Saudi Aramco

Drilling & Workover Organization

Mast Collapse during Rig Move Operations

March 2016
The Alerts are provided to all Drilling and Workover Operations Foremen and Liaisonmen so that we all learn from the
experiences of others. The knowledge of this incident could prevent similar ones from happening in the future.
Saudi Aramco policy requires the information in this Alert to be communicated to all crew members and documented on
morning reports.

What happened?
March 2016. During rig move operations while lowering the mast, when it reached
the angle of approximately 40 degrees from the ground the drillers side hydraulic
cylinder (dragon piston) was noticed to be leaking oil. The drilling crew decided to
continue lowering the mast since this was regarded as the best option at this point.
As the mast continued to be lowered to the point of approximately 25 to 30 degrees
the driller’s side hydraulic cylinder piston fell out of the retaining section of the mast
where it is normally supported by the mast retainer pin, triggering the uncontrollable
failure and the mast fell rapidly to the ground causing excessive damage upon
impact.
Fig. 1: The mast on the ground after its collapse

Consequences
 Significant damage to the equipment; the mast suffered major deformations.
 Fortunately, there was no injury to rig personnel, however the incident had
the potential to escalate to a major human injury event (LTI/FAT)
 Operation suspended, down time incurred for investigation and repairs

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Why did it happen?

 The cylinder pin was not properly
installed in the piston head eye.
Refer to Figure 2.
 The hydraulic cylinder piston
heads were not visually verified
correctly to be locked into position
through the piston head eyes.
 The JSA implemented was
inadequate as did not cover
sufficiently how to verify that the
cylinder pins were in place
correctly as established in the
contractor operating procedure.
 The supervision from senior rig
management was inadequate
during this critical task.

What should be done to prevent recurrence?

 Contractors to develop and implement suitable JSAs for raising and lowering
the specific types of masts based on OEM recommendations.

 Specific instructions in line with the procedures shall be communicated and

supervised by senior rig personnel to verify that cylinder piston pins are fully
installed before raising and lowering the mast.

 Senior management shall reinforce the expected supervisory responsibilities

especially for critical tasks to its rig line management.

 Senior management shall reinforce and encourage the Safe Work

Authorization on all rig operations.

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