Workers were evacuated on Friday, but one of two lifeboats capsized in rough seas, leaving 29 people missing and presumed dead.

There have been no reports of spills so far. While rich in oil, the Caspian Sea, the largest enclosed inland body of water in the world, is also vulnerable to ecological damage.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Western companies including BP modernized the Caspian offshore industry. But the platform that caught fire on Friday was a legacy of the Soviet period, built in 1984.

BP has no relation to the site, which is operated by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, but it does operate nearby drilling rigs. A burst natural gas pipeline started the fire on Friday.

Whatever the eventual consequences of the fire, an accident so costly in lives and risky to the Caspian Basin is sure to raise alarms about safety in the offshore oil industry, still struggling to rebuild its reputation after the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

So far, 33 workers have been rescued and seven bodies have been retrieved from the water, Balamirza Agarahimov, the chief engineer of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan's production division, Azneft, told reporters on Tuesday in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

On Sunday the company said it had sent a request to neighboring countries to search for bodies in their territorial waters.

Over the weekend, the company tried to extinguish the fire by spraying it with water from nearby ships, without success, Agarahimov said.

Out on the sea on Monday, fierce winds were buffeting the platform with gusts up to 50 miles an hour, he said.

The structure, the No. 10 platform in the Gunashli field, had been pumping natural gas and about 6,700 barrels of oil a day from 28 undersea wellheads.

On Saturday, the State Oil Company said in a statement that it had shut the wells and sealed a pipeline leading to land to try to avert any spillage.

 

(NYT)