Posted on 04/22/2010 10:28:02 AM PDT by thackney
At approximately 10 p.m. (CST) Tuesday night, an explosion rocked Transocean's Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilling rig in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the search continues for 11 workers still missing following what could be one of the nation's deadliest offshore drilling incidents of the past half-century.
Seventeen people were injured in the blast and taken to hospitals earlier Wednesday. Yesterday, four workers were treated at West Jefferson Hospital, while another worker was treated at the University of South Alabama Medical Center's burn unit. Five others were undergoing evaluation at the facility in Mobile, Alabama.
The rig, located more than 50 miles southeast of Venice off Louisiana's coast, was still burning Wednesday morning as the U.S. Coast Guard commenced a search for the missing rig personnel. The Deepwater Horizon has been engulfed in flames since Tuesday night.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Coast Guard estimated that 126 workers onboard the rig were able to evacuate. Of the 126 people, 115 crewmembers have been accounted for. Of those accounted for, 17 crewmembers were medevaced from the scene; 94 crewmembers were en route to Port Fourchon, Louisiana aboard the Damien Baxton, an offshore supply vessel; and four crewmembers were transferred to a separate vessel.
The Damien Baxton arrived at Port Fourchon early Thursday morning. The offshore personnel were checked by doctors and then brought to a hotel in New Orleans to reunite with their relatives.
Eleven workers were reported missing Wednesday as the Coast Guard focused efforts on rescuing other personnel from the burning rig. The Coast Guard's search is ongoing for the missing workers.
The Coast Guard have since dispatched three HH-65 C Dolphin rescue helicopters, an HH-60 rescue helicopter and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry rescue plane to participate in the rescue efforts, along with two cutters. Three other cutters were en route to assist search and rescue workers.
The Coast Guard is currently investigating the cause of the explosion, but did not say when the fire would be extinguished. Environmental teams are on standby to assess the damage once the flames die out, but say that damage to the environment appears to be minimal so far.
A spokesman for operator BP told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday that the oil major has begun work to shut off the oil flow that is feeding the fire. Remotely operated underwater vehicles have been deployed for the task. The spokesman did not say how long the operations would take.
On location in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon recently concluded exploration drilling on the Macondo prospect. According to the Minerals Management Service, BP filed a permit to temporarily abandon the well, which commenced drilling in February 2010.
According to RigLogix, the Deepwater Horizon, an RBS-8D-designed dynamically-positioned semisub, is rated to work in water depths up to 10,000' and with a rated drilling depth capacity of 30,000'. The rig is under long-term contract to BP through September 2013 and its current dayrate is $502,000. The Deepwater Horizon was built in Ulsan, South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries at a cost of approximately $365 million and entered service in 2001.
Rig Data: Deepwater HorizonRig Name: Deepwater Horizon
Rig Manager: Transocean Ltd.
Rig Owner: Transocean Ltd.
Competitive Rig: Yes
Rig Type: Semisub
Semisub Generation: 5
Rig Design: Reading & Bates RBS-8D
Rated Water Depth: 10,000 ft
Drilling Depth: 30,000 ft
I just saw this:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/22/transocean-rig-reportedly-sinks-louisiana-coast/
:(
Wow, what a terrible mess. Drill, drill, drill, and dig, dig, dig do have their costs. Anyone have comparative figures on wind and solar deaths?
Thanks for the info:
Transocean rig sinks, says Coast Guard
At 10:20 a.m. the Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig sank, according to a Coast Guard spokesman.
The vessel, which has been burning since about 10 p.m. Tuesday night was completely submerged, said the spokesman but the fire continued to burn.
The rig, located about 41 miles south of the mouth of Mississippi, is owned by Transcoean but leased by BP.
Transocean spokesman Guy Cantwell said the company is trying to confirm that report.
Some other media outlets have called and are being told by the Coast Guard they are not confirming the report. But Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O’Berry told me they were just “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s” before putting out a confirmation.
Posted by Tom Fowler at April 22, 2010 10:37 AM
http://blogs.chron.com/newswatchenergy/archives/2010/04/transocean_rig_1.html
Make sure we compare them on a cost per energy unit produced basis.
Date: April 22, 2010
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/425/525715/
Contact: External Affairs Office
(504) 671-2020
UPDATE 4: Coast Guard responding to oil rig fire
NEW ORLEANS, La. — The Coast Guard continues the search for 11 missing crewmembers from the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) Deepwater Horizon.
Overnight, the Coast Guard continued active search and rescue operations with two cutters that remained on scene:
•Coast Guard cutters Cobia, an 87’ patrol boat homeported in Mobile, Ala.
•Coast Guard cutter Zephyr, a 179’ coastal patrol boat homeported in Pascagoula, Miss.
Two aircraft are scheduled to be on scene at first light to continue the search efforts and two Coast Guard cutters are expected to be on scene later in the morning to relieve the Zephyr and Cobia. These assets include:
•One MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter and crew from Air Station New Orleans, La.
•One HC-144 Ocean Sentry rescue plane and crew from Aviation Training Center, Mobile, Ala.
•Coast Guard cutters Pelican, an 87’ patrol boat homeported in Abbeville, La.
•Coast Guard cutter Coho, an 87’ patrol boat homeported in Panama City, Fla.
Seventeen total sorties have been completed by air and surface assets and approximately 1940 square miles have been searched.
Watchstanders at the U.S. Coast Guard District Eight command center here received a report at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday of an explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon, approximately 42 miles Southeast of Venice, La.
Reports indicate that there were 126 people on board the MODU at the time of the explosion. Of the 126 people, 115 crewmembers have been accounted for. Of those accounted for:
•Seventeen crewmembers were medevaced from the scene
•Ninety-four crewmembers were transported to Port Fourchon and moored at approximately 1:20 a.m. Thursday. There were no major injuries reported for these members.
•Four crewmembers were transferred to a separate vessel
Video is available at the following link: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=46
Further updates will be available on the following Web site: http://www.d8externalaffairs.com/go/site/2931/
Family members can contact the following number for additional information: (832) 587-8554.
The fire is still burning and the cause of the explosion is under investigation. The investigation is a cooperative effort between Mineral Management Service and the U.S. Coast Guard.
i worked for noble energy at 306 alpha platform for 10 years, not far from were this happened.. those waters are loaded with sharks.. its nothing to see 100 sharks swimming around those p/f’s..
But it is a mobile drilling platform. This is not a production platform. It routinely moves to different locations for drilling services to different oil companies.
Compare cost per energy unit produced versus death and injury. Good idea.
More details of this drilling platform available at the Transocean web site.
http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Deepwater-Horizon-56C14.html?LayoutID=17
Rather meaningless otherwise.
It would be like comparing total accidents a superhighway to a remote two lane road and wondering why the highway was so dangerous.
Thanks for the info.
How many people die from bicycle accidents versus auto accidents as a percent of users?
The rig sank.
Prayers for the missing & hurt.
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