Saipem Confirms Caspian Sea Accident

An explosion occurred on Wednesday, May 8 on the Saipem-operated pipe-laying vessel Israfil Huseynov injuring fourteen people.

The vessel was operating in the Caspian Sea in the framework of the Shah Deniz II project.

The fourteen people involved in the accident, all employees of the Saipem, were transported to the hospital in the early hours of Thursday morning, the company said.

The incident was related to maintenance operations on an item of equipment during pipe-laying activities.

Seven of the fourteen injured are said to be in intensive care due to the burns suffered. The injured people are of Italian, English, Azerbaijani, Rumanian, Malaysian and Croatian nationality, Saipem noted.

“In expressing its sympathy to the employees and their families, Saipem will continue to ensure the immediate repatriation of those who have suffered the least serious injuries and the transfer of the other injured people to specialized medical centres,” Saipem said in a press statement on Thursday.