One oil worker has died and four others remain missing after Borr Drilling’s Prospector 5 rig sank off Mayumba on Gabon’s coast late on Saturday, company officials and a union representative said.
The rig had 115 people on board, company officials said on Sunday.
The body of an Indian national, one of five people initially reported missing, has been recovered, said Sylvain Mayabi Binet, Secretary-General of the National Organisation of Petroleum Employees.
Three Gabonese nationals and one expatriate remain unaccounted for.
Borr Drilling said preliminary findings indicated that the rig suffered a “punch-through event” during preloading operations, causing it to lose stability and sink.
The incident occurred at about 9:40 p.m. local time on Saturday in the Dussafu Marin permit area, near the Mabomont production facility, Gabon’s Ministry of Petroleum and Gas said.
The rig, owned and operated by Borr Drilling, had been contracted to support BW Energy’s offshore drilling operations but had not yet begun drilling.
The ministry has activated a crisis unit, ordered the navy to step up search and rescue operations and launched a technical investigation into the accident, Petroleum and Gas Minister Clotaire Kondja said.
The crisis unit includes representatives from the ministry, the navy, state-owned Gabon Oil, BW Energy and Borr Drilling, he added.
“We are deeply concerned for those who remain unaccounted for and everyone affected by this incident,” Borr Drilling Chief Executive Bruno Morand said.
“Our immediate priority is supporting the ongoing search and rescue efforts and the welfare of all personnel involved.”
Panoro Energy said production had been halted following the incident, although no damage to production facilities or accidental discharges had been reported.
The ministry said no harmful substances had been detected in the surrounding waters.
Pollution-response resources remain deployed to protect the coastline and nearby Mayumba National Park as search and rescue operations continue.
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