Floatel Superior is operating in the Njord Field some 70 nm northwest of Kristiansund providing accommodation and construction support for Statoil’s Njord A FPU, a Floating Production Platform. Floatel Superior was positioned on Dynamic Position (with all anchors racked at the anchor bolsters) and due to severe weather in the area the vessel was located at standby mode some 200 meters away from Njord A. This morning an anchor came loose from the bolster, damaging two adjacent tanks. This caused a flooding of the vessel’s tank No. 10, which was empty before the incident; volume of this tank is 108 cubic meters. It has also been verified that the vessel’s tank No. 3, already filled with ballast water, has suffered some damage.

The immediate flooding of the empty tank No. 10 caused the vessel to list some 3-4 degrees and the listing was immediately eliminated by counter ballasting tanks on the opposite side.

The reason for the anchor coming loose is presently unknown and will be part of an investigation.

As a safety measure it was decided to evacuate all non essential personnel to the adjacent platform in the area, this evacuation took approximately 70 minutes and was completed 11.40 hours.

Floatel Superior will commence transit voyage to Kristansund for repair of the damaged parts. The actual period required before vessel is back in operation will be advised after inspection of the damage has been thoroughly assessed.