Drilling rig overturns in Sea of Okhotsk

[thør]

An offshore drilling rig with 76 people on board overturned in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East on Sunday, the local emergency services reported.

Nine people have been rescued, a spokeswoman for the regional branch of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said.

A Far Eastern emergency center received a SOS signal from the platform earlier on Sunday. A rescue helicopter, an icebreaker and a rescue ship have been sent to the area.

The rescue operation is under way amid severe weather conditions, with waves up to four meters high and winds of 70 kilometers per hour in the area.

There were 43 crew members and 33 passengers on board the rig, all of whom were wearing diving suits and lifejackets, rescuers said.

 

[Shagly]

An offshore drilling rig with 76 people on board overturned in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East on Sunday, the local emergency services reported.

Nine people have been rescued, a spokeswoman for the regional branch of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said.

A Far Eastern emergency center received a SOS signal from the platform earlier on Sunday. A rescue helicopter, an icebreaker and a rescue ship have been sent to the area.

The rescue operation is under way amid severe weather conditions, with waves up to four meters high and winds of 70 kilometers per hour in the area.

There were 43 crew members and 33 passengers on board the rig, all of whom were wearing diving suits and lifejackets, rescuers said.

Where is that Tsunami?

 

[koalabear]

I hope the price of vodka doesn't go up.

 

[thør]

I hope the price of vodka doesn't go up.

I think it's still about 31 - 35 Rubles a half liter, in country.

 

[Aquagal]

Diving suits and life jackets won't save them. It'll just help them find the bodies.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Gnarly place to have to abandon ship.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I thought we regulated that...





__________________
We don’t prevent pollution, we export it (along with our jobs).
A_J, the Stupid

 

[trysail]

The jack-up rig was being mobilized to Sakhalin and is being reported as, "under tow." Those are nasty waters in December.



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...-sakhalin-killing-at-least-four-ria-says.html



Russian Drilling Rig Sinks off Sakhalin With 67 on Board; Four Feared Dead
By Anna Shiryaevskaya
December 18, 2011

A drilling platform with 67 Russians on board sank in a storm near Sakhalin Island off Russia’s Pacific coast after completing a job for OAO Gazprom. At least four people were feared dead, authorities said.

The Kolskaya jack-up rig, owned by OAO Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk early today, the company said in a statement on its website. The platform was being towed to Sakhalin from the Kamchatka Peninsula, according to a statement on the website of the federal Investigative Committee. Fourteen survivors have been rescued, the committee said.

Four people showing no signs of life have been spotted in heavy seas, said Yekaterina Potvorova, a spokeswoman at the regional Emergency Situations Ministry, adding that she couldn’t confirm if they were dead. The remaining 49 people from the rig were missing as rescue efforts continued, she said by telephone. Officials had no information about a possible fuel spill, Potvorova said.

The platform, built in 1985, had finished working off Kamchatka for Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural-gas producer, Sergei Kupriyanov, a spokesman for the Moscow-based company, said by phone. The job ended on Dec. 4, and Gazprom had no contractual obligations with the rig’s owner as of Dec. 11, he said. Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, a unit of state-run oil producer OAO Zarubezhneft, has headquarters in the northwestern city of Murmansk.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...-sakhalin-killing-at-least-four-ria-says.html

 

[rosco rathbone]

Production is down! Get the numbers up by the third quarter or heads will roll! If you think your current assignment is rotten, consider a year at Ice Base Alpha off the coast of Novisibirsk!

Da, Gospodin! *drinks vodky*

 

[trysail]

She was a shallow depth jack-up (328' maximum water depth) and appears to have been designed and built in Germany ( Liebherr ). The news reports state she was being towed but it's possible that she was being transported by a carrier (see the vessel in the photograph). If so, that might explain the size of the crew reported as missing. Perhaps she was "on location" at Sakhalin and was being positioned when the capsize occurred.

http://www.amngr.ru/images/stories/content/kolskaya.jpg​

http://www.amngr.ru/index.php/en/services/fleet/kolskaya

 

[thør]

From the Chicago Trib:

link with photos

"MOSCOW (Reuters) - An oil drilling rig with 67 crew on board capsized and sank off the Russian far eastern island of Sakhalin on Sunday when it ran into a storm while being towed, leaving 49 of the crew unaccounted for, the regional Emergencies Ministry said.

Fourteen crew members were rescued alive from the 'Kolskaya' jack-up rig, operated by Russian offshore exploration company Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka (AMNGR), and four bodies were recovered. The rest of the crew were missing.

"The floating drilling rig capsized 200 kilometers (125 miles) off the coast of Sakhalin island at 12.45 local time (0145 GMT)," the Emergencies Ministry said in a statement on its website.

The statement said a rescue craft and helicopters had been sent to the site to scour the waters for survivors.

PresidentDmitry Medvedev ordered all necessary help be allocated to the search and rescue of any remaining survivors in the icy waters, while the Emergencies Ministry said it would work through the night.

