Norwegian firm Offshore Heavy Transport (OHT) has been contracted to transport the Transocean Winner drilling rig to Turkey using a semisubmersible heavy lift vessel.
It is expected that the rig will be floated onto the semisubmersible heavy lift vessel OHT HAWK, which is scheduled to arrive in Broad Bay late September.
The rig had grounded at Dalmore Bay on the Isle of Lewis, off the Scottish mainland, early on Monday 8 August, after parting from the tug Alp Forward that was towing it from Stavanger to Malta amid high winds. It was later moved to Broad Bay, on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, where it is connected to eight anchors.
A temporary exclusion zone of 1000m has been established in Broad Bay and will remain in place to minimize any risk to safety for other vessels or crafts using the bay. It will also provide a safe working area for divers and other surface vessels supporting the ongoing salvage operation.
A temporary exclusion zone of 750m also remains in place in Dalmore Bay, and although diving operations remain temporarily suspended due to prevailing weather conditions, it is expected that divers will continue to locate and remove debris offshore in close proximity to where the rig grounded.