A Dumfriesshire oil rig worker was on a North Sea drilling platform which evacuated staff after it lost anchors during Storm Babet.
The Coastguard airlifted 45 crew members from the Stena Spey on Saturday evening after four of the eight anchor lines detached from the unit.
The worker, who asked not to be named, said: “I’ve never experienced anything like it.
“I’ve been on rigs in storms but I haven’t experienced anchor lines parting. It was a surreal experience.
“You couldn’t walk on the deck in that weather, it was far too windy. It was coming up to 90mph winds on the deck. It was still blowing a hooley by the time the Coastguard arrived.”
Despite that, the staff member told the Standard that there was a remarkable level of calm on the rig throughout the situation.
He said: “The whole process, from management down, there was no panic, no stress. The hierarchy kept everybody informed with updates. It wasn’t a strenuous situation.
“The rig was moving all over the place but you were told regularly what was going on.”
The first anchor lines started detaching on Saturday morning before a second went at around 8.30am.
A third came loose at 1.30pm and when a fourth parted two hours later the Coastguard were drafted in to evacuate non-essential staff.
The worker added: “The first Coastguard helicopter came along at about 6pm, and started taking people off one by one onto different platforms.”
A Stena Drilling spokesperson said the well remains secure and the Stena Spey is stable.
The spokesperson said: “Several anchor handling vessels will travel to the location throughout the next 24 hours to begin attaching tow lines to the drilling unit.
“The Stena Spey is safe and the well remains secure.”
The company added it was working with the authorities, including the Health and Safety Executive, to resolve the situation as “efficiently and safely as possible”.
