Chevron has confirmed that four out of six people aboard a helicopter died in a crash en route to the company's Tombua-Landana facility in Angola. A search operation has been mounted and involves 19 vessels and three helicopters. A
A statement from Chevron read: "A helicopter operated by Heli-Malongo departed the Malongo Terminal, in Cabinda province, Monday, September 26, 2016, at 15:23 and was en route to the Tombua-Landana offshore facilities. The helicopter did not reach its intended destination. It was carrying five passengers and one pilot… Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of all six colleagues at this time."
The newswire AFP, quoting local security sources, reported that all six people aboard the craft had perished. According to the AFP report, the bodies of four Angolans were recovered, while efforts continued to locate and retrieve the bodies of two foreign workers. One of the five people aboard the helicopter is an employee of Angola, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, a company operated by Chevron. Four are contractors.
Chevron did not say if the crash and search operations had affected oil production. Angola is looking to become Africa's lead exporter of oil and is shipping approximately 1.7 million barrels per day. Chevron said that the craft left the Cabinda province Monday afternoon, and did not release the nationalities of the victims.
This is not the first helicopter crash this year to affect the industry this year. On April 29, a helicopter crashed on Norway's west coast near Bergen. The helicopter was returning from a Statoil platform and was transporting workers from Statoil, Aker Solutions and Halliburton. 13 people died in that incident. That crash was the first offshore helicopter crash since 1997. In the wake of that crash, Statoil pledged to improve its safety response in regards to offshore helicopter transportation.
Lincoln Brown for Oilprice.com
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