Investigation ongoing: Three dead and one injured in Southeast Asian FSO incident

May 26, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas heavyweight Petronas has shed light on an offshore incident connected with a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit, which is working at a field off the coast of East Coast Peninsular Malaysia, Southeast Asia.

FSO Sepat Source Bumi Armada — FSO Sepat; Source: Bumi Armada

While confirming that an incident occurred at approximately 12.50 pm on May 24, 2025, during lifeboat maintenance work at the FSO Sepat, Petronas explained that four contractor personnel were involved in the tragic event, which took place in Malaysian waters.

The company reported that three personnel were pronounced dead upon arrival at Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah, Kuala Terengganu, while one injured worker was evacuated for medical treatment and remains under observation.

“Petronas extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased. The immediate priority of the company is to support the well-being of those affected,” emphasized the Malaysian firm in its statement.

Petronas has highlighted that investigations into the cause of the incident are ongoing in coordination with the relevant authorities. Once the probe into the unfortunate incident is complete, more details will be available.

The FSO Sepat works at the Sepat field. Petronas Carigali, as the operator, entered into a heads of agreement (HOA) with JX Nippon in December 2022 to jointly develop a proposal to monetise the gas potential within the Bujang, Inas, Guling, Sepat, and Tujoh (BIGST) fields offshore Kerteh, Terengganu.

The BIGST cluster was expected to act as the catalyst, spurring the development of other high-contaminant fields in Peninsular Malaysia, which had not been possible before due to the lack of complete CO2-handling infrastructure.

Petronas is actively expanding its oil and gas resources, assets, and infrastructure, as illustrated by a charter with MISC for five newbuild liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers (LNGCs).