1 British Expat, 4 Other Oil Workers Die, 3 Missing As Seplat’s Rig Capsizes In Delta

One Briton expat and five Nigerians oil workers, died on Tuesday after a drilling rig they were working developed technical glitches and capsized, according to industry sources.

The drilling rig belonging to Seplat Energy, ran aground at Ogboren near Ovhor Oilfield in Sapele Local Government Area, Delta State.

The incident happened on Tuesday with 96 crew members including a Briton onboard the rig.

The drilling rig christened “Majestic rig”, was newly acquired by SEPLAT/NNPCL joint venture.

As of the time of filing this report, six bodies have been recovered including that of a Briton from the capsized rig.

Sources said that many crew members are still missing as divers deployed by the oil firm battle to rescue the crew members.

One source said; “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, a Briton included with about 6 other workers still missing as at 8pm today.”

Confirming the incident, management of Seplat Energy Plc, in a press release signed by Mr. Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer, said that out of the 96-member crew on the rig, 92 of them are safe.

He however, said that tragically one fatality occurred during the incident, while three other rig personnel are still missing.

The statement reads; “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”, the statement added.