The disaster posed no ecological danger, but it will deal a blow to efforts byRussia, the world's largest energy producer, to step up offshore oil and gas exploration to offset a long-term production decline in onshore production.

"There is no ecological danger. The vessel was carrying the minimum amount of fuel as it was being tugged by two craft," said a spokesman for AMNGR, a unit of state-owned Zarubezhneft.

The 'Neftegaz-55' tugboat, also owned by AMNGR, had been towing the Kolskaya rig and took part in the search effort, but pulled out after suffering hull damage. The tug, carrying 11 crew rescued from the rig, was limping to port.

An icebreaker, the 'Magadan', was still at the scene.

Most of the missing crew were from the far eastern town of Magadan, AMNGR said. The company, based in the northern port of Murmansk, flew out counselors to support relatives.

He said a company commission was working out the financial losses from the lost drilling vessel.

RIG WAS WORKING FOR GAZPROM

The rig, built in Finland in 1985, had been doing work on a minor gas production project in the Sea of Okhotsk for a unit of state-controlled gas export monopoly Gazprom, the company said.

The Kolskaya was heading to the port city of Kholmsk on the western side of Sakhalin island from the Kamchatka peninsula when strong winds and high waves capsized the vessel. It sank in 20 minutes into waters that are more than 1,000 meters deep.

"(President) Dmitry Medvedev has ordered all necessary assistance be provided to the victims of the drilling platform accident and has ordered a probe into the circumstances of the loss of the platform," the Kremlin said.

Russia's prize offshore gas and oil fields lie to the northeast of Sakhalin island.

Two major offshore projects are already producing oil and gas off Sakhalin - Sakhalin-1, operated by Exxonmobil and Sakhalin-2, in which Gazprom has a controlling stake.

The disaster is unlikely to seriously affect oil or gas production. AMNGR said the vessel was no longer under contract when it sank.

Operating conditions at the Sakhalin fields, explored by Soviet geologists in the 1960s and 1970s, are among the harshest for Russian energy companies.

OFFSHORE DRILLING

The jack-up rig, which has three support legs that can be extended to the ocean floor while its hull floats on the surface, was overturned in stormy winter conditions with a swell 5-6 meters high.

"The violation of safety rules during the towing of the drilling rig, as well as towing without consideration of the weather conditions ... are believed to be the cause of the (disaster)," investigators said in a statement on their website.

Winter often lasts 220-240 days in the waters off Sakhalin, where the main companies operating are ExxonMobil, Gazprom, andRoyal Dutch Shell, who produce oil and gas, sometimes in icebound conditions, for export largely to Asian markets.

Sakhalin-2, in which Shell and Mitsui also have stakes, produces 10 million tones per year of liquefied natural gas at Russia's only LNG plant in the port of Prigorodnoye for export to Asia, much of it to Japan.

Each tanker of crude oil produced by at the 160,000 barrels-per-day Sakhalin-1 project, operated by ExxonMobil, is escorted by two icebreakers when ice thickness reaches 60 centimeters.

State-controlled Rosneft this year reached a major deal with Exxon to explore for oil and gas in the Kara Sea, to the north of the Russian mainland, a largely unexplored region estimated to hold over 100 billion barrels of oil.

A combination of poor infrastructure and chronic corner cutting has dealt the country its share of sea disasters, notably the 2000 sinking of the nuclear submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea in August 2000, killing all 118 aboard and prompting criticism of the sluggish response."

 

[EllieTalbot]

that sucks

 

[trysail]

10:27 18/12/2011
MOSCOW, December 18 RIA Novosti


© RIA Novosti

Two killed, 14 rescued after drilling rig overturns in Sea of Okhotsk
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111218/170340056.html

V. Nemirovskiy
10:27 18/12/2011

At least two people were killed and another 14 were rescued after a drilling rig with 67 people aboard overturned in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East, the local emergency service reported on Sunday.

"As of 4 p.m. local time (05:00 GMT), 14 people were lifted from the rig; all of them are alive and their condition is satisfactory. Also, the bodies of two people without any signs of life were found. They will be lifted aboard the Magadan ice breaker," Taimuraz Kasayev, a spokesman for the regional emergencies service, said.

The drilling rig owned by the Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka exploration company, which is working under a contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom, overturned 200 km (124 miles) off Russia's Sakhalin Island early on Sunday.

Russia's Transport Ministry told Prime news agency that "of the 67 people aboard the Kolskaya rig, 53 are crew members and 14 are workers and support staff."

The Atlas rescue vessel is expected to arrive at the scene by Sunday afternoon and the Yuri Tarapurov ship will arrive by Monday morning, the Transport Ministry said.

"A helicopter of the Aviashelf company has flown to the rescuers' help and is already at the scene of the rescue operation while another helicopter is on its way to the scene of the accident," the ministry said.

