上海国际海事信息与文献网

来源：Offshore Energy 2024-04-09

翻译：国际海事信息网 赵扬捷 张运鸿

        墨西哥国有石油公司（Pemex）证实，其位于墨西哥湾的一个石油平台发生火灾事故。这一悲剧性事件发生在墨西哥海岸附近，造成一名承包商死亡，多名近海工人受伤。

        据 Pemex 公司称，4 月 6 日星期六，该公司位于墨西哥湾南部坎佩切湾的 Cantarell 生产综合体的 Akal-B 平台上处理天然气的管道所在区域发生火灾。该公司称已立即启动了应急计划（PRE）。

        据报告，最初有九名工人受了轻伤。这些近海工人的名单包括 Pemex 的两名工人和承包商的七名工人（Diavaz 的三名工人和 Coter 的四名工人），他们已被送往 Ciudad del Carmen 进行评估。

        然而，墨西哥能源巨头在 4 月 7 日周日发布的最新消息中却对坎佩切湾 Akal-B 平台火灾中的工人另有说法，该平台的日产量为 20 万桶。根据最新评估，五名 Pemex 工人在火灾中受伤。

        虽然其中两名工人有一级和二级烧伤，但据最新报告，他们的健康状况稳定，就像另外两名有瘀伤的工人一样。不过，一名工人伤势严重，预计将被送往墨西哥城接受治疗。来自迪亚瓦兹的三名工人在社会保障医院接受了评估并已出院。

        至于来自 Coter 的六名工人，其中一人在社会保障医院接受了评估并已出院，三名受一级和二级烧伤的工人在同一机构住院治疗，健康状况稳定，一名住院工人据报告健康状况严重。

        另一方面，来自 Coter 公司的六名工人中，有一名工人的命运与其他受影响的工人不同，这名工人因平台被大火吞噬而死亡。Pemex 公司强调，将继续对该地区进行检查和评估，以查明起火原因，并采取行 动恢复平台的运作。

        这并不是墨西哥石油公司的一个平台第一次发生此类事故，去年 7 月 Nohoch - A 平台也发生了火灾。当时，该公司有三名工人受伤，但已脱离危险，而一家未公开的私人承包商的两名工人在火灾中丧生，另有五人受伤，一人失踪。

        除了这起悲剧事件，2021 年 7 月初在该公司 Ku Maloob Zaap 石油开发项目附近出现的 "火眼 "也成为了头条新闻，当时水下管道的天然气泄漏引发了大火。Pemex 公司后来表示，由于工人们行动迅速，避免了这一事件对环境造成的破坏。

        毫无疑问，在采取措施使石油和天然气平台的工作更加安全方面已经取得了进展。然而，像这些悲剧事件以及上个月在加蓬近海发生的悲剧事件，都让人们认识到有必要寻求新的途径来确保近海工人的安全。

        这些海上事故也引发了新一轮的争论，讨论让工人做好准备应对此类高压紧急情况的正确方法，以及运营商在培训员工应对此类事件方面的责任。

        （本文版权归国际海事信息网所有，图片版权归原作者，转载请注明出处。）

Fire at Gulf of Mexico platform ends in fatality while multiple workers suffer injuries

Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has confirmed a fire incident at one of its oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. This tragic incident, which occurred off the coast of Mexico, resulted in the death of one contractor while several offshore workers have been injured.

According to Pemex, a fire broke out on Saturday, April 6, in the area where the pipelines that handle gas are located at its Akal-B platform, part of the Cantarell production complex in the Bay of Campeche, or Campeche Sound, in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico region. The company claims that the emergency response plan (PRE) was activated right away.

Initially, nine workers were reported to have sustained non-serious injuries. The list of these offshore workers included two from Pemex and seven from contractors – three from Diavaz and four from Coter – which were sent to Ciudad del Carmen for evaluation.

However, the Mexican energy giant’s update from Sunday, April 7, told a different story about the workers affected by the fire on the Akal-B platform in the Bay of Campeche, which produces 200,000 bopd. Based on the latest assessment, five Pemex workers suffered injuries in the fire.

While two of these workers have first and second-degree burn injuries, they were last reported to be in stable health condition, just like two more, who have bruises. However, a worker, who was in serious health condition, was expected to be mobilized to Mexico City for treatment. Three workers from Diavaz were evaluated at the Social Security hospital and were discharged.

Regarding six workers from Coter, one was evaluated at the Social Security hospital and discharged, three workers with first and second-degree burn injuries were hospitalized in the same institution and found to be in stable health condition, and one hospitalized worker was reported to be in serious health condition.

On the other hand, one of the six workers from Coter suffered a different fate from the other affected workers, since this worker died as a result of the fire that engulfed the platform. Pemex underlines that the inspection and evaluation of the area continue to be carried out to establish the causes of the fire and the actions that allow the re-establishment of platform operations.

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred on one of the Mexican heavyweight’s platforms, as a fire also broke out at the Nohoch – A platform last year in July. At the time, three of the firm’s workers were injured, but out of danger while two workers from an undisclosed private contractor lost their lives in the fire, five more were injured, and one was missing.

Aside from this tragic incident, the ‘eye of fire’, which appeared near the company’s Ku Maloob Zaap oil development in early July 2021, also made the headlines when a gas leak from an underwater pipeline started the blaze. Pemex later said that environmental damage from the incident was avoided due to quick action taken by its workers.

Undoubtedly, inroads have been made in putting measures in place to make work on oil and gas platforms safer. However, tragic incidents, such as these and the one that occurred last month offshore Gabon, hammer home the need to pursue new avenues to ensure the safety of offshore workers.

These offshore incidents also spur a new round of debates about the right way to get workers ready for such high-pressure emergencies and the responsibilities of operators in training their staff to face these types of events.