Saipem reports accident on a vessel operating in the Caspian Sea

Culled from WorldOil.com

SAN DONATO MILANESE — Yesterday evening, as anticipated by a local company spokesperson, an explosion occurred on the vessel Israfil Huseynov operated by Saipem for pipelaying in the Caspian Sea in the framework of the Shah Deniz II project. In the early hours of this morning, the transportation to hospital of the fourteen people involved in the accident, all employees of the Saipem Group, was completed.

The incident was related to maintenance operations on an item of equipment during pipe-laying activities.

Seven of the fourteen injured are in intensive care due to the burns suffered. The injured people are of Italian, English, Azerbaijani, Rumanian, Malaysian and Croatian nationality.

In expressing its sympathy to the employees and their families, Saipem will continue to ensure the immediate repatriation of those who have suffered the least serious injuries and the transfer of the other injured people to specialized medical centers.