Drifting Flotel Anchored and Awaiting Tow

The Prosafe flotel Safe Bristolia is holding position on its emergency anchor following a parted tow line some 65 nautical miles east of Scotland, but bad weather continues to interfere with efforts to resume the tow.

An unnamed towing vessel lost the Bristolia in rough weather on January 3 during a transit from Cromarty Firth to Gdansk. The Bristolia was permitted to drift safely for a day, as she was well away from other vessels, shoals or obstructions. The 33 crew aboard at the time of the incident were all accounted for.

The platform reportedly deployed an anchor on the night of January 4, came to a full halt and is said to be holding station.

A Prosafe spokesperson told media that “the vessel has held position for the last 48 hours with an anchor handling vessel in attendance. We are waiting for a break in the weather before re-establishing the main tow.”

The U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency told the BBC that the situation was not immediately hazardous. "There is a tug on scene, with another one on the way, and HM Coastguard carries out hourly position checks. There is no immediate danger to vessels, shipping or the environment,” a spokesperson said. 

The recent foul weather in the North Sea has not been kind to exploration and production installations. The BP Valhall platform had to be evacuated in late December after a runaway barge threatened a collision; ConocoPhillips also pulled crew from rigs in the area. And two were injured and one killed when a heavy wave hit the semi-submersible COSL Innovator as it was under way. The Innovator had already been taken off of its station in the Troll field offshore Norway to lower the risk of an accident from Storm Frank.

Separately, Prosafe announced January 6 that it has reached an agreement to delay a contract start at the Statoil Mariner field offshore U.K. until 2017, and will extend the contract length to 13 months and $130 million in value.