Observers in the area reported that the rig was buffered by 55-foot waves and that a wind gauge which registered up to 85 miles an hour reached it's maximum.
The semisubmersible rig was drilling while resting on bottom at the time the storm occured. It was built to drill to depts of 20,000 feet.
During the same storm which claimed the ''Ocean Prince,'' the rig's sister ship ''Ocean Viking,'' while drilling afloat withstood winds and waves of equal force.
In several unrelated incidents during the storm, lives and cargo were lost. Heavy seas pounded the coast of north Kent and damage was reported along the whole seven-mile sea front at Herne Bay.