The regional emergencies service has said the accident poses no threat to the environment.

"Fuel stocks at the Kolskaya drilling rig are minimal and are stored in hermetically sealed tanks, and there is no danger of a fuel spill," Kasayev said.

A criminal probe into the accident has been launched, the regional investigation committee said.

The drilling rig, which can take up to 102 people on board, was built in 1985 in Finland. The rig started its operations in September to drill and test the Pervoocherednaya well on the West-Kamchatka licensed block of the Okhotsk Sea shelf.

The rig, which is 69 meters long and 80 meters wide, was intended to drill a well at a depth of 3,500 meters within three and a half months.

The rig has fully submerged into water amid a strong storm, Kasayev said.



http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111218/170340056.html

 

[thør]

"fully submerged"

Some might say, "sunk."

 

[thør]

"It sank in 20 minutes at a depth of more than 1,000 meters"

"Thirty-two workers on the rig were from Murmansk, while the rest were foreigners from unspecified countries, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported."

Read more: The Moscow Times

 

[EllieTalbot]

Ah, another cheery story from the North.

*sulks*

 

[thør]

Ah, another cheery story from the North.

*sulks*

It would be a bigger story if it happened just outside of Puget Sound.

 

[trysail]

It would be a bigger story if it happened just outside of Puget Sound.

Hell, even NPR might report it ( if it occurred at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and the Beltway ).

 

[trysail]

When this accident was first reported, I couldn't figure out why there were all those people aboard if the vessel was under tow (see my highlight below).

________________

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111219/170359788.html


Four vessels, three aircraft in search for oil rig accident survivors
VLADIVOSTOK, December 19 (RIA Novosti)

Four vessels, an An-74 plane and two helicopters are involved in search and rescue efforts on Monday after an oil rig overturned in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia's Far East.

The Kolskaya drilling rig with 67 people aboard was being towed in a severe storm, when it overturned and sank some 200 km (125 miles) off Russia's Sakhalin Island early on Sunday. Of 67 people onboard, 14 were rescued, four were found dead and others are missing.

The An-74 plane found two life rafts on Monday morning, but it is yet unknown whether there were any survivors in them.

A lifeboat was found earlier on Monday, but it was empty. On Sunday, four empty life rafts were found.

Captains of fishing and trade vessels in the vicinity of the accident area were also ordered to take part in the search-and-rescue operation.

The weather forecast for the search zone is currently being verified, but the rescue operation was hampered on Sunday with strong winds and waves of 4-5 meters.

An investigation was launched and survivors will be questioned later in the day. Violations of safety rules and unfavorable weather conditions are seen as the most likely causes of the accident.

"The investigators on Monday will question three crew members who are currently in the central regional hospital in the town of Nogliki in Sakhalin. The remaining nine survivors and crew of the Neftegaz-55 tugboat which transported the rig will be questioned upon their arrival to the port of Korsakovo," a spokesman for the regional investigation department said.

The Kommersant business daily said on Monday that about a half of all people onboard the oil rig were not authorized to be there under the transportation rules.

"Approximately a half of all people onboard - drill rig engineers, their assistants, crane operators and so on - had no relation to the transportation of Kolskaya," an unnamed source close to the investigation told the newspaper.

Under the rules, only the captain and a minimal part of the crew needed for the transportation process are allowed to stay onboard when the rig is tugged. It is forbidden to tug a drilling rig with passengers onboard.

The drilling rig, built in 1985 in Finland, carried out work under a contract with energy giant Gazprom. It can take up to 102 people on board, was. The rig, which is 69 meters long and 80 meters wide, was intended to drill a well at a depth of 3,500 meters.


http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111219/170359788.html

 

[EllieTalbot]

It would be a bigger story if it happened just outside of Puget Sound.

Very true.

 

[Peregrinator]

Hell, even NPR might report it ( if it occurred at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and the Beltway ).

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=143940328

 

[trysail]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=143940328

That is, of course, NPR's RSS feed from the AP (which is the actual reporter). NPR hasn't reported the story; they've simply transmitted the AP print report.

 

[Peregrinator]

That is, of course, NPR's RSS feed from the AP (which is the actual reporter). NPR hasn't reported the story; they've simply transmitted the AP print report.

by MARK MEMMOTT

Good morning.

The major story of the past 12 hours or so, as we've been reporting, is the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

We've taken an early look at the "uncertainty and anxiety" his death has created and at The Economist magazine's irreverent way of headlining the news.

There's much more coverage on NPR.org, of course. One place to start might be Anthony Kuhn's look back at Kim Jong Il's life.

Several other major stories are developing. We'll have more on some of them later. For now, here are a few of the top headlines:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Peregrinator/Derp.jpg

 

[trysail]

The Associated Press


http://www.npr.org/search/index.php?searchinput=Okhotsk

 

[Peregrinator]

Several other major stories are developing. We'll have more on some of them later. For now, here are a few of the top headlines: