Island Innovator Tilts in Hanøytangen. Workers Evacuated

Island Innovator semi-submersible rig, on a yard-stay in Hanøytangen, Norway, has been evacuated after it tilted 4 degrees, a local news site has reported.

According to Bergens Tidende news portal, 63 people have been taken off the facility in a peaceful manner. Around 4 o’clock this morning, the rig , docked at Hanøytangen yard, took in water and began tilting.  Seawater entered the pump room instead of the ballast tanks due to a rupture in the rig.

One crew member has been reported to have sustained minor injury to the knee.

This is the third tilting incident in Norway in nine months.  “Scarabeo 8” tilted in the Barents Sea in September 2012, while the “Floatel Superior” lost stability in the North Sea in November.

Roy Erling Furre, HSE manager at SAFE said: “It is unacceptable that we repeatedly find that rigs lose stability. Enough is enough, now we have to press supervisory authorities and ensure that the entire rig industry learns from these events.”

Island Innovator is a recently constructed equipped semi-submersible unit built by COSCO in China based on a GM4000 design.