When One Slip Changed Everything

That Rosebank accident didn’t happen this week ( it was April ) but the impact is just being assessed

During a critical offshore lifting operation, engineers were lowering a 646 tonne blowout preventer and marine riser more than a kilometre to the seabed. The blowout preventer is the well’s primary safety system. If anything goes wrong during drilling, it is designed to seal the well.

Then everything went wrong.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, one electric motor on the lifting system failed. The remaining motors then tripped. The main braking system was lost. Emergency brakes were applied but could not stop the load.

The result was catastrophic.

The blowout preventer and around 400 metres of riser fell uncontrollably to the seabed.

The HSE has not blamed an individual worker. Its concern is that the lifting system itself did not have adequate fail safe protection to prevent a single failure escalating into a major incident.

No one was injured.

There was no environmental spill.

But that one engineering failure has delayed first production at Britain’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field until 2027.

It is a reminder that offshore engineering is unforgiving. Modern safety systems are supposed to cope when components fail. When they don’t, the consequences can be enormous.

Now the bigger picture.

The Strait of Hormuz remains the world’s most important oil transit route. The Bab el Mandeb, beside Yemen, is another vital chokepoint where the Houthis have demonstrated their ability to disrupt international shipping.