Oslo: Five people are dead and another four missing following an explosion on the BW Offshore-owned FPSO Cidade de Sao Mateus on charter to Petrobras in Brazil. The local oil workers’ union claim the accident happened because of a gas leak. Another 10 people were injured in the incident.
There were 74 workers onboard when the FPSO explosion happened on Wednesday around 120 km off the coast of the Brazilian state of Espirito Sante.
The fire was put out quickly and the vessel is reported as stable, according to Brazil’s petroleum directorate. No oil spill has been sighted.
For Petrobras, the accident is the latest headache as it fights its way through a damaging multi-billion dollar corruption case that has already taken many senior executive scalps.
“It is with deep sadness that we learned that at 1250 hrs yesterday an explosion occurred onboard the FPSO Cidade de Sao Mateus which we operate on behalf of Petrobras in Brazil,” said BW Offshore ceo Carl K. Arnet in a statement.
