Byford Dolphin Accident: What happened at the Byford Dolphin accident? Where is the Byford Dolphin now?

Byford Dolphine was a semi-submersible, column stabilised drilling rig operated by Dolphin Drilling, a Fred Olsen Energy Subsidiary. The rig has suffered some accidents, most notably an explosive decompression in 1983 that killed four divers and one dive tender, and badly injured another dive tender.

On March 1, 1976, the rig ran aground during transit from a block in the North Sea Bergen. All crew were evacuated, but six people died when they fell out of their lifeboats.

Also in November 1983, while drilling in the Frigg gas field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, four divers were in a diving chamber system on the rig’s deck that was connected by a trunk to a diving bell.

What happened at the Byford Dolphin accident?

On April 17, 2002, a 44-year-old Norwegian worker on the rig was struck on the head and killed in an industrial accident. The accident resulted in Byford Dolphin losing an exploration contract with Statoil, which expressed concerns with the rig’s operating procedures.

Where is the Byford Dolphin now?

The current position of Byford Dolphin is in North Sea with coordinates 58.11460 degrees/ 7.04561 degrees as reported on January 1, 2012 by a vessel tracker app.