SINGAPORE: About 90 workers were sent to hospital yesterday after an oil rig being built at a shipyard in Singapore tilted to one side, forcing many of them to jump into the water, officials and witnesses said.
Sembcorp Marine, which owns the shipyard, said there were no fatalities but four workers were admitted to hospital for treatment and observation. The rest were treated for minor injuries or sent home.
“The shipyard is presently investigating the incident,” it said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange. Bangladeshi worker Jashim Faizal, 27, said he was doing electrical work on the rig at the height of about three-story when the rig tilted.
“I jumped into the water. Hundreds of people jumped into the water with me,” he told AFP at a hospital after being treated for a minor ankle injury.
“I saw many workers struggling to swim,” he said, adding that he held on to a rope thrown by some of his colleagues and was pulled out.
Hawazi Daipi, senior parliamentary secretary for education and manpower, said the oil rig was being jacked up when one of the jacking mechanisms failed, resulting in it tilting over.
“I understand that all workers have been accounted for, and this is something we are very pleased with,” he said.
Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine Ltd, one of two major oil rig makers in Singapore, the other one being Keppel Corp.
Singapore makes most of the world’s offshore oilrigs.
90 injured in Singapore oil rig incident
