The Thistle platform in the UK North Sea has been shut down and all 115 workers have been evacuated following an inspection relating to a support element on a redundant subsea storage tank.
EnQuest said it evacuated the Thistle platform, in block 211/18, about 200 kilometers northeast of Shetland, as a precautionary measure on Monday evening.
The company said personnel were transferred to the nearby Dunlin Alpha platform by helicopter.
The UK Coastguard said one of its rescue helicopter based at Sumburgh in Shetland, as well as two other aircraft from Norway, conducted the transfers.
Bob Davenport, Managing Director, North Sea at EnQuest, said, “The safety of our people is our absolute priority. Our offshore installation manager took proactive action to transfer everyone from the platform as a precaution following Monday’s inspection. This was carried out safely and quickly, with plans then made for their onward travel home.”
All 115 people were safely back onshore by Tuesday night, an EnQuest spokesperson said.
Davenport said, “Further inspection work will be conducted and the platform will remain shutdown until that has concluded and any necessary remedial action undertaken.”