A call for help came from the 90 people aboard an offshore rig yesterday after the mega-structure began leaning when a device keeping it afloat began filling with water.

It happened as heavy winds and rain lashed the platform located two miles off the island of Gaspar Grande.

The SOS came to the Coast Guard at around 2.45 p.m., according to communications specialist Lieutenant Kirk Jean-Baptiste.

He said ’a distress call came from an oil rig named the Pearl, stating that one of the flotation devices had taken on water, causing the rig to lean to one side’.

Jean Baptiste said the Coast Guard dispatched three interceptor vessels, and a larger vessel in the event of an evacuation.

Divers were also placed on stand-by, said Jean Baptiste, ’because our concern of course is human life’.

He said Coast Guard helped the crew aboard the rig to pump out the water and stabilise the structure.

The rig was undergoing repairs in Trinidad on its way to an offshore location of Venezuela.