HOUSTON, Aug 10, 2004 - GlobalSantaFe today reported that one of the company's drilling rigs, the GSF Adriatic IV, was severely damaged during a fire and sank in the Mediterranean Sea approximately 25 miles offshore Egypt. The fire occurred at 8:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday, August 10, 2004, following a well control incident.
There were no injuries and all 79 persons onboard the drilling rig were safely evacuated by boat to the nearest shorebase. The personnel on the rig included 44 GlobalSantaFe employees and 35 contract workers.
"We are thankful we were able to safely evacuate all personnel from the rig without injury," said Jon Marshall, GlobalSantaFe's President and Chief Executive Officer.
At the time of the incident, the rig was located over a production platform owned by Petrobel, a joint venture between Eni and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. The rig had been at the location for 58 days.
