Drillship Crew Stranded During Hurricane Ida Evasion; Evacuation Activities Pending

More than 100 have been stranded on a drillship after suffering Hurricane Ida’s evasion while the Noble Globetrotter was in the Gulf of Mexico. They have reportedly said that the companies that were supposed to be evacuating them, before Ida hit, never turned up.

Crew members on Noble’s Globetrotter II drillship experienced horror-filled hours of the hurricane on the ship, more than 100 miles off Louisiana’s shore.

A crew member has reportedly said that they are still stuck on board and are unsure when help may be coming. Shell and Noble Corporation were to evacuate them. They never did. Another crew member said that their ship had almost capsized. He added that 80-foot waves and winds at a speed of 150 miles per hour kept slamming against their ship for several hours. He also said that Noble Corporation, the owner of the drillship, and Shell, with who Noble has a contract, waited until morning Ida hit to undertake evacuation-related activities.

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A Shell spokesperson said that they could confirm that four injured seamen had been promptly evacuated for medical evaluation on Tuesday afternoon.

For the remaining crew members, which is more than 100 individuals, Shell said that they were on the lookout for a place to land the helicopters to change crews in the days ahead. They, however, did not mention a date.

A Noble spokesperson has said that the drill ship’s helideck is operational. He added that helicopter transportation will resume when charter service is permitted from the hurricane-affected areas.

Another seaman on board the Noble Globetrotter II has said that he believes that the crew was left on the vessel, in harm’s way for no reason but the expense of rescuing them and again bringing them back when operations would be ready to resume.

Reference: myhighplains.com

Drillship Crew Stranded During Hurricane Ida Evasion; Evacuation Activities Pending appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News