Workers were evacuated from a rig in the North Sea after it was struck by an offshore supply vessel.
UK oil and gas operator Harbour Energy said that a collision took place on Sunday night when the OSV hit the 14,100-gt Valaris JU 120 (built 2013).
A company spokesperson said 52 non-essential workers were evacuated from the rig as a precautionary measure on Monday, according to The National and the BBC. They were removed on three flights.
The rig, which is owned by Valaris, is located on Block 30/7A off Aberdeen, working in combination with the Judy platform. There were 120 people on the rig at the time of the incident, according to a BBC report.
“People are our priority, and everyone on board the rig and the vessel is safe and well,” the spokesperson told The National.
“Our incident response teams have been mobilised and are in liaison with the relevant authorities.”
The OSV involved in the incident has not been named.
Tracking data from VesselsValue shows that Sentinel Marine’s 3,875-bhp Forties Sentinel (built 2016), an emergency response and rescue vessel, is located near the stricken rig. A spokeswoman for the vessel’s operator confirmed that it was not involved in the incident.
The Valaris 120 is a heavy duty, harsh environment jack-up rig. The unit is on contract to Harbour Energy until July at $130,000 per day, after which the UK operator will pay $166,000 per day to keep the jack-up until July 2028.
