In the early hours of December 22 local time, a jack-up drilling rig collapsed in the waters of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (a small country located in the southern Caribbean Sea, mainly engaged in energy development), resulting in the disappearance of a worker.
The platform involved in the accident, known as the “Rig 110”, was owned and operated by Well Services, a private company, and was operating in an offshore field owned by Heritage Petroleum, the State-owned oil and gas company of Trinidad and Tobago.
Well Services disclosed in a statement that the accident occurred around 3:09 a.m. Sunday morning when the Well Services Rig 110 was carrying out drilling operations in Heritage Offshore’s eastern field with 75 crew members on board. One person was injured as a result of the accident and is in stable condition and receiving medical attention. There is also one person missing and search and rescue efforts are ongoing. All other personnel have been safely evacuated from the rig.
According to local media reports, it is suspected that one of the piling legs of the Rig 110 was damaged, causing the platform to tilt, before the derrick collapsed and fell into the sea.
The Department of Energy and Industry in Republic of Trinidad and Tobago released a statement saying it had received a report of the accident and was working with Well Services and Heritage to investigate the accident.
Well Services is a privately owned drilling services company in Republic of Trinidad and Tobago that was established in 1967 and has been in the drilling business for 56 years and has provided drilling services to all of the oil companies in the country.