Sea conditions force Transocean work to stop temporarily

Increasingly rough conditions at sea have meant the operation to load the Transocean Winner onto the Hawk in Broad Bay, Isle of Lewis, has had to be suspended temporarily.


Although there had been a weather window which would have meant it was possible, the swell has been higher and is now above the agreed safe limits for this operation.

The Hawk and Transocean Winner remain at immediate readiness overnight and should the weather conditions improve, then the operation will resume as planned.

The latest weather forecasts are predicting a further deterioration in wind and sea conditions from Sunday onwards, so unless the operation is resumed by noon tomorrow, then it is likely that the Hawk will be stood down and the Transocean Winner will be put back onto her eight anchors.

Further discussions will be held by Hugh Shaw, Secretary of State’s Representative Maritime Salvage and Intervention with Transocean and Smit Salvage to look at possible other options for resolving the situation. 

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