On History of Accidents on Offshore Oil Platforms

Accidents on oil and gas platforms have occurred regularly in Azerbaijan over the past three years, reflecting serious problems in the management and safety of the works. It is noteworthy that from 1985 (fire at a gas well in the field Bahar) to 2012 there was no such accident.

A serious accident occurred on Oct. 23, 2014 in the ​​marine oilfield named after N. Narimanov during the collapse and fire on the platform №441 (40 km south of Baku). Then, there were 41 oilmen on the platform of SOCAR. Rescuers evacuated 37 people. The bodies of three of the four oilmen who drowned in the sea were found 2 km away from the scene.

Even a larger emergency on a SOCAR facility took place on August 17, 2013 - an accident in the well №90 of Bulla Deniz during exploration drilling. Then fighting the fire in the open sea, 80 km from Baku took three months with the help of foreign companies, as well as the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the military ships of the Border Troops of Azerbaijan. There were no casualties.

The head of the Committee to Protect the Rights of the Azerbaijani Oilmen Mirvari Gahramanli believes that the cause of the fire was the human factor, namely the fault of the leadership of the Complex Drilling Works Office.

In the past, many times there were cases when for the sake of more profit, overhauling of the platforms was postponed in violation of the rules.  -0--