CREW members on a new drillship are furious after being told they and their families will not be allowed on board when company officials and other guests are given tours of the vessel at Nigg, in Easter Ross.
The Stena Carron, which is owned by Aberdeen-based Stena Drilling and is on hire to global energy company Chevron, is able to drill in up to 10,000ft in harsh environments such as the Norwegian and Barents seas.
The latest Stena Drilling drillship to leave the Samsung Heavy Industries yard in Korea, she is due at Nigg on October 26. Around 160 people are expected to visit the vessel over two days, including company officials from Stena and Chevron.
But a crew member claimed “rig pigs” and their families were not being allowed to join the party, despite a promise that they could.
The exclusion was a “slap in the face for employees”. Many had already promised their wives and children a chance to see “where daddy works”, and their partners had made arrangements for holidays and babysitting.
He added: “To say the personnel on board are disgusted is an understatement.
“The employees left Korea with a sense of pride in the vessel, as it is state of the art, but now many will be handing in their resignations and moving on to competitors.”
He said they were told the company would be unable to accommodate family members because of the projected number of visitors and difficulties in handling tours in conjunction with a planned crew change.
A spokesman for Stena Drilling said the drillship was going to Nigg to refuel and to have equipment fitted. She was expected to be there for only two days. He added: “It was decided that it was not a suitable place to have families visiting because it is a refueling terminal.”
No one at Chevron could be contacted for comment.