Radioactive ship spurs evacuation of North Sea platform

A ship carrying radioactive waste yesterday lost power and began drifting in the Moray Firth, Scotland, driving evacuation of a nearby oil platform.

According to BBC, 52 workers from the Beatrice oil platform were evacuated last night as a precaution. The drifting ship, MV Parida, which lost power due to a fire outbreak onboard, was around 7 miles from the platform at the time of evacuation, BBC further reported. The fire broke out in one of the vessels funnels and was quickly extinguished.

Scotlands’ Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment, Richard Lochhead said: “Scottish Government Ministers are closely monitoring the on-going marine incident involving the MV Parida in Moray Firth.

“A Scottish Government Resilience meeting has taken place with key partners including Police Scotland and the Maritime Coastguard Agency, which is coordinating an operation to stabilise the vessel and ensure it is safely recovered to harbour.

“Ministers have been briefed and Scottish Government officials are engaging closely with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the UK Government and key partners to ensure appropriate response arrangements are in place.”

 MV Parida

The vessel, carrying radioactive concrete waste, is owned by Denmark’s CombiLift. Built in 1999, MV Parida is strengthened for heavy cargo and equipped to carry containers and dangerous goods.