Posted on 11/06/2004 9:32:49 AM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
GALVESTON, Texas - A 355-foot freighter slammed into an unmanned natural gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico early Friday and sparked a fire on the platform, the Coast Guard said.
No pollution was reported, though the platform 17 miles off Galveston sustained significant damage. None of the 16 Russians aboard the freighter was injured.
Crews from two offshore supply vessels were able to put out the flames on the platform, owned by Houston-based EOG Resources Inc., the Coast Guard said.
The ship, the SCM Athina, had superstructure damage and scrapes to its hull.
The platform is a transfer point for various pipelines. By mid-morning, officials said all lines connected to the platform had been secured.
The ship was heading out to sea and carrying containers of general freight. The Coast Guard identified its owner as Sudkap Shipping Co. and the ship is registered to the Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
It must have been a woman driver...(just kidding. I'm a woman too.)
Hope the Cap'n had his drivers liscence and insurance up to date ;o)
This is a peculiar story. How do you ram into an oil rig? Nothing in the way of an explanation is offered here.
We sometimes have this problem in the Panama Canal. Something goes wrong with the "steering." Since one has the whole ocean in which to navigate, one doesn't realize something has gone wrong with the "steering" (lack of a better word) until one gets into a tight spot and tries to steer away from danger.
Vodka - breakfast, lunch and dinner of champions. :)
I'm not saying this was the problem. I am just guessing here about what might have been the problem.
Thanks, Willie Green....JP, should this be posted on Threat Matrix?
This is most likely a not-so-subtle test of our safety and defensive capabilities to our off-shore platforms.
We have FAILED the test and the russians are smiling - look for a rash of platform explosion in the very near future.
Aren't you so glad the media gave this information out to the terrorists of the world to come in and blow up our off shore platforms!???!
BTW I was an intel analyst and our BEST source of intelligence was the "unclassified" news stories.
"Gentlemen, Comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about glasnost and perestroika and democracy in the coming years. These are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal change within the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep".
Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, to the Politburo in Nov 1987.
Capt'n Hazelwood was a woman?
Ships in the open ocean are often on autopilot. An officer responsible for safe navigation is supposed to be on the bridge, but their viligance sometimes fails. There's usually a "radar watch", which means that the radar is supposed to sound an alarm if a collision looks possible, but alarms can be ignored.
Well here is, sounds like a T.M. plot.
Who knows these days anymore.
TC come catch this line of reasoning.
My best regards.
Granny Hope you are still cheking out TM also.
thank you for the ping granny, interesting article.
Yeah, just like traffic accidents are a not not-so-subtle test of our safety and defensive capabilities to our city streets.
I hope you didn't pull any muscles making that stretch.
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It can only be attributable... to human error.