Fire breaks out on seismic vessel in Senegal

A fire broke out in the engine room of the Shearwater-owned seismic vessel Polar Marquis on Monday, November 11, 2019. 

The vessel is owned by seismic services provider Shearwater GeoServices and managed by offshore vessel owner GC Rieber Shipping.

GC Rieber informed on Tuesday that the fire had occurred in the engine room. The fire was put out and the situation is under control.

The vessel is located offshore Senegal, with 55 crew members on board. All 55 are accounted for and no injuries have been reported. No spill to the environment has been reported.

GC Rieber Shipping said that its contingency team was working with the vessel’s owner Shearwater GeoServices’ contingency team, local authorities and relevant stakeholders to care for all employees on board. The vessel has transferred 30 of the crew members to a support vessel on-site and is considering further planned transfers. The vessel is under tow and the weather in the area is calm.

A full assessment of the situation is being conducted to establish the extent of the damages. GC Rieber Shipping has sent a team to Senegal to assist the crew and the rescue effort locally.

Polar Marquis is a 3D seismic vessel, capable of deploying 16 streamers. The vessel was built in 2000, converted in 2006, and completed a four-month upgrade in 2014.

As previously reported, Shearwater was awarded a contract by Woodside for a high-density multi-azimuth 3D seismic acquisition over the SNE field offshore Senegal.

Shearwater said in May that the work, designed as high density and multi-azimuth survey, would be acquired by the Polar Marquis using 14 streamers, and FlexiSource triple source. The survey was scheduled to start in early 3Q 2019 and take approximately 90 days to complete.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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