A drilling platform Prospector 5 has sunk off the coast of Gabon in Central Africa. There were 115 people on board, 110 of them were rescued, and five are still being searched for. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The accident occurred on the evening of 24 October at around 20:37 local time. The platform was being prepared for drilling for oil and gas company BW Energy. According to preliminary data, a support of the rig subsided during a load test. The platform lost stability and sank.
Borr Drilling, which owns the rig, deployed an emergency team. Five people are still listed as missing. They are being searched for together with local authorities and BW Energy.
Production at the field was suspended after the accident. According to Panoro Energy, which owns 17.5% of the project, there have been no reports of damage to production facilities or leaks, Reuters reports.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the container ship GFS Pride under the flag of Singapore sank near the Strait of Hormuz. After being hit by a projectile, a fire broke out on board. All 21 crew members were evacuated.