Excerpts from Borr Drilling’s latest update (10/29/2026):
Of the 115 personnel on board at the time of the incident, 110 have returned ashore. Those personnel remain in Gabon and are being provided with accommodation, care and ongoing support, with their wellbeing remaining a priority for the Company.
As part of the ongoing search and rescue operations, the Company has been notified that an underwater remotely operated vehicle has located the bodies of three individuals. Recovery efforts are underway and extensive search and rescue efforts continue for the two individuals who remain unaccounted for.
At the time of the incident, there was approximately 280 cubic meters of marine diesel fuel onboard the Prospector 5. In coordination with our customer and the local authorities, resources have been mobilized and measures are being taken to mitigate and minimize any environmental impact related to this incident.
Lessons learned from this tragic incident, both in terms of root causes and potential mitigations, will be beneficial in preventing recurrences elsewhere. Borr Drilling has been forthcoming in providing updates. Hopefully, they will be similarly transparent in sharing the findings and recommendations resulting from their investigation.
Some operators, contractors, and regulators have been less proactive in sharing investigation results. Perhaps this is a good time to repeat our recommendation calling for an international standard that identifies incident information to be publicly disclosed and specifies the timeframes and methods for releasing this information. An API or ISO committee would seem to be the best means of developing such a standard.
