Largest accident in Russian oil sector
The tragedy with the jack-up rig “Kolskaya” in the Sea of Okhotsk is the largest accident in the history of the Russian oil and gas sector. 53 people are declared dead or missing.
This is the largest number of casualties in an accident the Russian oil sector has ever experienced, says Boris Nikitin from the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas. The last big accident happened in the Caspian Sea in 1957, when 22 people died when an oil rig overturned and sank.
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Nikitin states that the number on people aboard “Kolskaya” during the towing operations was too high. – There are two teams on a floating drilling rig – one is responsible for the rig as a vessel, the other for the drilling operation. When they have finished drilling operations, the drilling team should leave the rig and only those responsible for the rig during towing should stay aboard, he explains to RBC.
The Russian Federal Investigation Committee has published a list over 11 dead that have been identified. 8 of these come from Murmansk. At least 32 of the crew of 67 came from the Murmansk region.
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Meanwhile, in the Sea of Okhotsk, search for people have continued with helicopters, planes and boats. The search might be stopped on Friday due to bad weather forecasts in the area, RIA Novosti writes.
