At least 50 Russian crew were dead or missing today after an oil rig capsized and sank as it was being towed in a storm.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075803/50-dead-oil-rig-capsizes-sinks-20ft-waves-towed-storm.html?ITO=1490
Posted on 12/18/2011 10:36:24 AM PST by Libloather
4 Dead, 49 Missing After Arctic Oil Rig Sinks
18 December 2011
By Khristina Narizhnaya
At least four people died when the floating Kolskaya oil rig overturned and sank with 67 people on board in the stormy Sea of Okhotsk as it was being towed to shore, 200 kilometers off Sakhalin Island.
Fourteen people survived with minor injuries and 49 were reported missing late Sunday, the Transportation Ministry said. Four survivors were flown to the Nogliki Airport on Sakhalin Island.
The Kolskaya, owned by state-owned offshore drilling company Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, was being transported to Sakhalin after testing the Pervoocherednaya deep-sea oil well.
The rig's captain sent an SOS signal early Sunday to evacuate people during a storm. But soon after, waves damaged the rig's pipes and knocked out cafeteria windows, inundating the rig with freezing water. It sank in 20 minutes at a depth of more than 1,000 meters, the Transportation Ministry said on its web site.
(Excerpt) Read more at themoscowtimes.com ...
At least 50 Russian crew were dead or missing today after an oil rig capsized and sank as it was being towed in a storm.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075803/50-dead-oil-rig-capsizes-sinks-20ft-waves-towed-storm.html?ITO=1490
Bush’s fault!!!!!!!!
I’ve never liked the idea much of being on stormy, icy seas.
The cold war rages on.
The russians are past masters of safety incompetance.
If they are missing, they are dead. The water is so cold they’d live for only minutes.
Little bammy will “take over” and “manage the disaster” in a few weeks or whenever he gets back from the vacation and “band the Russians from drilling” for their safety and to prevent “eco-armengeddon” while demanding to know “who’s butt to kick” blah, blah, blah...
If that’s a picture of the rig, no wonder it capsized! That’s so top heavy, it would be dangerous in a one foot sea.
I wouldn't want to be the the one having to read this on the air.
That was my reaction too. Something about center of gravity...
Yes. Hopefully that's how it ended for them. I hope none were ground up in icy slush.
Cold-water survival (in the event of being overboard) was commonly known as a myth ...
I can understand that. At least they were brightly colored enabling the body to be spotted easier. I always get a cold chill when watching documentary footage of WWII convoys making the Murmansk run.
And the crude is.....?
Russia’s failed Mars probe will come crashing down to Earth next month, space agency says
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2821480/posts
It doesn’t specifically say, but if they were towing the rig, the well was probably capped already.
Didn’t see the *towing* part.
Good that it’s probably capped.
Nice. Thanks. May they R.I.P.
My husband “started” severaal rigs in the North Sea in the early ‘70s. He holds the patent for a device that allowed them to drill in high seas and brought in the first well. I was at home with the 4 kids and had no idea how dangerous this work was until I saw a documentary about the “storm of the century” about 20 years later. He was up the riser securing sensors to the drill during gale force winds. This was not to bring in oil, but to “prove” his invention for sales purposes.
Then there was the danger inherent in landing and taking off the rig in helicopters, or transfer boats.
It’s lucky that I did not know.
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