Norway’s oil and gas safety authority has launched an investigation into Saipem after a semi-submersible drilling rig started to list in the Barents Sea.
The Scarabeo 8 semi-submersible drilling rig, owned by Saipem, was drilling an exploration well for Eni Norge in the Barents Sea.
Last week, the unit, which had 140 people on board at the time, started to list 5.7 degrees and a call to muster was made after an “unintentional filling of a ballast tank”, said the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).
It is thought the incident was caused by incorrect operation of equipment.
The NPD said the issue was resolved within an hour and did not create a major accident risk, but it was going to launch an investigation focusing on Saipem’s management of capacity and competence.
“The PSA takes a serious view of what happened,” said the NPD, adding: “The PSA has closely monitored the operating company Eni and rig owner Saipem in the period following the incident.
“On Monday, September 10, the PSA met with the responsible companies in order to obtain more information about the course of events and further actions.
“Based on the information that emerged in this meeting, the PSA has now decided to initiate an investigation of the incident. The investigation will focus on Saipem’s management of capacity and competence.”