Offshore Supply Vessel Collides with Jackup Rig in UK North Sea, Prompting Evacuation

On Sunday night, an offshore supply vessel collided with a jackup rig in the UK North Sea, prompting the rig operator to partially evacuate as a precaution. The incident occurred around 2215 hours when a PSV struck one of the legs of the Valaris 120 rig, located about 150 miles east of Aberdeen, Scotland. With 128 workers on board at the time, 52 nonessential personnel were airlifted to Aberdeen in three flights as a safety measure.

Harbour Energy, the lease operator, emphasized that the safety of individuals on board both the rig and the vessel was their top priority. They confirmed that everyone was safe and well, with incident response teams activated and in communication with authorities. The Valaris 120 rig, a heavy-duty jackup built in 2013, was near Harbour Energy’s Judy platform at the time of the collision, which produces about 34,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Recently, Valaris 120 secured a three-year contract extension with Harbour Energy from 2025 to 2028. The rig, with a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 feet and the ability to operate in up to 470 feet of water, is crucial for ongoing subsea tieback developments in the area. These developments include extending the rig’s lifetime through projects like the Talbot field and the Jocelyn South exploration well, as well as planned infill wells at the Judy field and a rig-based well intervention campaign in 2024. The exact day rate for the contract extension was not disclosed.

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