Oil rig in deep-sea drama

2005-08-15 23:13

Zigi Ekron and Carin Smith

Mossel Bay - "It was a matter of two minutes or two degrees, and we would have been dead," says one of the crew of Pride South Seas about Sunday night's oil-rig drama about 120km from Mossel Bay.

According to the man - who has had other brushes with death during his years on oil rigs - this was his worst experience yet.

About 16:00 on Sunday afternoon, while they were dropping the anchors, the rig suddenly tilted.

The crew man said: "Within five minutes it had tilted about 16 degrees. It was too steep to walk up against the platform."

The front end of the rig had tilted so low that the lifeboat hanging from that side was a mere 6m above the water.

He estimated the swells to have been between 10m and 15m high. If the rig had tilted another two degrees, it would have toppled.

"Even with all the technology in the world, they would never be able to tilt an oil rig as quickly as it did on Sunday afternoon," said another crew man.

81 crew taken off the rig

While some of the crew battled to stabilise the rig, the rest were told to prepare for evacuation.

Of the 97 people on board, 81 left the rig.

Some of the crew apparently had their doubts about the rig's condition even before they left Cape Town.

The rig left Cape Town, where it had been undergoing repairs for several weeks, on August 9. On August 11, it reached an oil point near Mossel Bay.

The rig, which was built in 1977, must undergo a regulatory run to dry dock for repairs and maintenance every 30 years.

Captain Saleem Modak, acting operational manager of the South African Maritime Safety Association (Samsa), said the rig was stabilised late on Sunday.

By 13:00 on Monday, it was tilting at an angle of 6% and by 16:00 about 2%.

Since rough seas prevented divers from examining the outside of the rig, they tried to find out from the inside what had caused the rig to tilt.

It has to be decided whether any faults can be repaired at sea, or whether it must to be towed back to Cape Town.

Mystery about what caused tilting

Tisha Steyn reported that, according to Tumo Mogamisi, spokesperson for PetroSA, which is renting the rig, it was decided to evacuate non-essential crew because it was not known what had caused the rig to tilt.

In order to facilitate a quick evacuation, the crew was taken to other oil rigs and to George.

The crew, which comprise South Africans, Britons, Americans and French personnel, will return to the platform as soon as their safety can be assured.

Mogamisi said no oil was spilt when the rig tilted, as the crew had not started drilling yet.

- Die Burger