Transocean Winner Refloat Aimed for This Weekend
The drilling rig Transocean Winner could be towed off a beach on the Scottish isle of Lewis this weekend, nearly two weeks after it grounded having lost its towline. The plan put forward by Smit Salvage is to refloat it and then assess the damage before towing it for repairs.
Two towlines have been attached to the rig ready for a tug to pick them up as high tides loom. Compressors will be used to provide buoyancy for the refloat.
The decommissioned rig has already spilt 56,000 litres of diesel, and has many more tons of fuel onboard.
“Preparations continue for the refloat and – weather permitting – it’s hoped that the remaining diesel oil on board will be transferred later today,” the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency stated.
The Secretary of State’s Representative (SOSREP) for Maritime Salvage & Intervention, said: “We appreciate that there remains huge interest in the rig but we’ve put the exclusion zone in place for safety of the salvage team and the public too.”
SOSREP was expected to attend a special meeting to discuss plans for the refloat yesterday evening where there would be a presentation and question and answers session along with Transocean officers and the Western Isles Emergency Planning Coordinating Group.
In the interim, an exercise to test out procedures in case of a fuel spill is to start today at approximately 9 AM.
This will aim to analyse the speed at which equipment can be deployed from Carloway to various locations and is weather and operationally dependent.
Source: Splash 24/7
