SapuraClough Adds Health Support, Contains Outbreak Offshore Gorgon

SapuraClough Offshore, a fully owned subsidiary of SapuraKencana Petroleum, confirmed Friday through a telephone interview with Rigzone that it has successfully contained an illness which broke onboard two vessels – the Java Constructor general purpose construction support barge and the Geocean Kalinda pipelay barge – working on the Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

SapuraClough's CEO Guido Bressani said that while a number of people onboard the Java Constructor had been affected, the number of cases had declined "considerably" in the past few days.

"We are treating this issue seriously and have deployed additional health resources to the vessel to help manage the situation," Bressani said.

"In addition to the onboard medics and the hygiene and sanitary practices already implemented in accordance with Australian health guidelines, we have deployed health resources including an occupational hygienist on the vessel to investigate the situation and provide ongoing consultation with onshore medical doctors," Bressani added.

Bressani also refuted claims about crew being asked to work despite them having reported that they were unwell.

"Affected personnel have been taken off duty and appropriate measures are being taken to manage their wellbeing," Bressani said.

The vessels are installing the 56-mile DomGas pipeline which will connect the Gorgon LNG development on the offshore Barrow Island to the onshore Dampier-Bunbury gas pipeline. The operations are carried out using the Geocean Kalinda, while the Java Constructor is being used as the project's living quarters.

Gorgon LNG's first phase is around 45 percent completed; the project has an initial annual output capacity of 15.6 million metric tonnes of LNG.

Chevron is the largest shareholder in Gorgon with a 47 percent interest and acts as operator, while Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell PLC own 25 percent stakes each. Three Japanese companies that will import much of Chevron's share of LNG from Gorgon own the remaining interest.

Source: RIGZONE