Rig incident: 110 rescued, 5 still missing after Borr Drilling’s jack-up sinks off Gabon coast
The search is ongoing for offshore workers, who remain unaccounted for following a punch-through incident at a 2014-built rig offshore Gabon.
After the Prospector 5 jack-up drilling rig lost stability and sank off the coast of Gabon late Saturday night, triggering an extensive search and rescue operation for the 115 offshore workers on board, 110 personnel have been safely accounted for. The fate of the remaining five is still unknown, leaving families and colleagues anxiously awaiting news as the search continues.
Borr Drilling has disclosed that an incident occurred at approximately 20:37 local time on October 24, 2026, involving the 2014-built Prospector 5 rig while conducting jacking operations offshore Gabon in preparation for a planned campaign to support BW Energy's drilling operations at the Dussafu license.
Based on the preliminary information, the jack-up experienced a punch through event during preload activities, resulting in loss of stability and the subsequent sinking of the rig. The Prospector 5 is a Friede & Goldman (F&G) JU-2000E class, self-elevating jack-up drilling unit designed to operate in water depths of up to 400 feet and capable of drilling down to 35,000 feet.
At the time of the incident, there were 115 personnel onboard the rig. Both Borr Drilling and BW Energy have confirmed that a total of 110 individuals have been safely accounted for; however, five workers remain unaccounted for, with extensive search and rescue operations ongoing.
This story was originally published by Offshore Energy. Read the full story at Offshore Energy →
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