Thrill-seekers trespass on abandoned oil rigs – then post their exploits online
POLICE are hunting a pair of trespassing thrill-seekers who spent two days climbing abandoned oil rigs.
The ‘urban explorers’ filmed themselves taking a motorboat to platforms anchored around half a mile off shore in the Cromarty Firth before clambering up the towering structures and entering crew buildings.
In the video they light a barbecue they have brought along on one of the oil rigs before bedding down to spend the night on board.
It appears that the men – named as Bob and Andy in the footage – spent time on two separate rigs anchored in the firth, coming across gym equipment, a workers’ canteen and specialist safety equipment during their short stays.
They also climb the derrick of one of the rigs – about 160ft high – and filmed their exploration from above with a drone.
US-based Diamond Offshore has confirmed that one of the platforms scaled was its mothballed rig the Ocean Princess, and said the matter was now in the hands of the authorities.
The second rig is reported to be the GSF Monarch, although owner Borr Drilling could not be reached to confirm that fact.
The 20-minute video, which appeared on a YouTube channel called Exploring the Unbeaten Path, has since been deleted. The channel documents ‘explorers’ as they travel across the world ‘to see the most amazing abandoned buildings’.
Police have asked for help identifying the two men. The pair have also been condemned by safety campaigners who say they endangered not only their own lives but potentially those of the emergency services who would have been dutybound to help them if they were injured.
A spokesman for Aberdeen-based oil and gas safety group Step Change and Safety said: ‘Obviously they have breached a number of lifesaving rules such as working at height and not wearing appropriate personal protective equipment.’
A police spokesman said: ‘Police Scotland is working to identify the individuals involved.’
The administrators of the Exploring the Unbeaten Path channel did not respond to a request for comment.