Ship hits Deep Panuke natural gas platform

A diving support ship will remain in port in Mulgrave, N.S., during an investigation into why it hit the Deep Panuke offshore natural gas platform.

At about 5:45 a.m. Tuesday, the Acergy Discovery struck one of the legs of the platform as well as the riser caisson — a large tube used to connect the platform to the underwater lines.

"The vessel then left the field, it returned to port to Mulgrave and there's an investigation underway to figure out what exactly happened," said Lori MacLean, a spokeswoman for EnCana Corp.

"The vessel works in fairly close proximity to the platform, but obviously it shouldn't make any type of contact with it."

MacLean said although there were divers in the water at the time, no one was hurt.

"At the time of the incident there were diving operations taking place to connect the equipment offshore so that natural gas can flow from the wells of Deep Panuke to the production platform," she said.

Crews are inspecting the Acergy Discovery as well as the Deep Panuke platform. The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board is supervising the investigation with representatives from EnCana Corp., Subsea7 and Single Buoy Moorings Inc., which owns and operates the platform.

MacLean said there is no word on how long the investigation will last or how long the Acergy Discovery will have to stay in Mulgrave.

It's also unclear how the incident will affect EnCana Corp.'s plans to have the platform producing natural gas by the end of the year.

"There will be a delay while the vessel is being looked at and while the investigation is ongoing but other activities on the platform itself will continue," said MacLean.

"The vessel won't return to the field until everyone's comfortable that it's safe to return to the field, so that's why it's returned to Mulgrave to participate in the investigation and to be reviewed and looked at, so that it's safe to resume operations."