The Norwegian offshore safety regulators have found irregularities aboard the recently delivered West Bollsta offshore rig.
The rig is owned by Northern Drilling's spin-off Northern Ocean, and managed by Seadrill.
The regulator, PSA Norway, carried out an audit late in November 2019, following Seadrill’s application for an Acknowledgment of Compliance (AoC) for the semi-submersible drilling rig.
A granted AoC statement means that a rig is fit for operation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. As part of the audit, the regulators’ inspectors focused on the electrical facilities, technical safety, and maintenance management.
In a statement on Wednesday, January 22, the PSA Norway said it had identified seven “non-conformities” aboard the West Bollsta.
These were related to Seadrill’s AoC application and associated documentation, electrotechnical system analyses, low voltage switchboards, high voltage installation, electrical facilities – technical conditions, maintenance management, and internal auditing of the project.
In addition, the PSA found room for improvement with regards to the maintenance management system, smoke detection, pressurized areas, protection of sensitive electronics, and responsible person for the electrical facilities related to involvement and follow-up Seadrill has been given a deadline of February 7, 2020, to report on how the non-conformities and improvement points will be addressed.
“For us to issue an AoC, all known safety-critical non-conformities must be rectified and the facility must have been issued with maritime certificates from the relevant flag state,” the PSA said in a statement.
Seadrill now has until February 7, 2020, to report on how the non-conformities and improvement points will be addressed.
Worth reminding, Northern Drilling last year secured a contract for the harsh environment semi-submersible rig with Lundin Petroleum in Norway.
The contract, expected to begin in the second quarter of 2020, is for a ten-well campaign which includes the development of the Luno II field and the Rolvsnes discovery offshore Norway.
The rig has a firm contract until early 2022, with Lundin having options to extend the contract further for close to one year. According to MarineTraffic, the rig is currently moored near Santa Cruz de Tenerife.