In the Caspian Sea, the search continues for the oilmen lost in the fire on an offshore oil platform. The President of Azerbaijan announced December 6 day of mourning for the tragedy.
At a press conference on December 6 the First Vice-president of SOCAR Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh said now all efforts are focused on finding the people and putting out the fire. A total of 63 people were on the platform. Currently missing are 29.
Yusifzadeh said the fire was caused by a long-lasting (27 hours) stormy wind at 38-40 m/sec, which caused waves 8-10 meters high.
The high pressure gas pipeline could not resist the shock from the waves and got damaged and there was a fire, which spread to one of the wells. The electricity supply was stopped on the platform at once and measures were taken to close the remaining wells, so they were not caught by flames.
According to the safety rules, the staff boarded on rescue boats - 26 and 34 each. Due to the high waves, the boats were not lowered onto the water.
Due to the strong wind, the rescuers could not come close to the platform. At night, the rope securing one of the boats broke and it fell into the sea. From hitting the piles the boat with 34 oilmen crashed. Only three men were rescued from this boat.
Meanwhile, 26 people were evacuated from the other boat and three others remained on the platform.
Currently, 29 people are being sought. Azerbaijan has informed the relevant departments of Turkmenistan and Iran and all the ships at sea on the oilmen lost.
Yusifzadeh said the fire has been localized, and there is no threat of the spread of the fire to other wells.
As soon as the pressure on the oil well weakens, the fire-fighting will become easier and the fire will be completely extinguished. Next, preparation for the restoration of the production will begin.
The platform Gunashli 10 was put into operation in 1984. It serves 24 oil wells and 4 gas wells. Every day it produces 1 million cubic meters of gas and 920 tons of oil.
As the representative of the 28 May Oil and Gas Extracting Department managing the shallow-water Gunashli oilfield told Turan, all the platforms of this field produce a total of 13,000 tons of oil and 14 million cubic meters of gas daily. -12C06--
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