One worker dead, two injured after heavy wave hits North Sea drilling rig

One worker died after a heavy wave hit the COSL Innovator drilling rig offshore Norway on Wednesday, the operator of the rig Statoil, has informed.

The company Wednesday said two other people were injured and were receiving medical treatment ashore. The COSL Innovator rig is now heading to shore under its own power.

COSL Innovator is under contract to Statoil at the Troll field in the North Sea, west of Bergen. The rig had been taken off the well as a result of the bad weather before the incident occurred. The breaking wave also caused some damage to the rig’s accommodation module.

The injured persons have been flown to shore by Sea King helicopter from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and by one of Statoil’s own rescue helicopters.

Statoil on Wednesday said it was assisting COSL, the rig’s owner, with evacuation of the rig down to the safety crew. Evacuees were being flown ashore.