On the evening of October 24 (local time), the jack-up drilling rig “Prospector 5,” owned by Borr Drilling, experienced a punch-through incident while conducting preload operations near Mayumba, off the southwest coast of Gabon. The rig rapidly lost stability and subsequently sank.
At the time of the incident, there were 115 offshore personnel on board. Initial reports indicated that 110 individuals were rescued, while 5 remained unaccounted for. According to the latest information from Reuters, one of the five missing individuals—an Indian crew member—has been confirmed dead; the other four remain missing, and search and rescue operations are ongoing.
According to reports, the incident unfolded with great speed; after the spud cans punched through a hard layer of the seabed, the platform tilted rapidly. Personnel on board immediately initiated emergency evacuation procedures, with the majority taking to liferafts to await rescue.
Based on a statement from BorrDrilling, the accident occurred at 8:40 p.m. local time. At the time, the rig had not yet begun drilling but was undergoing pre-loading to prepare for BW Energy’s drilling project. Preliminary findings indicate that during the pre-loading phase, the pile shoe penetrated the overlying hard crust formation, causing uncontrolled rapid subsidence, which led to the rig losing stability, capsizing, and sinking.
“Prospector 5” is an F&G JU-2000E type jack-up rig, built in 2014. It has a maximum operating water depth of 400 feet and a maximum drilling depth of 35,000 feet; it is a mature, mainstream jack-up design with a large number of units currently in service across the offshore industry. The rig began operations for BW Energy in early July under a contract running until July 2027, with an option for extension.
It is understood that following the incident, Gabon’s Ministry of Petroleum and Gas established a crisis response team. In addition to naval surface search-and-rescue assets, underwater search-and-rescue equipment has been deployed to the area to conduct operations around the site where the platform sank. An official investigation into the cause of the incident has also been initiated.
Meanwhile, BW Energy has announced that, as a precautionary measure, the nearby MaBoMo production facility has been shut down. The facility itself and its associated pipelines and equipment remain undamaged, and no pollutants have been observed leaking into the sea.