Huge wave kills person on board Chinese oil rig in North Sea

Statoil and China Oilfield Services Limited confirmed the incident

Norway had been experiencing stormy weather since earlier in the day (Getty)

One person died and two were injured after a huge wave hit an oil rig in the North Sea amid stormy weather.

The rig, which belonged to China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) was drilling for Norway’s Statoil at the Troll field, offshore to the west of the Norwegian city of Bergen.

Statoil said in a statement: “It is with sorrow that Statoil and COSL have received confirmation from police that one person is dead following a huge wave that hit the COSL Innovator today.”

The two injured people received medical treatment on land, according to Statoil.

The companies were informed of the incident around 5pm local time on Wednesday.

Spokeswoman at the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority, Eileen Brundtland, told Reuters the weather had been “rough”, with waves reaching 14 metres high and wind speed 25 to 30 meters per second.

She said: “Strong winds prevented a helicopter from landing on the rig and people had to be lifted.”

According to MarketWatch, Jorge Andersen, chief executive of COSL Drilling Europe, said: “This is very, very sad. A wave surge had built up and hit the rig, and shattered some of the windows in the accommodation module, 16 to 17 metres above the sea level.”

The rig is being taken to the Norwegian coast, while remaining crew are being evacuated to the mainland by helicopter.

Production at the Troll field, Norway’s largest gas field, was not affected, a Statoil spokesman said.

The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority will be investigating the “serious incident”. They said this was the “first fatal accident in the petroleum industry on the Norwegian continental shelf since 2009”.

In May 2009, a person fell from scaffolding at the Oseberg B platform in the North Sea, which was operated by Statoil, then known as StatoilHydro.