It's TruePack ice forces evacuation of two offshore rigs near Sable Island.
DARTMOUTH, N.S. (CP) - Two offshore oil rigs, threatened by heavy ice near Sable Island, were being evacuated early Monday.
Non-essential personnel were taken off the Rowan Gorilla V while those on the nearby Venture Jacket production platform were to be removed at first light.
A spokesman at the Canadian Coast Guard Regional Operations Centre in Dartmouth, N.S., said there was no immediate danger and the move was precautionary.
The pack ice, over a metre thick, was being pushed toward the jack-up rigs about 12 kilometres north of Sable by strong northerly winds.
The Coast Guard vessel Terry Fox and an icebreaking tug were in the area.
There are 75 workers on the Rowan Gorilla and 21 on the Venture Jacket production platform.