Mumbai High

Offshore platforms can be hit by ships— usually the service boats that provide equipment and supplies. Sometimes these impacts can be very serious. In the case of the Mumbai High incident, for example, a large support vessel approached the platform to evacuate an injured man. The boat had problems with its computer-assisted azimuth thrusters so she was brought in stem-first under manual control. The helideck on the support vessel hit a riser, which started leaking. The leak resulted in a fire that leads to approximately 22 fatalities and total loss of the platform and of the vessel. 

Mumbai High. The attempt to bring an injured cook to medical facilities during monsoon conditions resulted in the destmction of a platform and ten fatalities. 

Mumbai High North 2005 India Production Vessel impact Fatalities, many injuries, loss of facility 22... 

The Mumbai High complex, which was located 160 kilometers west of the Mumbai coast of India, consisted of four bridge-connected platforms (one wellhead, two production, and one living quarters). At the time of the event, monsoon conditions were prevalent so helicopter operations were not possible. 

Walker, S. Mumbai High North Accident. Presentation to Marine Safety Forum. Merseyside, UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Available online at www.npchse. net/safety/pdfAiseM%20information/Mumbai-north-Blow-outreport.pdf (accessed 20 October 2013). 

CHAPTER 13 Offshore Oil and Gas Piper Alpha and Mumbai High... 

Mumbai High North (production platform) Mumbai Indian Ocean, 2005 22 fatalities Support vessel collided with gas export riser, fire and explosion. 

In May 2005, I carried out a third-party safety audit of two platforms in the Mumbai High oilfield owned and operated by the Indian state-owned oil company ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation). 

The Mumbai High oilfield complex is about 150 kilometers west of Mumbai, in the Indian Ocean. Mumbai High is actually a number of separate oilfields, which together supply more than 10% of India s oil consumption, so it is very important to their economy. I visited two platforms out of the many in the oilfield. 

Two months later on July 27, 2005, one of the ONGC platforms in Mumbai High had a devastating accident. 

The accident happened at the large Mumbai High North platform complex (Fig. 13.2), which consisted of four adjacent platforms connected by bridges [3,4]. (I had not visited this particular platform complex.)... 

ONGC opened anew Mumbai High North platform in October 2012. 

The accident had happened because, in a rush to transfer the injured cook to the platform, the vessel had approached the platform in an unsafe manner in severe weather. The crew of the MSV Samundra Suraksha were in too much of a hurry to do the right thing and help their colleague to reach the medical facilities on board the Mumbai High North platform complex. And, in a hurry to do the right thing, they caused a disaster. 

PIPER ALPHA AND MUMBAI HIGH COMMON LESSONS ... 

The common issue in both accidents was impulsive behavior by relatively non-senior people when faced with a (minor) crisis. In the case of Piper Alpha, it was the rapid decision to re-instate the standby condensate pump without checking its status properly. In the case of Mumbai High, it was the rapid decision to transfer the injured cook from MSV Samundra Suraksha to the Mumbai High North platform, despite adverse weather, the unavailability of the leeward crane, and the exposed design of the gas riser on the windward side. 

J.B. Verma, Mumbai High incident and regulatory progress since. International Regulators Forum Global Offshore Safety, Miami, December 2007. 

S. Walker, Mumbai High North Accident. HSE Presentation to the Marine Safety Forum 2006. 

At the other extreme, operators must resist urges for impulsive action when faced with a problem. The immediate cause of the Piper Alpha accident was precipitate, impulsive action to restore to service a pump that was under maintenance. Similarly, the Mumbai High accident occurred because of ill-considered action to help a crew member on the MSV Samundra Suraksha who had cnt his fingers. Gronp think can also sometimes lead to bad, impulsive decision-making, snch as the Equilon Anacortes accident. Also, the Chernobyl accident was partly attribntable to operators who impulsively sought to bend the rules in order to complete a test. (A further, personal example of an ill-considered msh to action is desalbed in Appendix 1.)... 

Production Explosion fire Mumbai High, India 430... 

Mumbai High, Indian Ocean, Production, Explosion and Fire... 

Over the years, many accidents in the offshore industrial sector have occurred and resulted in many fatalities and a large sum of money being spent on damages. Some examples of the deadliest accidents in the offshore oil and gas industry are the Piper Alpha platform accident in the United Kingdom in 1998, the Mumbai High North Platform accident in India in 2005, and the Alexander L. Kielland accident in Norway in 1980 [3],... 

The Mumbai high field, discovered in 1974, is the largest oil and gas field in India. The field is located in the Arabian Sea, approximately 100 miles west... 

Compare the Piper Alpha accident with the Mumbai High North Platform accident. 

Mumbai High North, retrieved on April 10, 2009 from website http //home. versatel.nl/the-sims/rig/mhn.htm. 

Riser Safety in UK Waters-Lessons from Mumbai High North Disaster, Report No. SPG/Technical/OSD/33, Hazardous Installations Directorate, Health and Safety Executive, London, May 2006. 

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