Workers evacuated from Pemex offshore oil
platform Zaap-E after fire
By : Svilen Petrov
All the 97 workers were evacuated from Pemex offshore oil platform Zaap-E after fire. The rig, which
is located in the Bay of Campeche, caught fire in machine room, which was caused by short circuit
from one of the aggregates.
The company operator ordered all the crew on board to be evacuated during firefighting and
following inspections. The fire was quickly brought under control and fully extinguished after several
hours, but caused damages of the engineering and machinery of the offshore oil rig Zaap-E.
The company reported that during the accident there were no injured people and no oil spill. The
Mexico’s state-owned company Pemex and local authorities will start investigation for the root cause
of the fire.
The Pemex oil platform Zaap-E is operating Mexico’s offshore fields the Ku-Maloob-Zaap, which is
located in shallow waters at the southern edge of the Gulf of Mexico.
The field produces around 860,000 barrels of crude per day, more than a third of Pemex’s total crude
oil production, according to the latest available figures.
The offshore oil rig Zaap-E was not operational at the time of accident and fire did not impact on
production.
“Zaap E platform, part of the Ku Maloob Zaap field located in shallow waters at the southern edge of
the Gulf of Mexico, was being installed at the time so was not operational”, said Pemex in official
statement.
“There is no oil leak and water pollution”, added from the company.The offshore oil platform Zaap-E
is owned and operated by Dragados Offshore and chartered by Pemex for operations in fields the KuMaloob-Zaap.
The contract included engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the wellhead platform
Zaap-E with a total weight of 6,800 DWT. Source : Maritime News