Offshore drilling contractor Diamond Offshore Drilling has confirmed an gear failure involving its semi-submersible rig Ocean GreatWhite within the UK.
The incident occurred February 1, 2024 whereas on contract with BP roughly 200 km west of the Shetland Islands.
In keeping with Diamond Offshore, the malfunction concerned the rig’s decrease marine riser bundle (LMRP), which unintentionally separated from the rig on the slip joint tensioner ring and fell to the seabed. The LMRP had been disconnected from the rig’s blowout preventer (BOP) on the nicely as a result of harsh climate.
The Ocean GreatWhite, one of many world’s largest ultra-deepwater harsh surroundings semisubmersibles, was not engaged in drilling actions on the time of the incident.
In an announcement, Diamond Offshore confirmed no accidents, the rig’s structural integrity was maintained, and the nicely remained safe with the BOP nonetheless in place. The corporate additionally famous that no seabed infrastructure injury had been reported.
Diamond Offshore is presently working in cooperation with its shopper, BP, and native authorities to handle the incident. Restoration efforts for the gear are underway, and the corporate has begun changing any lacking or broken gear.
Whereas it stays too quickly to precisely gauge the monetary influence, Diamond Offshore assured that it carries insurance coverage protection for property injury with a $10 million deductible. The corporate mentioned will present estimates as extra info concerning the incident, restoration operations, and gear repairs turns into obtainable.
The Ocean GreatWhite is a sixth Era semi-submersible drilling rig able to drilling to 35,000 ft and working in water depths as much as 10,000 ft.
