In an impressive helicopter operation, the Norwegian oil company Statoil evacuated around 330 employees from the Floatel Superior platform in the Norwegian Sea, which began to tilt on Wednesday.
“About 30 people have been evacuated and we are now halting the evacuation,” said Einard Knudsen, spokesperson for the Solna Rescue Center, around 1 PM Central European Time.
The operation was carried out using six helicopters and took place under quite difficult weather conditions with waves of “10 to 12 meters,” said Statoil spokesperson Morten Eek.
The Floatel Superior platform in the Njord oil field tilted “between 3 and 4 degrees” early Wednesday morning after water breached one ballast.
An hour later, the platform was stabilized by partially flooding other ballasts, but the company decided to evacuate all personnel whose presence on the platform was not essential as a precaution.
The Floatel Superior is a type of floating hotel for workers maintaining the adjacent Njord A platform from which oil is extracted. According to the International Energy Agency, Norway is the seventh-largest oil exporter in the world and the second-largest exporter of natural gas.
