Drilling platform belongs to Diamond offshore and national security body issues notice prohibiting operations on the rig.
An offshore oil worker suffered serious injuries on Diamond's Ocean Monarch offshore drilling rig operating in Australia's Bass Strait, prompting the national offshore safety body (NOPSEMA) to issue a "notice of prohibition".
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NOPSEMA said the worker was injured on September 17 after a drill line fell onto the Ocean Monarch's drill floor after the stress applied by the pulling works during the replacement of Drill Line 2 exceeded the breaking strength of the wire rope, causing its destruction.
According to the safety agency, the impact resulted in significant injuries and the equipment that fell from the considerable height had the potential for fatal injuries.
By understanding why the incident happened, the NOPSEMA stated, “When changing the drill line, the operator had no way of monitoring the amount of tension applied by the pulling jobs, as a result, excessive tension was applied to the drill line that exceeded breakage causing the wire rope to tear, resulting in the drill line falling onto the drill floor and significantly injuring a member of the workforce. ”
Following an on-site inspection, NOPSEMA has determined that the operation should not be undertaken again until Diamond offshore has put in place proper systems and work practices to remove the threat to the health and safety of the vessel's personnel.
"NOPSEMA continues to investigate this matter and further enforcement measures, if necessary, may be taken," the regulator said on Friday.
According to available information, at the time of the incident, the rig was working for Cooper Energy on the Annie-1 well. The incident came a day after Cooper announced that he would halt his drilling program off the coast of Australia due to the failure of two mooring chains on the “Ocean Monarch”.
