The investigation of the incident has shown that the main operator of the rig’s control room tried to adjust the rig’s position by activating the ballast tanks. This action led to an unintended listing of the rig which stopped at approximately seven degrees. Within 21 minutes the cause of the listing was identified, the ballast tanks were closed and the situation was normalized, the report from ENI Norway’s own investigation reads.
The investigation has revealed that the operator at duty did not have the sufficient competence to operate the ballast tanks. Thus it is also revealed that the routines which are meant to secure that there is always competent personnel in the operating room are not good enough. According to Eni Norway these routines have now been improved.
ENI Norway’s Head of Information, Andreas Wullf says that it was never a real danger of any larger accident and that the problem was identified very quickly. However, they could not make this information public before they had delivered the report to the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority.
“A full ballast tank will cause a 12 degrees listing, and it will still not cause any danger for the rig to tip over. These rigs are constructed to withstand up to 35 degrees listing”, says Wullf to TU.no
