Aban Pearl

The Aban Pearl was a twin-hull, column-stabilized, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned and operated by Aban Offshore drilling company. It is registered in Singapore.[1] In 2009, the Aban Pearl became the first offshore gas rig operated by the Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA.[2] In May 2010, the rig sank into the sea though all workers aboard at the time were saved.

in 2001, as Bulford Dolphin
History
Name: Aban Pearl
Owner: Aban Pearl Pte. Ltd.
Operator: Aban Offshore
Port of registry: Singapore
Route: Venezuela
Builder: Far East Levingston Shipbuilding
Yard number: 115950
Completed: 1977
Identification: IMO 8756344; DNV ID:10547
Fate: Sunk May 2010
General characteristics
Class and type: Column-stabilised Drilling Unit
Tonnage: 12,155 tonnes
Displacement: 3,647 tonnes
Length: 108.2 m (355 ft)
Beam: 67.36 m (221.0 ft)
Draught: 36.6 m (120 ft)
Crew: 98

Background

The Aban Pearl was designed by Aker H-3 and was built in 1977 by Far East Levingston Shipbuilding (now part of the Keppel Corporation) at the Levingston Singapore shipyard.[1][3] The Aban Pearl could operate at a rated water depth of 1,250 feet (380 m) and she had a drilling depth of 25,000 feet (7,600 m).[4]

History

In 1977–1996, she was named Transocean Seeker, in 1996 Treasure Seeker and in 1996–2000 Transocean Discoverer. All this time she was owned by Transocean. In 2000–2007, she was named Bulford Dolphin and operated under the Bahamas flag. The Bulford Dolphin was purchased for US$43.27 million by Bonheur ASA and Ganger Rolf ASA. The rig was operated by Dolphin Drilling, a subsidiary of Fred. Olsen Energy.[1][3]

Incidents

In 2006, while contracted by the Nigerian oil company Peak Petroleum, the rig was attacked near Nigeria by Nigerian militants and eight of the personnel on the rig were kidnapped. They were released unharmed after two days in captivity.[5] In 2007, the rig was purchased by the Indian drilling company Aban for US$211 million.[6]

In 2009, the rig was contracted under a five-year contract for PDVSA for drilling natural gas wells on the Mariscal Sucre complex off the coast of northeastern Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea.[7][8] In August 2009 en route from Trinidad and Tobago to Venezuela its flotation devices took on water in heavy seas about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) south-west of Point Baline, Gaspar Grande, Trinidad and Tobago and there was a call to evacuate the platform.[9]

On 13 May 2010 at 2:20 a.m. (0650 GMT), when drilling at the Dragon 6 gas field, scheduled to come on stream by 2012, the rig sank in the deep about 525 feet (160 m) after water entered a subsea pontoon.[2][7][10] All 95 crew members were evacuated from the rig to the nearby drilling ship Neptune Discoverer.[7][8][9] According to the Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, the well being explored by the Aban Pearl had been safely sealed.[2] There are plans to try to retrieve the rig.[7] The rig was one of the company's biggest money earners bringing in about $358,000 dollars, or about 10.5 million rupees a day.[11] The insurance claim of $235 million was settled in July 2010.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Aban Pearl". Det Norske Veritas. Archived from the original on 20 March 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  2. Frank Jack Daniel; Marianna Parraga (13 May 2010). "Venezuela gas rig sinks in Caribbean, no leaks". Reuters. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  3. "Bulford Dolphin Drilling Rig". Subsea.Org. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  4. "Rig Data: Aban Pearl". Rigzone. Archived from the original on 16 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  5. William Nsoyoh (4 June 2006). "Nigeria Militants Release 8 Oil Workers". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  6. "Aban to buy rig from Bulford Dolphin for $211mn". Business Standard. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  7. "Aban Pearl semisub sinks". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  8. Simon Romero (13 May 2010). "Venezuela Offshore Rig Sinks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  9. Anthea Pitt; Gareth Chetwynd; Noah Brenner (14 May 2010). "Aban Pearl reported trouble last year". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. Archived from the original on 18 May 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  10. Fabiola Sanchez (13 May 2010). "Offshore natural gas platform sinks off Venezuela". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 18 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  11. "Aban Offshore's gas platform Pearl sunk off the coast of Venezuela". The Economic Times. Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  12. "Aban pockets Pearl pay-out". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
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