Almost four months after a “dropped object incident,” the drill rig Henry Goodrich is ready to go back into service offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.
No one was injured on Aug. 23 when the incident — involving a large, hydraulic cylinder — first took place. Even so, the event prompted Husky Energy, the oil company using the rig at the time, to launch a safety review and determine both what had happened and why.
The rig was towed into Conception Bay on Sept. 2 and has been there ever since.
However, according to Husky spokeswoman Colleen McConnell, it is going to leave the bay soon enough.
A firm departure date is expected to be made available to the company late today, McConnell said Thursday.
The initial safety review for the Henry Goodrich led into a refurbishment and replacement of some of the rig’s onboard equipment, she confirmed.
A focus of the work was onboard lifting systems — the main deck cranes, blowout preventer crane, racking system and pipe barn crane, used in a storage area.
Husky employees worked with a team from Transocean, the rig owner, to complete the project.
Transocean is based in Houston, and sent in the team.
According to Husky, while it has had to rearrange its offshore work schedule to accommodate the rig’s downtime, the cost of work completed on the Henry Goodrich is the responsibility of Transocean.
“The main impact (for Husky) would be to the drilling schedule, but we have worked around that,” McConnell told The Telegram.
While it is in Conception Bay, cargo movements for the Henry Goodrich have continued to be co-ordinated through the Port of St. John’s. Some of the people heading to and from the rig have been moved in and out at Conception Bay.
Once it is ready to go, the Henry Goodrich is expected to head back to operational activities for Husky — used in both development and exploration drilling.
afitzpatrick@thetelegram.com
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
