Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has found security flaws on North Atlantic Drilling’s jack-up rig West Epsilon during an inspection conducted in November.
At the time of the inspection, between November 23 and 25, the rig was under a contract with Statoil on the oil and gas company’s Gudrun field, offshore Norway.
The drilling rig West Epsilon is subject to regular monitoring of compliance with regulatory requirements and prerequisites for the compliance, since it obtained an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the PSA in February 2002. These audits include material handling, lifting equipment and operational safety.
During the latest inspection, the safety authority found that the rig management failed to properly address crushing hazards as well as necessary maintenance and mapping and risk assessment.
Additionally, the report says that the company should look into the West Epsilon’s hoisting and documentation procedures and the issue of excessive noise.
North Atlantic Drilling has been given until February 25, 2016 to explain how the deviations and issues in need of improvement will be handled.
Safety breaches at Gudrun
This is not the first time that an installation at the Gudrun field is under the spotlight. The Statoil-operated Gudrun field made headlines in February 2015 when production was halted at the production platform due to a gas leak, which, as Statoil themselves said, could have been fatal.
On Monday, almost a year after the leak, the Petroleum Safety Authority Noway has completed its investigation.
According to the safety watchdog, also known as the PSA Norway, the investigation has uncovered serious breaches of regulation, spurring the PSA Norway into giving a notification of an order to Statoil.
Offshore Energy Today Staff
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