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Tag: Oil Rig

Spica

Spica

 

On February 28, the 83 meter long, 30147 gt oil rig West Taurus allided with the 151 meter long, 8932 dwt container ship Spica in the port of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The West Taurus had been moored in the east basin of the port when cyclone Emma passed by the area.  Strong winds slammed against the oil rig causing it to pull away from its moorings and break a bollard.  Winds continued to push the vessel across the basin until it struck the moored Spica.  The Spica sustained a 4 meter long hull breach below the waterline resulting in water ingress in the cargo hold. The hold quickly filled with 9 feet of water as the Spica’s pumps were unable to keep up with the flooding. Seven dewatering pumps along with divers arrived on scene a short time later. The divers patched the hull while the pumps removed the water out of the hold. Tugs towed the West Taurus back to its berth.  No reports of injuries.

 

Oil Rig fire in Caspian Sea

Oil Rig fire in Caspian Sea

Oil Rig

An offshore oil platform caught fire  in the Gunashli oilfield in the Azerbaijan section of the Caspian Sea. The fire started after strong winds had damaged a gas pipeline on the platform.  Some 32 crew were rescued even as bad weather has made rescue operations difficult. Weather in the area has strong winds and waves reaching up to 10 meters.

Conflicting reports state the number of  crew on board the platform at the time of the fire. Numbers vary between 63 to 75 crew who were on board.  Rescuers did recover 1 person who was killed in the fire, but the remaining crew were still reported as missing.

Rumailah

Rumailah

Rumailah
Photo: seanews.com.tr

On July 5, the oil rig Rumailah keeled over in the Al Shaheen field off the coast of Qatar. The Rumailah had one of its jack-up legs collapse, but did not sink. The crew on board were able to escape safely and no damage was reported to the oil field facilities. The Rumailah was taken to a nearby shipyard for repairs.

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