The Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NUPRC) has confirmed that search and rescue operations of personnel on Seplat Energy’s capsize drilling rig in Delta have started and are ongoing.

The drilling rig had capsized while in transit and was partially submerged at about 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

The NUPRC management said, in a statement on Thursday, it had been formally notified by Seplat Energy Plc of the incident involving a drilling rig during its operation at a swamp location in Delta.

The NUPRC said Seplat Energy Plc contracted the Depthwize Majestic Rig to drill Ovhor-21 well at a swamp location in Delta. It explained that the rig completed the drilling of Gbetiokun-11 for NEPL and demobilised on August 9.

The rig commenced Rig-Move from Gbetiokun-11 well to the planned Ovhor -21 well location, capsized while in transit, and was partially submerged at about 5.00 a.m. on Tuesday.

“Information from our Warri regional office confirmed that search and rescue operations of personnel on board the rig have commenced and it’s ongoing. Seplat Energy has also submitted Incident Notification Form 41 to the commission as statutorily required and commenced a preliminary and detailed investigation of the incident,” stated NUPRC.

It added, “Out of the 96 personnel on board at the time of the incident, 92 have been rescued, one confirmed dead, and three yet to be accounted for.”

However, it added that the divers had been mobilised to the location for search and rescue operations while the rescued personnel were receiving medical attention at the company’s hospital.

“The commission will continue to update the public on the detailed outcome of the investigations as more information becomes available,” it said. 

(NAN)