Crew feared dead as Russian oil drilling rig sinks

AN oil drilling rig with 67 crew on board capsized and sank off the Russian far eastern island of Sakhalin yesterday when it ran into a storm while being towed, leaving 49 of the crew unaccounted for, the regional Emergencies Ministry said.

Fourteen crew members were rescued alive from the “Kolskaya” jack-up rig, operated by Russian offshore exploration company Arktikmornefte-gazrazvedka (AMNGR), and four bodies were recovered. The rest of the crew were missing.

“The floating drilling rig capsized 200 kilometers off the coast of Sakhalin island at 12.45 local time (0145 GMT),” the Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.

President Dmitry Medvedev ordered all necessary help to be allocated to the search and rescue of any remaining survivors in the icy waters, while the Emergencies Ministry said it would work through the night.

The disaster posed no ecological danger, but it will deal a blow to efforts by Russia, the world’s largest energy producer, to step up offshore oil and gas exploration to offset a long-term production decline onshore.

“There is no ecological danger. The vessel was carrying the minimum amount of fuel as it was being tugged by two craft,” said a spokesman for AMNGR, a unit of state-owned Zarubezhneft.

An icebreaker, the “Magadan”, was still at the scene.

The jack-up rig, which has three support legs that can be extended to the ocean floor while its hull floats on the surface, was overturned in stormy winter conditions with a swell 5-6 meters high.

“The violation of safety rules during the towing of the drilling rig, as well as towing without consideration of the weather conditions . . . are believed to be the cause of the (disaster),” investigators said in a statement on their website.