UK operator Centrica has taken 16 staff off its Rough 47/3B platform in the North Sea after one of the workers tested positive for Covid-19.
The company confirmed that a worker tested positive on August 6 and, as a precaution, an additional 15 colleagues who had been identified as close contacts were taken off the platform by helicopter on the same day. Centrica noted that the 15 workers later tested negative for Covid and there have been no further cases since on board the Rough installation.
The company added that all workers tested negative using lateral flow testing before arriving at the platform. Rough 47/3B has been offline since April for planned maintenance, so there was no interruption to production.
The situation on the Rough platform follows an outbreak last month on the Taqa North Cormorant, Repsol Sinopec’s evacuation of workers from Piper Bravo, and setbacks at the Shell Shearwater platform, which started in June.