Dozens of staff have been airlifted off the Buchan Alpha North Sea platform ahead of the latest round of North Sea storms.
Talisman Sinopec withdrew 75 staff from the floating production unit at the end of last week as the operator prepared for high waves and 80mph winds.
The unit, around 80 miles north-east of Aberdeen, is not permitted to operate in waves of higher than 6.75m.
Staff are not expected to return to the platform until later this week, depending on weather conditions, a spokesman for the company said.
“As per the installation’s Safety Case, we began the planned procedure on Thursday as a result of severe weather forecasts and in advance of the sea state exceeding the stated level over the weekend,” the company said.
“Production was shutdown on Thursday and will remain shut down while we continue to monitor the weather conditions. We will upman, and normal operations will resume when conditions improve.”
Meanwhile new footage has revealed the extent of the conditions in the region during the latest round of storms.
Michael Fitzpatrick, who shot dramatic video of December’s punishing weather conditions, posted the latest video from the Oseberg Alpha platform on Youtube showing the extent of the storms at the end of last week.
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