Statoil: Fire breaks out on semi-sub Scarabeo 5

A fire broke out on Tuesday on the Saipem-owned drilling rig Scarabeo 5 working on the Statoil-operated Njord field offshore Norway. 

Njord is an oil field in the Norwegian Sea, located around 130 kilometers north of Kristiansund.

Statoil reported late on Tuesday that the fire, that broke out in one of the engine rooms on the rig, was put out around 20:30. The rig is equipped with two engine rooms and a total of eight engines.

There were 106 persons on board when the incident occurred; all of them are accounted for and none are missing. One person will be sent ashore for a medical check.

According to Statoil, 33 persons have been transported from the rig by helicopter; 14 of these were flown to a nearby installation, and 19 to shore in Kristiansund.

The Norwegian company also added that 73 persons remained on board and there were no further plans currently to move more people from the rig. No drilling operations were underway on the Njord field when the incident occurred. There are no other installations currently at the Njord field.

The standby vessels Ocean Response and Troms Sirius assisted the drilling rig. Three helicopters were in operation in connection with the incident.

Statoil’s second and third-line response organization has been mobilized to assist with the incident.

Scarabeo 5 is a semi-submersible drilling rig of the ME 4500 type built by Fincantieri in Genoa in 1990 and operated by Saipem’s Norwegian branch.

Earlier in November, Statoil received consent from the Norwegian offshore safety agency, the Petroleum Safety Authority, to use Scarabeo 5 for various activities associated with production wells on the Njord field.

The Njord field has been developed using a semi-submersible drilling, accommodation and production platform, Njord A, and the Njord B floating and storage unit (FSU). Production on the field began in 1997.

The Njord A platform was recently towed to shore and it is currently located at Kvaerner’s Stord yard where it is being reinforced and renovated for production beyond 2030 as part of the Njord Future project.

Offshore Energy Today Staff