Transocean Drilling Rig Refloated After Running Aground

   By Selina Williams 
 

LONDON-A Transocean Ltd. drilling rig that ran aground in Scotland two weeks ago was successfully refloated late Monday, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The drilling rig was stabilized before resuming its journey to Malta.

The 17,000-metric-ton rig, known as the Transocean Winner, was being towed to Malta from Norway when rough weather cut it adrift from a tugboat. It ran aground near the town of Carloway on the western side of the Isle of Lewis in northwestern Scotland, authorities said. No one was injured.

Transocean, a Switzerland-based company that provides offshore drilling services, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Transocean was the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and triggering the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency said Aug. 11 that inspectors conducting an aerial survey didn't detect any signs of an oil spill from the Transocean Winner near the rig or on the rocks in the surrounding area.

Previously, the agency had said that two fuel tanks, which contained at most 53 tons of diesel, had cracked on the rig.

Write to Selina Williams at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 23, 2016 05:39 ET (09:39 GMT)

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