Texas-based Marathon has shown journalists a stripped down version of its offshore disaster training course at the Falck Nutec centre in Aberdeen.

Reporters from the Economist and other papers were asked to attend the oil training course before being flown out to one of Marathon's rigs in the North Sea.

The journalist explained that the helicopter ditching simulations were particularly accurate.

He commented: "The swimming pool can be plunged into darkness, a wave machine started up and hoses used to blast participants with spray."

So too, rig workers are given an extended version of the training course to give them a fuller idea of how to cope in this type of emergency, as well as how to effectively tackle rig blazes and other common offshore hazards.

Falck Nutec is the UK training and development division of Falck A/S, which provides global survival courses.

The company has recently announced the opening of a new oil training centre in Ipara, Nigeria.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development