Oil workers evacuated after blaze

Four helicopters lifted 32 workers to safety on other platforms in the area after the blaze started at 6.20pm.

The remaining 55 crew stayed on board the Ocean Guardian rig to tackle the flames and managed to put out the fire.

The Health and Safety Executive and platform operator Diamond Offshore said they will now launch investigations to discover the cause of the incident.

Aberdeen coastguard co-ordinated the evacuation using four helicopters that were in the area at the time. Two civilian helicopters were diverted to the scene along with the Norwegian coastguard helicopter Saver and the BP-owned rescue helicopter Jigsaw. RAF Kinloss was also involved in organising the evacuation, but no RAF helicopters were used in the incident.

A spokesman for Diamond Offshore, which is based in Houston, USA, said: "We have had a fire in the engine room. As a precaution we began down-manning non-essential personnel. The fire is out and there are no injuries, everyone is accounted for.

"Fifty-five people are still on board and the incident is at an end. We are in the process of assessing the damage."

He said that they had a fire suppression system in place which was activated when the fire broke out.

He confirmed that an incident team would be sent to the rig to investigate the cause of the fire.

The Health and Safety Executive said they are aware of the incident and will hold an investigation.