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LONDON - A cargo ship adrift in a stormy North Sea narrowly missed a second gas platform early on Friday, the British coastguard said.
"The good news is that the vehicle has missed the platform," a spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said, referring to the unmanned Caister structure operated by ConocoPhillips.
The stricken vessel, Vindo, missed the platform by just 730 metres at a few minutes past midnight (1pm NZT), having floated past another installation, Murdoch, a couple of hours earlier.
Both platforms lie in the southern North Sea about 69km miles off Britain's east coast.
The Murdoch gas platform had been evacuated as a precaution and production halted.
The Vindo, carrying 4200 tonnes of fertiliser and registered in Antigua and Barbuda, was drifting free from other gas platforms for now and the nine-strong crew onboard were still trying to start its engine, the spokeswoman said.
A tug had been dispatched to help tow the vessel and would be with it at about 9am GMT (10pm NZT).
- REUTERS
