- Seplat Energy lost 6 workers, including a foreigner, in an accident involving the Majestic rig in Delta State
- 92 out of 96 crew members are safe, while 1 fatality occurred and 3 crew members are missing
Seplat Energy reportedly lost six workers, including a foreigner, in an accident involving the Majestic rig at Ogboren, near the Ovhor Oilfield in Delta State’s Sapele Local Government Area.
According to sources, the accident involved a Briton, five Nigerians, and five others who are still missing.
“The incident involving the Majestic rig, which was recently acquired by the SEPLAT/NNPCL joint venture, occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, affecting 96 crew members.” Six bodies have been recovered, including one of a British citizen.”
A top management staff member revealed to a journalist on the condition of anonymity that the company was working around the clock to find other missing people.
No stone would be left unturned to track and locate other missing persons.”
As soon as we got the news of the incident, the company activated search and rescues mechanisms, and the efforts yielded great results, as we speak most of the workers are safe and getting medical attention, but sadly, we lost 6 staff, with about 6 other workers still missing as at 8pm today, he said.
In a statement, Mr. Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Energy, said;
Out of the 96-member crew on the rig, 92 of them are safe, however, tragically one fatality occurred during the incident, while three other rig personnel are still missing.
Seplat Energy regrets to announce a serious incident on the Depthwise swamp drilling rig “Majestic” in the early hours of this morning. Seplat as the operator of the SEPLAT/NNPCL joint venture contracted the rig. It was in-transit to its planned drilling location at Ovhor in Delta State when it capsized.
92 of the 96-member crew are accounted for and safe. However, tragically one fatality occurred during the incident, while three other rig personnel are still missing. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the crew member who sadly lost his life and the three crew members who are still missing at the time of this report. Our emergency response and rescue efforts working alongside the rig owner and the authorities have been activated and are onsite. Our utmost priority will continue to be the safety and wellbeing of all the affected personnel and their families.
We will provide further details as our understanding of the incident develops. A detailed investigation into the cause of the accident will follow.
Seplat Energy has a 45% working interest in OMLs 4, 38, and 41, which are located in the onshore Nigerian states of Edo (OML 4) and Delta (OMLs 38 and 41).
On behalf of the NPDC/Seplat Joint Venture, Seplat Energy operates the three blocks that comprise one contract area.