Five missing after oil rig sinks off Gabon

LIBREVILLE, Gabon: Rescuers searched Sunday for five people missing after an oil rig sank off the coast of Gabon, the operating company and Gabon authorities said.

The Prospector 5 rig was preparing to start offshore drilling off Gabon when it experienced a severe structural failure on Saturday evening, "resulting in loss of stability and the subsequent sinking of the rig", Borr Drilling said.

"At the time of the incident, there were 115 personnel onboard the rig," the Bermuda-headquartered firm said in a statement.

"A total of 110 individuals have been safely accounted for. Five individuals remain unaccounted for, with extensive search and rescue operations ongoing," it added.

Gabon's oil minister Clotaire Kondja said in a statement that "the search and rescue operation was continuing without a break" backed by the country's navy.

Kondja added that the platform "listed and subsequently sank during pre-loading operations, which were taking place ahead of a planned drilling campaign."

"No release of harmful substances has been observed at this stage," Kondja added. "The area is under continuous surveillance, and pollution-response resources remain deployed to protect the coastline and Mayumba National Park."

Prospector 5 was supporting the drilling work of BW Energy, a Norwegian firm which describes itself on its website as an "independent oil and gas company with operations and developments in Gabon, Brazil, and Namibia."

Borr Drilling said it was in touch with BW Energy.

"We are deeply concerned for those who remain unaccounted for and everyone affected by this incident," Borr Drilling chief executive Bruno Morand was quoted as saying in the statement.

Gabon's President Brice Clotaire Oligui said in a social media post: "Those who work at sea on behalf of our country must be able to do so safely. This is a requirement I will enforce with every operator present within our maritime territory."