Update: Transocean Winner drilling rig, Isle of Lewis

During the past 24 hours, Transocean and SMIT Salvage have continued to plan and prepare for the refloat operation for the Transocean Winner currently grounded at Dalmore Bay.
Yesterday Transocean was asked to use the good weather conditions on scene to take the opportunity to remove non-essential diesel oil and any other potential pollutants from the drilling rig.
It has now been confirmed that 200 tonnes of hydrocarbons, consisting of mainly diesel oil with small amounts of base oil and brine, was successfully transferred from the rig onto the supply vessel Olympic Orion.
No pollution has been reported or observed. The MCA is sending its verification aircraft to overfly the rig and surrounding area. The aircraft is currently in Inverness and is waiting for a higher cloud base on site before the flight can be safely carried out.
Transocean plans to refloat the rig over the high water tomorrow night (Monday 22 August).
The rig will then be towed to Broad Bay, Isle of Lewis and will remain there until it is in a stable and fit condition to be towed or transported to a suitable repair facility.
Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State's Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention said: 'Good progress is being made in this operation. The plans for the refloat are in place Although this is dependent on the Salvage team being able to recover enough buoyancy to enable the rig to refloat safely.'
Picture: Maritime & Coastguard Agency

Popular posts from this blog

Celebrating the first Cospas-Sarsat Global Search and Rescue Day

Image
Today ( 10 September ) i s the first ' Cospas-Sarsat Global Search and Rescue Day' , and HM Coastguard colleagues are joining with t he international maritime and aviation community to c el ebrate the unique role they play in Search and Rescue .      In brief, C ospas-Sarsat is the system that detects and locates emergency beacons activated by aircraft , ships and people engaged in recreational activities in remote areas and then sends these distress alerts to search-and-rescue (SAR) authorities.     It means that if you are in distress anywhere in the world, by using the alert system, it will send your co-ordinate s (location) to the relevant SAR authorities. It’s estimated that over 60,000 lives have been saved worldwide since its inception in 1982.   There are 33 Mission Control Centres (MCCs) across the globe which serve as Ground Stations where distress alerts are received and validated before being transmitted to appropriate Rescue Coord...
Read more

A seriously scary walk in Wales

Image
One April day, Sally  lost her map, her hat and n early her life at L lansteffan .     An inno cent walk along the coast in Wales rapidly turned into something much more sinister for Sally and Clayton . One wrong step onto soft sand set off a chain of events that put Sally in a life-threatening situation . For Clayton , time stood still a s he could only watch the tide threatening to engulf Sally as they waited for their rescuers to arrive.   Fast response Thanks to the fast, life - sa ving decisions at the c oastguard operations centre at Milford Haven and a rapid response from the rescue teams , Sally and Clayton made it safely home after their ordeal last spring . But they both admit it was a shockingly close call and a n experience they never want to live through again.    They know they are incredibly lucky and are sharing their story to encourage anyone visit i ng the coast to always check the tide times , so a nice walk does not tu...
Read more

Rescue of teens trapped and in trouble at Bude

Image
A technical rescue tale of expert teams working together one August night. Two teenagers found themselves in serious trouble on a Saturday night on the rugged coast at Bude in Cornwall (23 August 2025) .  Their afternoon’s adventure had left them in a perilous position after the rising tide came in and trapped them , leaving no way out and creating a challenging rescue scenario for the HM Coastguard teams.     Teams at the scene working together Earlier that day, the two young men had climbed down a cliff below Upper Lynstone Caravan Park in Bude, below which there are narrow stretches of sand and rocks when the tide is out but are completely covered when the tide comes in . The pair were caught out by the tide and as they tried to climb back up the unstable, stony cliff to get away from the pounding waves , one slipped and both became trapped. To make matters worse, darkness fell and there was no-one in sight.   Luckily they had a mobile phone and cal...
Read more