PORT officials were warned about the safety of having two huge oil drilling vessels berthed off the North Ayrshire coast two weeks before one broke free from its moorings threatening a "disaster" near a nuclear plant, the Herald on Sunday can reveal.
A mayday call was was received by the coastguard on Tuesday evening when a 748ft long ship with eight crew aboard broke from its mooring and began to drift without power amidst high winds.
One community councillor from the nearby village of Fairlie told the Herald on Sunday that only a "miracle" prevented this from being "an absolute catastrophe with multiple loss of life" near the Hunterston B nuclear plant.