DEADLY EXPLOSION ON BRAZIL OIL SHIP LEASED BY PETROBRAS; LABOR UNION SAYS 3 DEATHS and AT LEAST 6 MISSING
February
11, 2015
RIO DE
JANEIRO — An explosion on a ship leased by state-run oil company Petrobras left
three workers dead and another six missing on Wednesday, according to Brazil's
biggest oil industry union.
The Health
Ministry for the state of Espirito Santo, where the explosion took place, said
in an emailed statement that so far 10 workers have been treated for injuries —
two for "grave burns" and another eight for "trauma."
The Unified
Oilworkers Federation said in a statement on its website that the blast was
caused by a gas leak in the engine room of the vessel, one of the many floating
oil production, storage and offloading units that Petrobras employs in developing
Brazil's massive offshore oil fields.
The union
said the other 32 workers were safely evacuated off the ship onto a smaller
vessel, and that a fire on the Petrobras ship is under control and "there
are no risks of more explosions." It was not clear what the overall
condition of the vessel was.
The
government of Espirito Santo state confirmed there was an explosion on the
Cidade de Sao Mateus ship, located about 370 miles (600 kilometers) northeast
of Rio de Janeiro, but couldn't confirm the numbers killed, missing or injured.
The
accident comes amid a crisis for Petrobras, as federal investigators continue
to probe a massive kickback scheme allegedly operated by former executives of
the oil company, which saw them receiving hundreds of millions in bribes from
construction and engineering firms in exchange for giving those companies
inflated contracts.
Petrobras
didn't respond to telephone and email requests for comment.
The ship
was leased by Petrobras starting in 2009 from Norway-based BW Offshore, according
to the Norwegian firm's website, with a contract running at least to 2018.