No reports of injuries or environmental impact, however according to Husky Energy and a report by Bloomberg, there was a 15 foot hole put in one of the Grand Banks’ 8 supporting columns and the rig crew is in the process of securing the well.
The rig was operating in the White Rose field and was drilling water injection wells. The wells are used to optimize the recovery of oil within an oil reservoir.
More to follow…
Received call from Newfoundland/Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board and there were no updates available. The rig is not in danger of sinking and there was minor damage to the Maersk Detector. They will be headed to the shipyard for repairs as soon as they are able.
Important to note: The GSF Grand Banks is an anchored drilling platform, thus the cause of this accident is undoubtably due to some sort of user error, or technical dynamic positioning error on board the Maersk Detector.
Statement from Transocean:
“Everyone is safe and the rig is stable and secure with no impact to the environment. The Canadian authorities and families of crewmembers have been notified.”