The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Rig moving as gales subside
Weather: Strong winds have delayed work on Transocean Winner
A blighted oil rig was being prepared for its journey out of theWestern Isles yesterday as gales battered the whole of Scotland.
The Met Office, which had a yellow wind warning for the entire country in force until 1pm, recorded a gust of 108mph on the top of Cairn Gorm.
The top wind speed of the day at ground level was 69mph recorded at Fair Isle, Shetland, at 8am.
A recording of 59mph was made on South Uist at 4am. Oli Claydon, Met Office spokesman, said that today the north of Scotland would be colder, with sunny spells and scattered showers.
He added: “There is a different weather system coming into play on Saturday.
“The north of Scotland looks to be having some better weather. There will be colder weather to be had, it will brighten, with some scattered showers.”
After a series of weather related delays, work began yesterday late morning as gales died down to move the Transocean Winner drilling rig from Broad Bay off the east coast of Lewis.
The rig ran aground during a storm in August.
Yesterday work began to remove four of its primary anchors, expected to take 12 hours.
Hugh Shaw, the secretary of state’s representative for maritime salvage and intervention, said: “Our intention all the way along has been to get this operation under way without endangering life or the environment around.
“All the preparation work has been done in anticipation of this moment so that we could be ready when the time comes as it now has.”
Today, carrier shipHawk will begin to submerge ready to receive the rig.
A temporary exclusion zone of 0.6 miles will be put in place until the rig is secured.
A lifeboat crew battled storm-force winds at a notoriously tricky section of water on Wednesday night to rescue a stranded sailor.
The man was stuck in a small boat in Glenelg bay, off the West Highland coast, and unable to reach its attached dinghy to get safely to shore due to high winds and large waves.
He alerted Stornoway Coastguard, which called out the Kyle lifeboat crew amid rough seas on Wednesday night.
The crew had to pass through the Kylerhea narrows, the shortest stretch between Skye and the mainland which is just 1,800ft wide at points, with fast flowing tides.
“It will brighten, with some scattered showers”