Jackup Rig Collapses off Trinidad, Leaving One Worker Missing

 

On Sunday, a jackup rig partially collapsed off the coast of Trinidad, injuring one worker and leaving one missing. 

At about 0300 hours on Sunday morning, the Rig 110 was conducting drilling at a site at the Heritage Offshore East Field when part of the deck collapsed. 75 people were aboard at the time of the incident; one was injured in the collapse and received medical care, according to local media. The rig was evacuated after the collapse.

One worker, identified as Pete Phillip, 45, remains missing. A search is still under way for Phillip; The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard vessel responded to the scene with the cutter TTS Port of Spain, accompanied by the OSV Atlantic Star and eight other support vessels. Dive operations are under way to search the underwater wreckage, according to the SAR team. 

The field's operator, Heritage Petroleum Company Ltd., has set up an incident command center at its marine base in Point Fortin with a staff of 25. This team organized the evacuation of the rig and continues to provide drone surveillance and response support in the aftermath of the collapse. 

Phillip's wife told the Trinidad Daily Express that she and her four children are anxiously awaiting his safe return. 

"The children keep asking for their father. They just asking if they find him. He was to come home Christmas morning," Candacy Phillip told Daily Express. 

Rig 110 is the largest offshore rig asset of Well Services Petroleum Company, an offshore service firm in Trinidad and Tobago. The company has not yet commented publicly on the casualty.