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When it burned down at Melkøya, Equinor was helped to put up a ship that was much more efficient than its own ships. The ship is normally three hours away.
Fire at Equinor Melkøya facilities September 28. Extinction is happening here. The ship marked in red is Esvagt Aurora, which was at Hammerfest when the fire broke out.
Christian Kråkenes, NRK
Published:
It burned violently at the Equinor gas plant in Melkøya a month ago. The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), the police and Equinor are now investigating the incident.
Aftenposten / E24 has obtained access to parts of the PSA investigation. They are now mapping Equinor’s fire readiness capabilities, including how far its water cannons could go.
The tender was close
Equinor received assistance from three ships during the extinction. Two of them were their own tugs, Pax and Audax. They have a contract with the shipping company Østensjø.
However, they received much more help from the emergency ship Esvagt Aurora. The 87-meter-long ship was only ten minutes away when the fire broke out.
– I don’t think the water from your own ships hit the fire. Its reach is not as long as ours. Also, it was very windy, says Danish Chris Hansen.
He is the first officer of Aurora.
The ship is usually on standby in the Goliath field, 85 kilometers from Hammerfest. It does not have a contract with Equinor, but with Vår Energi, which is the operator in the field.
The shipping company Esvagt itself claims they were “lucky” to be at Hammerfest when they were asked to help.
– It was completely a coincidence, says Hansen.
Says the ship was going to do an annual inspection.
– We would spend 3 to 3.5 hours from the Goliath field to Melkøya, adds Hansen.
Instead, they were in place in 10 minutes.
Equinor spent nearly eight hours putting out the fire. Aurora blushed for about five hours.
Esvagt Aurora is usually on hold in the Goliath field.
Esvagt
Much more efficient than own boats
The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority has asked Equinor how far firewater can go from its own ships. Aftenposten / E24 has access to the answer:
- The water reaches 130 meters long and 50 meters high. They can discharge a maximum of 40,000 liters of water per minute.
This is in contrast to the much more powerful Aurora.
- The water reaches 180 meters long and 110 meters high. It can discharge a maximum of 120,000 liters of water per minute.
In other words, Aurora had three times the power of each of her own ships. Also, it could shed greater height and distance.
– We were happy and proud to help. We didn’t put out the fire well enough when the water pumps went off. Thus, little by little we get closer to the earth. Eventually, we received messages from the facility that we hit the fire, Hansen says.
– How did you experience the incident?
– We have all seen action movies. Explosions can occur. But it didn’t feel that dramatic, he says.
In addition to Pax and Audax, Equinor has a third tug from Østensjø. These boats are part of the emergency preparedness in Melkøya. The third, Dux, was not used for extinction.
The view from Esvagt Aurora as the ship helped Equinor extinguish the fire at Melkøya outside Hammerfest.
Esvagt
Boats are only used “when needed”
Aftenposten / E24 has asked Equinor a series of questions via email.
“Preparation for fire protection at the facility must be attended by stationary fire suppression systems, mobile systems, industrial protection equipment with competence in smoke diving and local fire brigade.”
Eskil Eriksen writes in an email to Aftenposten / E24. He is the director of communications for Equinor.
“Our three tugs are equipped with cannons and are used when needed. Supply boats are not included in the permanent fire protection preparation for Hammerfest LNG,” he writes.
Regarding Hansen’s claim that his own ships did not hit the fire, Eriksen responds:
“We are very grateful for the help we received from Esvagt. The circumstances during the incident are still under investigation and investigation. Therefore, it is inappropriate for us to comment on this.
The PSA has also requested documentation of measures if the plant’s water pumps are faulty. Aftenposten / E24 has not had access to the response. The PSA does not want to say anything about the background of the question. They hope to comment on the case before finishing the investigation.
Equinor is unresponsive if the groundwater pumps were faulty. They also do not comment on why Dux was not used. Or how crucial Aurora’s help was. They also say nothing about the length of the launch and the effect of the water pumps on the ground.
Eldar Sætre: – You don’t know if the fire would have been extinguished
On Thursday, outgoing CEO Eldar Sætre presented Equinor’s third quarter result.
Outgoing CEO Eldar Sætre at Equinor.
Terje Bendiksby
Then Aftenposten / E24 asked him questions about fire fighting. Sætre emphasizes that it has not been clarified what important role Aurora played.
– You don’t know if this fire would have been extinguished, he says.
He cannot answer whether the extinguishing capacity of the plant was sufficient.
Extensive work
The facility in Melkøya can be closed for up to one year. Equinor announced on Monday. Downtime is due to post-fire damage.
– It takes quite extensive work, Eriksen told E24 on Monday.
No person was injured in the fire. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Equinor’s own review will continue throughout the year.
Just days before the fire, several deviations were found in the facility. An audit showed that the 2017 deviations had not been followed well enough. It is not yet known if these discrepancies are related to the fire.
