According to reports in the Egyptian media, and a press release from Temseh co-owner Eni SpA, an initial fire started during the incident but was put out. However, the blaze re-ignited later and spread across the platform and the rig causing “heavy material damage”.
The Adriatic IV was over Temseh at the time the initial fire at 8.45 am local time and had been on-location for the past 58 days.
In a statement GlobalSantaFe said, “There were no injuries and all 79 persons onboard the drilling rig were safely evacuated by boat to the nearest shorebase. The personnel on the rig included 44 GlobalSantaFe employees and 35 contract workers.”
According GlobalSantaFe President and CEO Jon Marshall, “We are thankful we were able to safely evacuate all personnel from the rig without injury.”
The Temseh production platform was owned by Petrobel, a JV between Eni SpA, BP Plc and Egypt’s General Petroleum Corp.
