Special North Sea partnership

Grampian Police welcomed a delegation of Norwegian senior officers and Deputy Chief Constable Hans Vik who, along with Grampian’s Chief Constable Colin McKerracher, signed a special “memorandum of understanding”.

Pictured left to right are DCC John McNab, Supt Egil Eriksen, Hans Vik, ACC Colin Menzies, Colin McKerracher, Chief Supt Malvin Dagsland and ACC Derek Penman.

This agreement between the two police forces applies to the
handling of offshore incidents in the North Sea, where there is a mutual interest.

Chief Constable McKerracher said: “We are delighted to host
this visit, which will enhance the strong working relationship that already exists between Grampian Police and the Norwegian police.

“This partnership ensures that the North Sea oil and gas community receives an excellent and accessible policing service that can respond to any offshore incident.

“We shall take this opportunity to share our experiences of policing the North Sea and discuss what challenges and responsibilities we may face in respect of the emerging offshore renewables sector.

“Grampian Police will continue to test our emergency-response
procedures with the industry and our partner agencies and I hope to involve the Norwegian police with future exercises.”

Deputy Chief Constable Hans Vik said: “I fully agree with Mr
McKerracher; our two countries and our police forces have a long history of good co-operation.

“We share a long border in the North Sea and it is of the greatest importance for us to have the possibility to ask for assistance from good partners and friends when needed.

“From our side, we will ensure that we will do our very best to
assist according to the memorandum of understanding we have
signed.”

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