The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) conducted an investigation into an incident involving dropped objects on the Maersk Invincible drilling rig. The investigation resulted to failure of the locking mechanism in the latches on the fingerboard to operate as intended, in combination with strong wind.
Specifically, the investigation began on November 2018, when two swell packer stands came loose from the fingerboard, slide from one side of the derrick to the other and ended up in a gangway.
On the time of the incident, Aker BP was responsible for the jack-up rig, that was working on the Valhall field in the Norwegian North Sea.
According to PSA’s results, each stand was 38 meters long and weighed about 1,300 kilograms.
Additionally, the strong wind conditions on the area and the failed locking mechanisms resulted to the dropped objects.
The Norwegian Authority reported that there were no injuries, even though personnel was present in the area of the incident.
As PSA commented
When the drilling crew understood that the stands were in motion, however, it was decided to erect cordons to prevent access to the drill floor.
Moreover, the investigation identified three breaches of the regulations regarding:
- Inadequate risk assessment and decision basis;
- Inadequate experience transfer within the company;
- Inadequate locking mechanism on the fingerboard.
Concluding, Maersk was commanded to inform PSA Norway on how it intends to deal with the non-conformities by April 8, 2019.
