Thrill-seekers who sneakily spent the weekend on shuttered North Sea oil rigs are being sought by police.
The two men used a small dinghy to motor out to the cold-stacked offshore platforms in the middle of the Cromarty Firth to film themselves exploring the abandoned installations.
The 20 minute documentary posted online shows them deliberately avoiding the police patrolling the waters before making their way aboard the Ocean Princess.
In the film the men, who credit themselves as ‘urban explorers’ can be seen climbing over padlocked areas, visiting a drill deck and looking around the rigs seemingly unsupervised.
They climb to a height, without appropriate safety gear, and poke around the derelict drilling rigs in a bid to get a sense of life offshore.
At one point they even start a barbecue in the galley having brought along some meat to cook.
The clip, in which two flaming disposable barbecues can be seen, ends quickly as the lac of ventilation leaves them “smoked out” – and they have to move outside.
The trip, which was filmed for a Youtube channel about ‘abandoned places’, has since been branded “dangerous” and “reckless”.
Offshore oil and gas organisation Step Change in Safety and the Health and Safety Executive have both condemned the act.
A spokeswoman for Step Change said: “Clearly these individuals have no respect for the ‘safety is a priority’ mantra utilised by the offshore oil and gas industry.
“Obviously they have breached a number of lifesaving rules such as working at height and not wearing appropriate PPE.
“We would have loved to have seen the risk assessment, hazard identification and mitigating controls they carried out before putting themselves, and potentially the emergency services, at risk for what is clearly a dangerous, unsafe and reckless act.”
A HSE spokeswoman added: “While the incident in question is not one for HSE to investigate, any unauthorised and uncontrolled access to stacked rigs puts those involved, and potentially others, at unnecessary risk.”
The clip has since been deleted from Youtube.
Diamond Drilling and the Port of Cromarty Firth Authority both declined to comment as the matter is being dealt with by police.
A police spokesman said: “Police Scotland is aware of the video and are working with the relevant partners and companies to establish the circumstances and identify the individuals involved.”
MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Gail Ross, said: “Although these videos are popular on social media, this type of entertainment should not be at the expense of safety or basic common sense.
“I understand there is a police investigation underway and I fully support their efforts to maintain public safety.”
The short film starts with the men on the shore, who then use an outboard powered dinghy to sail out to the vacant rigs.
After evading the authorities they board the platform, which belongs to Diamond Drilling.
They then spend the day exploring the rig’s offices and technical areas.
After cooking their dinner using a disposable BBQ, they bunker down for the night in what appears to be sleeping bags.
The next day they are seen boarding another platform, believed to be the GSF Monarch drilling rig, which belongs to Borr Drilling.
Again they are seen accessing various areas on the recently stacked rig – where the clocks are still ticking and there is other signs of recent activity.
At one point they fly a drone with a camera on it around one of the platforms.
According to the Facebook page connected to one of the men in the videos is Dutch photographer Bob Thissen.
The other man is understood to be Andy Kay, another ‘urban adventurer’, from Lincolnshire, England.
Both men did not respond for comment.
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