Fire breaks out on Deepsea Atlantic rig off Norway

A fire broke out on the Deepsea Atlantic drilling rig working for Statoil at the Johan Sverdrup field, off Norway. 

According to a report by the Norwegian news website Offshore.no, the fire broke out last Wednesday in the rig’s drill tower. After it was extinguished, it broke out again. The situation was brought under control an hour later.

A spokesperson for Statoil told the Norwegian news website the rig was not drilling production wells at the time of the incident.

Statoil is the operator of the Johan Sverdrup field, in the North Sea, around 140 kilometers west of Stavanger. The field is under development and production is planned to start in 2019.

The Norwegian company was given a green light to drill an appraisal well at the Johan Sverdrup field with the Deepsea Atlantic rig in November 2016.

The Deepsea Atlantic is a semi-submersible drilling rig of the MODU GVA 7500 type, operated by Odfjell Drilling. The rig was completed in 2009, registered in Norway, and is classified by DNV GL.

Offshore Energy Today has reached out to Statoil and Odfjell Drilling seeking confirmation of these reports. Neither of the two companies were immediately available for comment.

Norway’s offshore safety agency, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has confirmed the incident is under investigation. Read more here: https://bit.ly/2jdxnOD.

Offshore Energy Today Staff