‘Heavy wave’ kills one and injures two on North Sea gas drilling rig

A worker has died after a heavy wave slammed into a North Sea drilling rig. The man was among three injured when the water slammed into the Chinese-owned COSL Innovator at the Troll gas field, west of Bergen, on Wednesday afternoon. They were airlifted for medical treatment by Norwegian rescuers but one later died of their injuries. The rig was being evacuated after its accommodation module was damaged by the wave.

Strong winds prevented a helicopter from landing on the rig and people had to be lifted.

Eileen Brundtland, Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority

The incident happened during rough weather with waves as high as 14m and wind speed 25m to 30m a second. About 50 of the 106 staff working on the rig have been flown to the Norwegian coast where they are being helped by doctors, nurses and psychologists. Meanwhile, BP announced it had decided to shut the Valhall field, several hundred miles to the south, because of safety concerns. More than 100 people were taken off the rig after a 110-metre long barge drifted towards it. However, the vessel passed without causing any damage and the company was preparing to start normal operations again.

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