Workers on board Statoil’s Oseberg Øst platform in the North Sea had to spend two hours in the rig’s lifeboats during the night after a supply vessel collided with the rig. The collision sent out a standard alarm that all personnel not involved in emergency preparedness must take to the lifeboats.
“This is routine,” spokesman Lars Kindingstad told TV2. “The lifeboats are the safest spot on the platform, and workers are supposed to stay in them until there’s an all clear signal.”
Kindingstad said the supply vessel came in contact with the underside of the platform in connection with another routine operation. Damage was said to be minor, but Statoil was launching an investigation into what went wrong.
The lifeboats weren’t launched and the workers could eventually go back to work or to bed. “In such situations, we have to think that the worst can happen,” Kindingstad said. “We’d rather have more trips to the lifeboats too many, than one too little.”
newsinenglish.no staff
