Thistle Platform stands 250 miles West of SulemVoe in the Shetland Islands. The Platform produces 160,000 BOPD of high quality petroleum over 530 water depth. It has 60 satellite wells because of the fractured oil stratum. The platform was designed by Earl and Wright at its office in the Constructors John Brown building in Padington, London and constructed in Greythorpe at Teeside, North England. The platform was designed for the 100 foot seas and 250 knot winds coming off the North Atlantic. Mr. McMillan was the senior engineer in London for the design, construction, and placement of the Platform. The photograph at the right shows Thistle Platform, completed and producing in 30 foot seas at the North Sea location; 61 degrees North, 1 degree East.

Mr. McMillan designed and supervised construction of this facility to transfer vehicle traffic to and from the ferry servicing the old Margarite route from Seattle to Victoria. The design was limited by the necessity to not drive piles in the waters of the Elliot Bay, by 14 foot tides and 4 foot incident seas. The design used features of other transfer facilities from all around Puget Sound and was designed and operational within months. It was constructed for a fraction of the usual costs even though the ferry was twice the displacement of the other ferries in use. It was also designed for only one summer's use but is still operational after 7 years.