Corona wave shuts 2 ONGC rigs on west coast

NEW DELHI: A spate of coronavirus infections aboard western offshore installations has forced ONGC to evacuate one of the four rigs hired from Great Eastern Shipping’s service arm and forced the state-run explorer to put additional checks to prevent contractors from compromising on the company’s stringent crew changeover protocols to save cost.
Sources said ONGC stopped the operation of ‘Greatship Chitra’ and ordered evacuation after 16 crew members tested Corona positive more than a week ago. ‘Greatship Charu’ was next to face the same fate. ONGC has also stopped payment by putting the rigs on ‘zero-day-rate’. A large number of cases have also been reported from BHS, Neelam and Bedlam installations.
The outbreak has given rise to apprehensions that contractors may be cutting corners to save on additional cost of testing and quarantining the relieving crew since these are not covered under the rig contract.