Bulgarian among Disappeared in Sunk Russian Oil Platform

The Kolskaya floating platform which has completely sunken in the Sea of Okhotsk. Photo by AMNGR.ru

A Bulgarian citizen is among the 49 persons considered disappeared after Russian Kolskaya floating oil platform capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk.

The jack-up platform sank Sunday morning in the Russian Far East after being captured in a sea storm.

49 of the 67-member crew are reported missing, emergency services have this far uncovered the dead bodies of 4 of the crew.

14 of the crew have been rescued. Bulgarian citizen Zhivko Zhekov, who according to logs was on the rig platform at the time of the incident is not among them.

According to records, Zhekov is employed by UK oil and gas technology company GL Noble Denton.

Rescue authorities have suggested that the crew might have violated safety regulations by operating in dangerous weather.

At the time of the tragic incident Sunday, the Kolskaya platform was being trauled by two ships in stormy weather some 200 km off the coast of Sakhalin Island.

The Kolskaya independent leg jack-up platform, owned by Russian company Arktikmor Neftegaz Razvedka, has completely sunk into the sea. However, since it was not drilling at the moment, no major oil spill is feared.

Rescue operations are being continued to locate the disappeared crew.

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