Recent Incident on Rowan Rig is very disturbing and dangerous
The recent protest on the Rowan EXL II is the continuation of a very disturbing and dangerous trend of protest action on operating offshore rigs.
Protest action on rigs operating offshore compromises the safety of operations. The latest incident follows on two similar incidents in the past.
The first happened in 2012. It involved the same company and the same rig. This incident created a highly unsafe situation that almost resulted in the loss of BP’s Savonette IV well.
The second happened in 2013 and involved the Well Services Rig 110 which was at the time drilling the Los Gallos exploration well for Petrotrin.
If workers have decided to withdraw their labour, for whatever reason, on an offshore rig they should leave the facility at the earliest possible opportunity. The latest development has the potential to damage the good reputation of Trinidad and Tobago as a country that drills offshore wells safely.
The Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Labour should immediately investigate this incident on the Rowan EXL II lest this trend of protest continues and spreads to other rigs.
Former Minister of Energy
Kevin Ramnarine