A rig sinks off Gabon

Mayumba, southern Gabon, Saturday 8.37 pm. In amateur footage, the Prospector 5 drilling rig leans, legs pointing at the sky, then disappears. The Borr Drilling unit was preparing four wells on the Dussafu Marin permit for BW Energy. 115 people were on board; 110 were brought back to Port-Gentil by two vessels.

One dead, missing crew, a leg in the sand

An Indian national is dead and four people are missing, three of them Gabonese, according to BW Energy and Reuters; on Monday, the Gabonese press agency said three of the missing had been found. Borr Drilling points to a leg punching through the seabed during preloading, a known risk the procedure is suposed to prevent.

President Brice Oligui Nguema demands cooperation from both companies; an administrative and a judicial inquiry are open. In the wreck, 280,000 litres of diesel, within reach of Mayumba National Park, where leatherback turtles nest. No leak detected so far. How long does an overturned hull keep its fuel?