Government agencies are on alert for a possible oil spill from the floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel deployed at US supermajor Chevron’s Benchamas field off the coast of Thailand after an explosion on board left a dead worker
One crew member died after seawater entered the hull of FSO Benchamas 2 when a seal malfunctioned during maintenance work. Chevron confirmed to the media that a crew member, a contractor, who was working aboard the vessel during the maintenance operation had lost his life. There were 29 crew members on board the FSO at the time of the explosion and non-essential workers have since been demobilized.
“The safety of all staff and the protection of the environment remain our top priorities. We have engaged and notified the relevant authorities and are working with all interested parties,” Chevron said in a statement.
Upstream has reached out to Chevron for independent verification and comment.
The kingdom’s government has tasked the Royal Thai Navy and the Department of Transport to help prevent a potential major oil spill from the FSO, which is deployed in the Benchamas field in the Gulf of Thailand.
Royal Thai Navy spokesman Admiral Prokgrong Monthatphalin said several agencies were working to recover the body of the dead crewman, fix the leak and prevent an oil spill.
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“The ship’s condition is safe and weather conditions are not interfering with rescue operations. However, there is no electricity in the engine room… it is affecting the assessment of the situation,” Prokgrong was quoted as saying in a statement in the Bangkok Post.
The FSO, which for more than four years has been operating at Chevron’s Benchamas field in block B8/32 in the Gulf of Thailand about 130 miles from Chon Buri province, home to Thailand’s largest naval base, had about 400,000 barrels of oil on board. the time of the incident.
The offshore and maintenance operator of Benchamas 2, Petronas subsidiary MISC, converted the Aframax tanker delivered by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1999 into an FSO five years ago. The ABS-classified double hull vessel, which is moored in the Benchamas field in a water depth of 71 meters using an external turret, has a storage capacity of 650,000 barrels of crude oil.
In January, Thai fishermen and local business owners filed lawsuits totaling about $150 million against Chevron subsidiary Star Petroleum Refining over an early 2022 oil spill in the Gulf of Thailand that stemmed from ‘a leak in an underwater flexible hose that was used to load tankers into a marine sun. point mooring (SPM).
“We have a long history as a safe, reliable and attentive operator. We take full responsibility for our operations [and] We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the impact of this spill,” SPRC Chief Robert Joseph Dobrik previously said.
