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Oil platforms evacuated in North Sea due to drifting barge | Oil platforms evacuated in North Sea due to drifting barge |
(about 3 hours later) | |
STOCKHOLM — Norwegian rescuers say a potential disaster was narrowly avoided Thursday as an unmanned barge drifted past a North Sea oil field where it had been at risk of colliding with offshore platforms. | |
BP had evacuated 150 people from installations in the Valhall field as the barge owned by Eide Marine drifted into Norwegian waters. | |
It had been under tow in the Dutch sector further south when it broke loose in a storm on Wednesday, said Anders Bang Andersen, a spokesman for Norway’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center. | |
He said the barge drifted past the Valhall field at a distance of about 1.8 kilometers (1.2 miles), avoiding what could have been a disastrous collision with an oil rig. | |
“The barge is unusually tall, more than three stories,” Bang Andersen said. “It’s still adrift but there is no immediate danger for a collision with other installations in the North Sea.” | |
He said weather conditions were still challenging with winds of 65 kilometers per hour (40 mph) and an average wave height of 4 meters (13 feet). | |
BP spokesman Jan-Erik Geirmo said earlier Thursday that the evacuees were taken to other oil fields, and that 85 people remained on platforms in the Valhall area. | |
On Wednesday, Norway’s Statoil said one worker was killed and two were injured when a big wave slammed into a drilling rig in the Troll field, also in the North Sea. Most workers were evacuated from the rig as it headed to shore under its own power. | |
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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