AN OFFSHORE firm has called in specialist cleaners after bed bugs were found on a North Sea accommodation barge, it emerged last night.
Workers on the Safe Bristolia flotel, which provides accommodation for the Conoco-Phillips-owned Brittania platform, complained to bosses about the parasites last week.
The flotel sits 170 miles north-east of Aberdeen, in the Britannia field, and is understood to have been brought in from Singapore last month.
Experts say the bugs are a notoriously complex pest to eradicate.
One worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was appalled by the discovery.
“The hygiene of the accommodation is disgusting,” he said. “If we are exposed to these bugs, then we could be taking them back to our homes, which in turn could see us passing them on to our families.
“The flotel is in a state, and people have even said there are cockroaches going around as well.
“To have to put up with something like bed bugs — in the North Sea in 2008 — is disgraceful.”
A ConocoPhillips spokes-woman said last night: “We can confirm that traces of bed bugs were identified in a very small number of cabins within the Safe Bristolia flotel last week. Bedding was immediately replaced and the area treated by the instructed specialist hygiene contractors as an additional precautionary measure.
“All areas involved have now been thoroughly inspected and fumigated.”
Bed bugs were common in the UK prior to World War II, before the widespread use of synthetic insecticides greatly reduced numbers.
In the past decade, the parasites have been making a comeback around the world. Although they are not considered to be a major health hazard, they are unpleasant to live with and can affect sleep.
Bed bugs are usually found in rooms with a high rate of occupant turnover, such as hotels, dormitories and prisons.
Infestations are not usually a reflection of poor hygiene or bad housekeeping but a matter of a previous occupant coming into contact with them at some stage.
The Safe Bristolia, which is owned by Prosafe, can hold more than 600 beds. It is on a six-month contract to ConocoPhillips after being converted into a service and accommodation vessel in 2006.