Statoil confirmed that one person has died as a result of the breaking wave that hit the drilling rig COSL Innovator rig on Wednesday 30th December, 2015.Two other people were injured and are receiving medical treatment ashore.
The semi-submersible drilling rig COSL Innovator is under contract to Statoil on the Troll field in the North Sea, west of Bergen. The rig had been taken off the well due to heavy weather when the incident occurred. The wave also caused damage to the rig’s accommodation module.
COSL and Statoil were notified at 5 pm on Wednesday 30 December that three people had been injured when a breaking wave hit COSL Innovator. Statoil and COSL mobilized their emergency response organizations.
The injured persons flown to shore by Sea King helicopter from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and by one of Statoil’s own rescue helicopters.
Statoil assisted COSL with evacuation of the rig down to the safety crew. Evacuees were being flown ashore. Also, a phone number was established for the next of kin in connection with this incident.
“The weather was rough during the accident, with waves as high as 14 metres and wind speed 25 to 30 metres per second. Strong winds prevented a helicopter from landing on the rig and people had to be lifted,” Eileen Brundtland, a spokeswoman at the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority, told Reuters.
”It is with great sadness that Statoil and COSL have received confirmed information from the police that one person has died as a result of the breaking wave that hit the drilling rig COSL Innovator today.” Statoil announced.
Statoil will continue to publish updates on its website via its news service
