A few days ago, Scotland’s west coast was hammered by severe weather. That’s not anything new for Scotland, but what happened next is. An oil rig based in the north Atlantic was ripped from the tub that was hauling it, then slammed into the nearest beach.
The rig, that measured in at somewhere around 20,000 tons, had 280 tons of diesel aboard–none of which, but according to early reports, there was no damage to the rig and no spill.
The beach that the rig hit was near Dalmore, and in terms of Scottish waves, had a few pretty decent ones. Authorities shut the whole area down until something could be done, which, as one might imagine, isn’t all that easy.
The rig, operated by Transocean, was on its way to Malta from Norway when the tow line attaching it to the tug snapped. Crew aboard weren’t able to get it reconnected, due to gale force winds and high seas.
