A damage assessment team from Smit Salvage and Transocean spent 3½ hours yesterday checking the condition of the rig which broke free from its tug towline in stormy seas in the early hours of Monday (UK time).
The rig, carrying 280mt of diesel oil in a number of separate tanks, remains in the same position but the structural integrity of two tanks have found to be have breached.
“It is unclear at this time how much oil from those tanks has been released to the environment,” HM Coastguard said in a statement after adverse weather conditions saw the assessment abandoned yesterday.
The news follows an initinal assessment from UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency rating the risk of pollution was "low".
Additional salvors and technical experts from Transocean as well as new equipment continue to arrive to the incident area to support the operation, HM Coastguard said.
A temporary exclusion zone of 300mtrs remains in force. The tug Union Bear is in the vicinity along with the ETV Herakles to support the operation.
Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State’s representative for maritime and salvage continues to monitor the operations and is maintaining touch with all the key stakeholders, including Transocean, Smit Salvage, the Scottish Environment Group and Western Isles Council.
