Oil rig in Turkey

The oil rig wrecked after grounding in Lewis has arrived at Turkey's “blowtorch beach” - its final destination where it will be chopped up for scrap.

The Transocean Winner is ahead of Britain’s last old-style aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, in the list of unwanted ships and obsolete rigs earmarked for demolition in the port of Aliaga.

The Winner is still perched atop the deck of the heavy loader ship, MV Hawk, which carried it from Lewis.

Serious damage to some 30 ballast and fuel tanks when it grounded in Dalmore on the west side of Lewis, after breaking its towline from a tug in a storm on 8 August guaranteed the Winner would sink without a constant stream of compressed air forcing out incoming seawater.

Repairs to the 33-year-old obsolete drilling platform were undertaken during a seven day stopover in Malta.

Now preparations are being made for the Hawk to partially submerge into the water in the Aegean Sea to allow the rig to be towed off by small tugs.

In the coming months, squads of blowtorch-armed workers will cut the rig, piece-by-piece, at one of the 22 yards in Turkey’s only designated breakers’ zone.

Nearby, Royal Navy warships are broken-up.

Britains last aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, which served in the Falkland War, faces the same fate as the Winner after she was sold to neighbouring yard for £2 million.

The UK Government often scraps naval ships in this heavily industrialized area dedicated for ship dismantling by the Turkish government.

Oil rig arrives at "blowtorch beach" in Turkey

1 November 2016