A Venezuelan natural gas platform has sunk in the Caribbean Sea, President Hugo Chavez has announced via the social networking site Twitter.
Mr Chavez said the Aban Pearl platform sank in the early hours of Thursday morning, but all the 95 workers were evacuated safely.
Two navy boats are now patrolling the area, he added.
Venezuela’s energy minister Rafael Ramirez said the sinking of the rig poses no risk to the environment.
The head of Aban Offshore Ltd, which owns the rig, confirmed the sinking, saying it was not yet clear what had happened but that the rig had been listing.
Speaking from the company’s offices in Singapore, Gopal Dupalkrishnan said the semi-submersible rig had been under contract to a company owned by the Venezuelan government.
It was drilling some of the 16 gas wells in the Mariscal Sucre offshore natural gas project, in the extreme north-east of Sucre state.
The Mariscal Sucre project is being developed by Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA, without participation from the private sector, Reuters news agency reports.
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