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Dramatic return from Dolginskoye

The "Saturn" drilling rig ran into trouble on its way from the Pechora Sea to Murmansk

Drilling rig ”GSP Saturn” arrives in Murmansk after a troublesome voyage through stormy Arctic waters.

Location

Data from Marine Traffic indicate that the rig has arrived in Murmansk along with the accompanying service vessels ”Stril Challenger”, ”Stril Commander”, as well as rescue vessel ”Spasatel Karev” and tugboat ”Strilborg”.

The voyage from the Dolginskoye field in the Pechora Sea could have had fatale consequences for the semisubmersible jackup rig. After leaving the field operation area on November 6th the rig was hit by a storm which damaged the helicopter pad. Under dramatic circumstances, the rig was moored near the Kanin Peninsula and the crew partly evacuated.

The crew was later moved back to the rig and the towing towards Murmansk resumed.

Considering the tough weather conditions, the situation could have become critical for the rig and its crew. The installation could also have ended up being stuck in the icy waters in the area.

The incident with the ”Saturn” shows the lack of available public information, environmental organization Bellona underlines. “There is no information about the incident,” Andrey Zolotkov, head of Bellona Murmansk says to BarentsObserver. The incident was first reported by Greenpeace, while none of the companies involved in the operations issued any statements.

The ”Saturn” is owned by the Romanian company GSP Drilling, a subsidiary of Grup Servicii Petroliere. It had been in the Pechora Sea since early August in connection with well drilling at Dolginskoye. It operated on a contract with Gazprom Neft.

According to Gazprom Neft, the drilling at Dolginskoye was successfully completed and the wellhead sealed.