The Norwegian owner of an oil rig vessel that capsized off the northern coast of Scotland killing eight people, including the skipper and his teenage son, was yesterday ordered to pay a five million kroner (£500,000) fine.

THE Norwegian owner of an oil rig vessel that capsized off the northern coast of Scotland killing eight people, including the skipper and his teenage son, was yesterday ordered to pay a five million kroner (£500,000) fine.

The Bourbon Dolphin overturned 85 miles off Shetland in April 2007 when an operation to shift the anchor of a drilling rig went wrong.

In Oslo yesterday Norway's national prosecutor Bjoern Soknes said he ordered the fine because the vessel's owner, Bourbon Offshore Norway AS, did not give the new captain enough time to learn about the crew, the ship and the complex operation, as he only had 90 minutes to take over.

The Bourbon Dolphin had been working with a British vessel, Highland Valour, to move the oil rig Transocean Rather's anchor and chain, weighing about 330 tonnes.

The chain moved and went over the side of the ship in strong winds, causing the vessel to capsize.

Seven members of the 15 Norwegian crew survived. The captain, Oddne Arve Remoy and his 14-year-old son David Remoy, who was visiting the ship, were among the victims.