Storm-hit North Sea oil vessels now 'safe'

One of the vessels lost five of its ten anchors as the storm swept across the North Sea

Two linked oil vessels which suffered anchor damage in severe storms have been reported to be "stable and safe" by their operators.

Licence holder CNR International said they hoped to get a permanent fix for the anchors today (Saturday).

A specialist anchor-handling vessel has been brought alongside and four others have been mobilised to assist.

All 67 crew on board the two vessels are safe. The UK government said the situation was "low risk".

The Petrojarl Banff, which has 4,400 tonnes of crude oil on board, lost tension in five of its 10 anchors and drifted up to 250m.

It is a floating production storage and offloading vessel.

The Apollo Spirit, with 96,300 tonnes of oil, lost tension in one of its eight anchors but remained secure.

There has been no report of pollution at the site, 190km east of Aberdeen.

The Scottish government said it was monitoring the situation and was being kept fully informed.