As Depthwise Evade NIMASA Officials                                   by Kelvin Kagbare (Lagos) and Dan Onoda (Warri)

Facts are emerging on the possible causes of the collapse of the Majestic Rig belonging to Depthwise Nig. Ltd which was hired by Seplat  Energy Ltd for its operations in Delta state, South South Nigeria.

The rig was being towed to site when it collapsed enroute location.

In a swift response to the unfortunate incident and in line with its mandate, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has dispatched a team comprising of Search and Rescue and marine accident investigation officers   to the scene of the incident at Ovhor near Warri in Delta state.

Our inquiries at NIMASA revealed that the ill-fated Rig is Panama Flagged and has been operating on Nigerian waters since 2016 without requisite registration with nor approvals by NIMASA.

Maritime Nigeria gathered the ABS Classed inland Water Drilling rig which is 232 feet-long Barge, with a rated drilling depth of 30,000 feet collapsed when it was been towed from N04, 30:34 / E00543:57 enroute Ovhor 21 that belongs to SEPLAT Oil field in Delta State.

Spokesman for NIMASA, Mr. Edward Osagie, when contacted disclosed that the Agency has initiated contact with the Clean Nigerian Associate, a conglomerate of all International Oil Companies (IOCs’) responsible for the cleaning of Tier 2 oil spill, to establish the level of spillage at the scene of the incident.

“In addition, the Agency is in communication with officials of SEPLAT Energy Limited chatterers of the ill-fated Rig who are expected to officially report the incidence within 24 hours in line with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 2007” Osagie said

Professionals in the industry who spoke on the incident absolved NIMASA of blame as the rig is not registered with the Agency nor under its supervision.

“Whatever rescue efforts NIMASA is making is purely on humanitarian grounds. As Nigeria’s lead Agency in Maritime Administration, the Agency must be involved to ensure that  professionalism is brought to bear on ongoing rescue/savage efforts, otherwise, NIMASA has no role to play as the rig is not under its purview” one of our respondents said.

A maritime professional who is vast in maritime matters such as Safety and Security, when contacted, told our reporter “I am actually in the Warrit axis for  official engagements but i had to dash to the site to find out the true position of things when i heard about the incident. The rig is in the creek and efforts are ongoing to establish what led to the collapse of the rig”

“Owners of the rig are not forthcoming with information. They have either tossed their lines or switched off their phones but we will definitely get them to talk to enable us find out what went wrong. Everybody should be patient for now”, the maritime expert, who does not want his name mentioned because of the sensitivity of the incident, said.

Engr. Clement Oshue, an Oceanographer and safety expert who is based in Warri opined that non adherence to Standard Operating Procedures, SOP, such as regular survey and maintenance of the rig are factors that could have led to the collapse of the rig

“Lack of maintenance, inspection and proper checks prior to deployment of the rig are factors to consider. Is it possible that the rig was taking in water? When last was the rig surveyed and what was the report? These are some of the issues we have to take into consideration” Oshue said.

We are reliably informed that owners of the rig are in a hide and seek game with NIMASA officials as efforts to reach them continues even as very dependable sources have told us that 4 out the 96 crew on board have lost their lives.

Meanwhile, seplat in a statement by its Chief Executive Officer Roger Brown, confirmed the incident.

Brown said there was one fatality while three other persons are currently “unaccounted for”.

The statement reads: “Seplat Energy regrets to announce a serious incident on the Depthwise swamp drilling rig “Majestic” recently.

“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 well-being 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.” Brown said.

As it is, the coming days will reveal more on what happened on the waters as the rig was being towed to location.