Borr Drilling's jack-up rig Prospector 5 sank off Gabon on 24 October during preparations for BW Energy's drilling campaign, with 110 of 115 people aboard accounted for and five still missing, while the reported death toll remains disputed.
Borr Drilling's jack-up rig Prospector 5 sank off the coast of Gabon late on Saturday 24 October while it was being set up for a drilling campaign for BW Energy, with 110 of the 115 people aboard safely accounted for and five still missing, according to statements from Borr and BW Energy.
Borr said the rig experienced a punch-through event during preload activities, resulting in a loss of stability and the subsequent sinking, during jacking operations at the Dussafu Marin licence near the MaBoMo production facility off Mayumba. Borr put the time of the incident at about 20:37 local time, while Gabon's petroleum ministry put it at about 21:40, a difference of about an hour that has not been reconciled in the reports checked.
BW Energy said production at its MaBoMo facility was shut down in line with standard procedures during drilling preparations, and reported no damage to the facility or related equipment and no accidental discharge of harmful substances into the sea from the facility. Gabon's petroleum ministry said it activated a crisis unit, ordered the navy to reinforce search and rescue operations at sea, and ordered a technical investigation, with Petroleum and Gas Minister Clotaire Kondja making the announcement.
The number of dead remains disputed, and that dispute is central to this story. Reuters reported on 25 October, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that an Indian national among the five initially unaccounted for had been found dead, leaving four missing, including three Gabonese nationals and one other expatriate. Borr told Upstream on Monday that the five personnel remained unaccounted for and that there had been no confirmed fatality, contrary to the Reuters report. Gabon's government, in turn, said five people remained missing and that search efforts were continuing.
The sinking has put the planned drilling campaign on hold. The rig, a Friede and Goldman JU2000E unit built in 2014, had not yet begun drilling and was preparing a campaign of five production wells, and BW Energy and Borr have not announced a revised timetable. BW Energy holds a 73.5 percent working interest in the Dussafu licence, Panoro Energy holds 17.5 percent, and Gabon Oil Company holds the remaining 9 percent.
Search and rescue operations and the technical investigation ordered by Gabon's ministry are the next developments to watch. Until Borr, the ministry or another official source confirms a fatality, the toll should be read as five people unaccounted for, with the Reuters account of one death unconfirmed by the company.