A search for missing oil workers continues in the Caspian Sea following a fire offshore Azerbaijan that started last week, on 4 December.
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Socar's West Azeri plaform. Image from Socar's Facebook. |
One worker is confirmed dead and nearly 30 missing after the fire on a platform in the shallow water part of the Guneshli field in Azerbaijan’s section of the western Caspian Sea.
One of two lifeboats capsized several hours after the fire broke out at 5:40 p.m. local time, Baku based state oil firm Socar said in a statement. Two fire fighting vessels, a dive support vessel and a tug aided rescue operations, after initial attempts were hampered by high wave height, with more than 32 people rescued.
The fire on platform 10 was caused by a gas leak following a storm. On its Facebook page, Socar said yesterday that 11 helicopters were involved in the search. Russia, Iran and Kazakhstan frontier guards were also informed. “As a result of the powerful storm may be missing workers will be found in their territories,” it said.
Socar has also named all of the missing and those rescued on its Facebook page. They all appear to be Azeri nationals. Socar is owned by the state of Azerbaijan, the largest oil producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia and Kazakhstan.
About 60km east of the Absheron Peninsula and in less than 180m water depth, it is SOCAR's largest fully-owned asset and accounts for the majority of its oil and gas production, according to Wood Mackenzie.
A deepwater section of the Guneshli field is operated by BP under a production-sharing contract (PSC) with a consortium of firms. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has established a state commission headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Yaqub Eyyubov to investigate the incident, state news agency Azartac reported.
Socar lost five workers in 2013 and 14 last year in similar accidents, said Mirvari Qahramanli, head of the Center for Protection of Oil Workers’ Rights, a Baku-based advocacy group, reports Bloomberg.
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