Update: Cidade de São Mateus Death Toll Rises to Nine

The remaining three missing crew of the FPSO unit Cidade de São Mateus have been recovered after almost three weeks , the vessel’s operator BW Offshore confirmed.

With the recovered bodies the total number of fatalities from the explosion that occurred on board the FPSO on February 11th stands at nine.

There were 74 workers on board at the time of the blast.

BW Offshore said that two crew members remain in hospital, receiving medical attention and their condition is reported to be stable.

“The rescue efforts of the past several days have now ended and all our men are accounted for. There is finally closure for the families of those we have lost. There will be continued efforts to provide the necessary support to the crew and families whose lives have been changed forever by this tragedy,” said BW Offshore’s CEO Carl Arnet.

“Our focus continues on getting to the root cause of the incident. We are also in discussions about reinstating the unit and finding continued employment for our crew”, he added.

Brazilian oil regulator ANP said that the explosion was caused by a gas leak in one of the machinery spaces.

ANP said that the total number of injured in the blast was 26. The regulator has launched an investigation into the causes of the incident and potential breach of safety procedures.

The unit is operated for Petrobras by BW Offshore on the Camarupim and Camarupim Norte fields in Espirito Santo littoral approximately 120 km from the coast.