New oil and gas industry chaplain unveiled

The Reverend Martin Grashoff will take up the post in March

The offshore oil and gas industry has appointed a new chaplain, after the death of the Reverend Andrew Jolly MBE.

The Reverend Martin Grashoff, currently a Church of Scotland Minister in West Kintyre, will start in March.

His predecessor, Mr Jolly, 54, who led memorials after the North Sea helicopter disaster in 2009, died last year after a battle against cancer.

Mr Grashoff said he was delighted at his appointment, and was looking forward to his first trip offshore.

He said: "Going out and meeting with people where they work is very much what I like.

"Instead of waiting for people to come to church, I will have to adapt to their situation."

He will move to Aberdeen with his family from his current parish of Kilcalmonell, linked with Killean and Kilchenzie.

Mr Jolly conducted a special service in Aberdeen after the Super Puma crash, which killed 16 men in April 2009, and also prayers on the first anniversary.

The UK Oil and Gas Chaplaincy was established following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988.