The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre finished the search for a 48-year-old man who is missing on the Visund platform yesterday at 18:00 hrs., concluding, on an overall basis, that it is not likely to find the man alive in the sea.

Statoil will continue to search the waters , using the Stril Herkules vessel. In addition a search and rescue dog from Norske Redningshunder will be sent to the platform to assist in the ongoing search on board.

“We are all affected by the situation, both on the platform and onshore. We have chosen to continue the search for the man both at sea and on the platform. Tom K. Gustavsen, vice president, Visund operations, will be sent offshore to assist the management on board and take care of the employees.We will maintain the low-level activity at Visund, before we gradually resume normal operations,” says Hans Jakob Hegge, SVP for operations.

The search will be intensified today by another vessel and one helicopter.

Source: Statoil, October 07 , 2011