Majestic rig: Seplat denies ownership, as 92 personnel confirmed safe

Seplat Energy has denied reports of its ownership of the capsized Majestic rig in Delta State.

According to a press statement issued by Seplat, “Contrary to some media reports, the Majestic rig is owned by Depthwize Nigeria Limited and not Seplat.  As stated in our previous announcement, the rig was in transit to its next drill location at Ovhor. Seplat is the operator of OMLs 4, 38 & 41 on behalf of the NNPCEPL/SEPLAT Joint Venture.”

The oil company noted that the search for the 3 missing crew members have not seized revealing that Divers and other emergency services are on-site to aid the search.

“Of the other 92 crew members, 10 were admitted to hospital and stayed overnight. We are pleased to say the 10 crew members have all now been discharged from hospital. Seplat continues to support Depthwize with the emergency response and rescue efforts continue, with the priority being the search and rescue of the 3 missing crew members.

“Depthwize has notified Seplat that the single recorded fatality was a British national. The families of the deceased and the 3 missing crew members have been informed by Depthwize.

“Seplat has notified the authorities of the incident and continues to comply with all regulatory requirements,” The statement read.

Confirming the claims by Seplat,  the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NUPRC) in a statement on Thursday said it has been formerly notified by Seplat Energy Plc of the incident involving a drilling rig during its operation at a swamp location in Delta.

The NUPRC said the Depthwize Majestic Rig was contracted by Seplat Energy Plc to drill Ovhor-21 well at a swamp location in Delta.

It explained that the rig completed the drilling of Gbetiokun-11 for NEPL and demobilised on Aug 9.

“Thereafter, the rig commenced Rig-Move from Gbetiokun-11 well location to the planned Ovhor – 21 well location. Unfortunately, the rig capsised while in transit and was partially submerged at about 5.00 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15.

“Information from our Warri Regional Office confirmed that Search and rescue operations of Personnel on Board (POB) the rig has commenced and it’s on-going.”

“Seplat Energy has also submitted Incident Notification Form 41 to the Commission as statutorily required and commenced preliminary and detailed investigation on the incident.”

“Out of the 96 personnel on board as the time of incident, 92 have been rescued, one confirmed dead and three yet to be accounted for,” the Commission stated.

However, the Commission added that the divers had been mobilised to the location of the incident for search and rescue operations, while the rescued personnel were receiving medical attention at the company’s hospital.

“The Commission will continue to update the public on the detailed outcome of the investigations as more information becomes available,” the statement read.