Published: 25 Oct 2009
All 69 workers on the rig evacuated by lifeboat and were picked up by the Lady Audrey
All 69 workers on the rig evacuated by lifeboat and were picked up by the Lady Audrey
Offshore there has been a massive environmental disaster involving the West Atlas jack-up drill rig chartered by PTTEP of Thailand. On Friday 22nd of August the rig sprung a leak and began spewing gas and oil into the atmosphere and ocean. All 69 workers on the rig evacuated by lifeboat and were picked up by the Lady Audrey. They were then transferred to the Java Constructor and airlifted back to Darwin.
Once again Australian seafarers showed their professionalism and ability to work under pressure and in a dangerous situation with no injuries reported. Lady Audrey then towed the lifeboats back into Darwin.
At the time of writing the rig is still leaking gas and oil, another rig, the West Triton is being towed down to location from Bataam Indonesia, once on site they hope to be able to drill a relief hole to take the pressure off West Atlas so they can cap it.
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