a fire, escape of gas, anything like that. It's just precautionary measures being put in place."
It would be a very bad place to be should a bomb go off. This is about all the detail I have on this at the moment. No word on the woman's motives as of yet. Only that the woman made remarks that sparked the evacuation.
UPDATE: Reuters is now reporting that no device was found and that personnel are returning to the platforms. The incident is not considered terrorism-related - but I'm sure there were quite a lot of people in terror this morning. it has to be scary as heck to be in that situation.
The operation began after a worker reported a "possible suspicious device" on the platform, the gas field's operator said. Officials later said the scare at the Britannia gas field turned out to be a false alarm.
Safe Scandinavia is a "floating hotel" for around 500 workers, linked by a bridge to the Britannia gas platform, 210 km (130 miles) northeast of the Scottish city of Aberdeen.
"A thorough search…has revealed nothing suspicious and it has now been deemed safe for workers to return to normal operations," Britannia Operator Ltd said in a statement.
"All those involved in the incident are safe and unhurt and the installations are secure," it added.
Production from the Britannia field was shut down as a precaution following the security alert, said Muriel Roberts, a spokeswoman for the operating company.
"We'll be restarting as soon as possible and get back to normal just as soon as we can," she said.
World news | Gaius Sunday, 10 February , 2008
By Alison, Monday, 11 February , 2008 @ 6:04 am
Do you think they might beef up the security a bit more? Geez.