One-eyed cat missing for over five years is found on a North Sea oil rig 

A cat which went missing more than five years ago has been reunited with his owner after he was found on a North Sea oil rig.

The one-eyed cat had been a regular visitor at HMP Grampian, in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, where he was affectionately known to staff as ‘one-eyed Joe’.

Joe’ was found on Thursday inside a shipping container after it was unloaded on an offshore platform in the North Sea.

After the crew recaptured the escaped cat – by feeding it chicken from the rig’s canteen – they phoned the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA).

He was flown by helicopter into Aberdeen yesterday morning and handed over to the charity.

The SSPCA launched an appeal, and his ‘shocked’ owner came forward. Bridie Dorta said the cat was in fact named ‘Dexter’ and had gone missing over five years ago.

‘He’s always been a wanderer,’ she told BBC Scotland.

A tongue-in-cheek report was filled out by oil rig staff: ‘Found one-eyed black cat. Named cyclops. Deck crew ran away as frightened of cats. Mech tech wearing correct PPE retrieved said item.’