Worker escapes death in offshore construction mayhem

A worker welding a gas pipeline for Santos’ Barossa project is lucky to be alive after a heavy metal vent cover fell on him in one of at least three serious safety incidents this year on a pipe-laying vessel north of Darwin.

A video of the February 6 incident shows two workers moving pipe before disappearing in a cloud of dust after a metal vent cover about 2 metres square fell from above and knocked one worker to the floor on the Audacia vessel, owned by Dutch company Allseas.

Brad Gandy, the spokesman for the Offshore Alliance of unions that represent offshore workers, said the serious incident hospitalised the worker.

“Allseas resumed welding operations within 45 minutes of the incident and showed blatant disregard for the welfare of our members,” he said.

Offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA had inspectors on board the Audacia at the time. Gandy claimed they did nothing to stop work to allow a more thorough investigation, but a spokesman for the regulator refuted this and said work stopped immediately and did not start until the inspectors approved it.

A week later, an out-of-control lift of a container onto the 225 metre-long Audacia, also caught on video, caused the container to swing wildly between the two vessels, only slowed by it hitting the water. Lifts are recognised as a high-risk activity offshore and are normally subject to significant planning beforehand.

The 330m-log Audacia can accommodate 270 workers and crew. Credit: Allseas

Gandy, also the Australian Workers’ Union WA branch secretary, said that incident had the potential to maim or kill workers.

A spokesman for the regulator said companies were required to report such incidents. It received a notice about the dangerous lift from Allseas at 4.30pm on Wednesday last week, 90 minutes after Allseas received a query from this masthead.

On January 6, welders and other workers assembling the pipeline on the “firing line” along the vessel’s length experienced a so-called pipe pull when the pipeline they were working on moved dangerously without notice.

Gandy said NOPSEMA did not speak to any of his members when it investigated the incident.

“This brings into question whether NOPSEMA exists to ensure the safety of oil and gas workers or to just lightly moderate the unacceptable behaviour of cowboy operators that are hellbent on maximizing profit,” he said.

The regulator’s spokesman said it was in the early stages of investigating the two recent incidents, and it had collected names of witnesses who would be interviewed.

Allseas said its equipment and processes met stringent standards, and it immediately reported the incidents to authorities. The contractor did not answer questions on the individual incidents, including what injuries were obtained by the worker hit by the vent cover.

The incidents come as Santos is trying to make up for 12 months of lost time. Installation of the 260 kilometre-long Barossa pipeline was to start in January 2023, but was delayed by legal action over whether there was Indigenous heritage along the route, and Santos did not get an all-clear until a few weeks ago.

The pipeline delay and other legal action that slowed the drilling for gas contributed to Santos suffering a $460 million cost increase and a three-month delay to the expected first export from its Barossa gas project.

Santos was asked if it was aware of the incidents on the Audacia and what it was doing to make the work safer. A company spokeswoman said it was committed to safety and the environment everywhere it operated.

The accidents north of Darwin occurred at the same time a vessel off the WA coast twice lost control of and damaged the pipeline it was laying for Woodside’s Scarborough gas export project.

Like Santos, Woodside is 12 months late beginning to install the pipeline for its key growth project. Australia’s biggest oil and gas company waited to perform additional consultation with Indigenous and other community groups about the 430km-long Scarborough pipeline to avoid a legal challenge similar a case that stalled drilling at Barossa.

In late January, the 330 metre-long Castorone vessel owned by Italian firm Saipem lost control of the pipeline it was installing off the Pilbara coast, forcing an evacuation of workers and damaging the pipeline. Repairs are expected to take a month before installation can resume.

Weeks earlier, computer-controlled thrusters that keep the Castorone in position failed, causing an uncontrolled movement of about 50 metres. Fortunately, no workers were along the firing line at the time.

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