An offshore supply vessel has been left needing repairs after it struck a Southern North Sea gas platform over the weekend.
At around midday on Saturday, HM Coastguard was alerted to a collision between a ship and Centrica’s Rough 47-3B installation off Yorkshire.
Nobody was injured in the incident, and there was no structural damage to the platform, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
The vessel – understood to be Simon Mokster Shipping’s Stril Mermaid – suffered damage above the waterline and was able to get to Great Yarmouth under its own steam.
No injuries reported
Repair work will now be carried out on the boat, with the MCA carrying out a post-collision inspection on Sunday.
An MCA spokesman said: “HM Coastguard was alerted at about 12.10pm on Saturday 22nd April to a collision between a vessel and an offshore gas installation, Rough 47-3B, in the North Sea, off the coast of Yorkshire.
“No coastguard teams needed to be sent and there were no reports of casualties, pollution or structural damage to the platform. The vessel suffered damage above the waterline but made its own way to its destination in Great Yarmouth for repairs.
“The Maritime and Coastguard Agency carried out a post-collision inspection of the vessel in Great Yarmouth on Sunday 23rd April.”
The Rough 47/3B installation is the cornerstone of the namesake field, which was converted into a gas storage site in 1985.
Centrica unveiled plans in 2017 to shut down the facility, about 17 miles off Yorkshire, after the withdrawal of government support made it uneconomical.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put energy security back in the spotlight, and last year the British Gas-owner was given the go ahead to reopen Rough, which feeds into the Easington terminal.
The storage site previously accounted for 70% of Britain’s natural gas storage capacity, and can hold capacity for about 10 days of domestic demand when full.
In the long term, there are plans to convert Rough into a hydrogen storage facility.
A Centrica spokesman said: “Centrica Storage can confirm that a vessel came into contact with our offshore platform, located 29 kilometres off the East Yorkshire coast, at approximately 12pm on Saturday (April 22nd). There were no injuries reported, and all personnel were safe and accounted for.
“The safety of our employees and partners is our number one priority and, as a precaution, we sent all non-essential platform personnel home. Our emergency response plan was put into action to deal with and investigate the incident.”
