An incident happened last week that saw a 1.8-kilogram piece of timber fall 15 meters to the deck of an offshore support vessel during lifting operations at HMDC's Hibernia Platform, offshore Canada, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC) said that the incident happened as reported on July 25, 2023, during the lifting of a chemical tank from the Hibernia Platform to a support vessel by crane.
During the lifting operation, a 1.8-kilogram piece of timber from the tank support frame fell 15 meters to the vessel's deck.
"There were no injuries. No personnel were inside the pre-designated lifting exclusion zones either on the Platform or the vessel, however, the incident had the potential for fatality based on the Dropped Objects Prevention Scheme (DROPS) calculator," offshore safety regulator C-NLOPB said.
"HMDC has initiated an investigation into the root cause of the incident, which the C-NLOPB is monitoring," C-NLOPB said.
The Hibernia Platform is located 315 kilometers east southeast of St. John’s. It uses a fixed structure with three compartments: topsides, Gravity Based Structure (GBS), and an offshore loading system.
It is operated by Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC). HMDC shareholders are: ExxonMobil Canada (33.125%), Chevron Canada Resources (26.875%), Suncor (20%), Canada Hibernia Holding Corporation (8.5%), Murphy Oil (6.5%) and Equinor Canada Ltd. (5%).
