UPDATE: One Maersk Drilling worker is dead and another injured following in an incident on the Maersk Interceptor jackup drilling rig, working at the Tambar field offshore Norway, on Thursday, 7 December.
Aker BP said that the "serious incident" was reported at 12.10pm on 7 December, and that two people were injured during maintenance work on the rig. Production at Tambar has been shut in and an investigation is under way involving the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway.
In a statement made late today, Maersk Drilling said: "It is with great sadness that we can inform that one of the injured employees, a Norwegian citizen, has passed away. The family of the employee in question has been notified and we have set up crisis counselling for our employees and their families. The other injured person is receiving medical treatment and his condition is not critical." This person has been transported to Stavanger University Hospital.
The operator of the Tambar field said that one of the people fell into the sea and was picked up by a standby vessel and then transported by helicopter to Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen.
Aker BP said: "Our first priority is the personnel on board. We have activated our emergency preparedness organization and cooperate closely with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC) and relevant authorities to handle the situation. We will provide further information as soon as it is confirmed."
Maersk Drilling added: "This is a very difficult time for the family, our crew members and the organisation as a whole. We at Maersk Drilling would like to extend our deepest condolences, and we ask that the family’s privacy is respected in this difficult time. We will make every effort possible to help the family and our crew.
"We take this incident very seriously and Maersk Drilling and customer Aker BP is committed to clarifying all aspects of the incident."
“Our thoughts are now with the families, the injured person and everyone else who is affected by this serious accident. We have cooperated closely with Maersk Drilling and will do all we can to take care of those affected and their families in this difficult situation,” says Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik.
The Maersk Interceptor is a Gusto MSC CJ70-X150MD design rig built in 2013, at Keppel FELS in Singapore.
Tambar is about 16km southeast of Ula facilities in 68m water depth in the Norwegian North Sea. It is produced via a normally unmanned wellhead platform, remotely controlled from Ula. Tambar started production in 2001 and is powered by a cable from Ula. Production is piped to Ula for processing and export. The gas is injected in the Ula reservoir while the oil is exported via Ekofisk to Teesside, England.
The Maersk Interceptor is working on the Tambar development project, which consists of two new infill wells and the installation of gas lift in three existing wells to increase overall field production
The infill wells will target undrained areas of the field identified in the north and south with the potential to increase 2P reserves further.
The combination of the infill wells and installation of gas lift has the potential to increase Tambar production markedly and extend field life by up to 10 years, contributing to lower unit operating costs in the Ula hub area, Faroe Petroleum has said.
Image from Maersk Drilling.
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