Female oil rig worker faces court over ‘hoax’

Feb 11 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

A WOMAN oil rig worker was arrested last night after staff, including many from the North East, were involved in a dramatic evacuation from a platform yesterday after a security alert sparked by a potential bomb threat.

The Safe Scandinavia platform, situated 115 miles north east of Aberdeen had more than 500 people on board, many from this region.

It had earlier been thought the alert had been sparked by a worker who dreamt that a bomb was on board. More than 100 workers were evacuated to nearby platforms before it became clear there was no explosive device on the Safe Scandinavia.

Last night police said a woman oil worker will appear in court after the alleged bomb threat which triggered the evacuation of the rig.

Around 160 workers had been airlifted from an accommodation block attached to a rig in the Britannia fieldbefore it was revealed to be a false alarm.

A 23-year-old woman was taken off the rig for questioning and has been arrested in connection with the incident.

A Grampian Police spokesman said: “The female is expected to appear at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Monday (today) in connection with the matter.”

The 161 workers who were flown to neighbouring platforms returned to the Safe Scandinavia last night.

Police, coastguard and RAF teams were all involved in the major security alert.

Oil company Britannia Operator Limited said normal operations would be restarted as soon as possible.

Managing director Kathy McGill said: “We are very relieved that this has turned out to be a false alarm, but we obviously had to treat it seriously and act appropriately to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our people.”

Jake Molloy, general secretary of the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC), the Union which looks after oil rig workers in the North Sea, had said earlier that he understood the alert was sparked by a worker who had a bad dream. He said: “One of the workers on the platform phoned his wife and told her that a worker had had a dream about a bomb and it seems that a series of Chinese whispers has led to the evacuation. It would be almost impossible to sneak a bomb big enough to do any damage onto the rig. Everything is now back to normal.

“At this stage it is hard to say how many people involved would have been from the North East but I can say with 100% confidence that there will have been some involved. There are lots of workers from the region on platforms in the North Sea.”

The alarm was raised on an accommodation block, known as a ‘flotel’, which is attached by a bridge to an oil rig in the Britannia field.Fourteen helicopters, including five from the RAF, airlifted 161 of the 539 workers from the rig before the alert was lifted.

The accommodation block was evacuated and the workers moved across the bridge on to the rig after the alarm was raised.

In a statement, Britannia Operator Ltd, which owns and operates the rig, said the evacuation occurred “following allegations by a worker on the Safe Scandinavia that there was a possible suspicious device on the flotel. A thorough search of the Safe Scandinavia has revealed nothing suspicious and it has now been deemed safe for workers to return to normal operations.”

According to reports last night, the woman was sedated on her return to shore.

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