MOSCOW – A drilling rig with 67 crew on board capsized and sank off Russia’s far eastern island of Sakhalin yesterday while being towed through a winter storm, leaving more than 50 dead or missing in the icy Sea of Okhotsk.
Emergency officials said the crew of an icebreaker and tugboat rescued 14 workers alive from the jack-up rig, the Kolskaya, which was operated by a Russian offshore exploration firm. They recovered four bodies from the water.
“The Kolskaya keeled to its side . . . and sank within 20 minutes. The depth of the water at the site is 1,042m,” Russia’s federal water transport agency said on its website. Four of the survivors, suffering from hypothermia, were airlifted by helicopter to land and taken to hospital after the disaster struck at 12.45pm (0145 GMT).
The rest of the crew were missing 200km off the coast of remote Sakhalin island. The water temperature was one degree, giving survivors about 30 minutes before death, according to maritime and rescue websites.
Three rescue craft, as well as helicopters, were sent to scour the waters for survivors from the rig, owned by Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, a unit of state-owned Zarubezhneft.
“There is no ecological danger. The vessel was carrying the minimum amount of fuel as it was being tugged by two craft,” said a spokesman for the firm.
The incident is a blow to Russia’s efforts to step up offshore oil and gas exploration to stave off a long-term decline in onshore production.
The jack-up rig, which has three support legs that can be extended to the ocean floor while its hull floats on the surface, was heading from Kamchatka to Sakhalin when it overturned in stormy conditions, including a swell of up to 6 metres.
“ Dmitry Medvedev has ordered all necessary assistance be provided to the victims of the drilling platform accident and has ordered a probe into the circumstances of the loss of the platform,” the Kremlin said.
Russia’s federal investigative committee, which answers to the president, said it would investigate the incident and question rescued workers and those responsible for organising the towing of the craft.
“The violation of safety rules during the towing of the drilling rig, as well as towing without consideration of the weather conditions . . . are believed to be the cause of the [disaster],” investigators said on their website.
The Neftegaz-55 tugboat, owned by the same firm, had been towing the Kolskaya and took part in the search effort, but pulled out after suffering damage from high waves. The tug, carrying most of the crew rescued from the rig, had taken on water and was trying to limp to port. An icebreaker, the Magadan, was still at the scene.
As night fell, an air search was called off, and another was set to resume the quest for survivors today. “With daybreak the search from the air will continue with an Mi-8 helicopter, along with the sea teams,” news agency Itar-Tass reported an emergencies ministry official as saying.
Operating conditions in the region are among the harshest for Russian energy firms. – (Reuters)