Probe into incident with ‘potential for fatality’ at ExxonMobil’s Canada platform underway

(www.offshore-energy.biz) ExxonMobil Canada Properties, a subsidiary of the U.S.-headquartered energy giant ExxonMobil, has launched an investigation into the root cause of a near-miss incident at the Hebron platform offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

According to the Canadian offshore regulator, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB), ExxonMobil has reported that a hydraulic pin puller failed on 28 May 2023, while completing maintenance on the knuckle boom crane on the Hebron platform using the hydraulic pin puller.

This resulted in the puller rod being projected approximately 19 metres across the pipe deck striking the top of the northwest pipe deck handrail, and then dropping 21 metres to the deck below, landing on a walkway. The rod weighed approximately 6.8 kg. The operator immediately ceased work in the area.