Oil Rig in Gulf Sinks - 11 Missing

[wiley]

An oil rig that has been burning in the Gulf of Mexico for more than a day has sunk, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.

Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau of the Coast Guard announced this latest development as the search continued for 11 workers who have been missing since an explosion on the rig Tuesday night off the Louisiana coast.

Crude oil was leaking from the rig at the rate of about 8,000 barrels per day, Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler said. The Coast Guard also is preparing for possible leaks of up to 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel but can do little to protect the environment until the fire is out, Butler said.

There were no indications it was a terrorist incident, the Coast Guard said.

Officials said 126 people were on board at the time of the explosion.

Of the 115 accounted-for workers, 17 injured were evacuated by helicopter from the rig. Ninety-four others were taken to shore with no major injuries, and four more were transferred to another vessel, according to the Coast Guard.

It was not known whether the missing workers were able to make it to one of the rig's lifeboats -- fully enclosed, fire-resistant vessels designed to evacuate people quickly.

The Coast Guard said favorable weather conditions and warm Gulf waters increase the likelihood of survival for the missing workers.

Carrol Moss told CNN affiliate WWL-TV in New Orleans, Louisiana, that her husband had been rescued from the rig. But she said she had some anxious moments before receiving the call.

"The only thing I was thinking is, 'How am I going to tell my kids that their dad is not coming home?' " Moss told the affiliate. "The worst goes through your mind. We were just blessed we got the call."

Adrian Rose, a vice president for Transocean Ltd., the company that owns the rig, said Wednesday that "we are deeply saddened by this event. Our thoughts and prayers are with the crew members of the Deepwater Horizon and their families."

Transocean's website describes the company as the "world's largest offshore drilling contractor" with 140 offshore drilling units.

The rig involved in the explosion -- a mobile unit that moves to different locations in the Gulf of Mexico -- had been drilling for oil in its current spot since January, said Eileen Angelico, a spokeswoman for Minerals Management Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior agency that regulates the oil industry in federal wate

[capefisher85]

Glad that many of the men made it out alive.

[DJWILLIAMS]

I hope EVERYONE made it out safely!!!

I just hope that this does not discourage us from drilling from our own reserves.

David

[Boz]

Our resident photographer, Ludicrous, is currently working aboard the MV Laney Chouest and is believed to be working with the USCG on this situation. His company owns the large orange vessels with the huge open aft decks seen in many of the photos from the scene. He's due back in port this Wednesday.

Keep him and his crewmates in your thoughts, too.

[Mardi Gras]

Yep, its real big deal, I ususally do not get mobilized unless it is a "SONS"

Headed to Houston on Sunday, have to be at incident cc at Westlake then onto NOLA and Houma

Anybody else going to be local that I can hook up for some local intel

tia

Derek

Edited May 2, 2010 by Mardi Gras

[Chisox]

Yep, its real big deal, I ususally do not get mobilized unless it is a "SONS"

Headed to Houston on Sunday, have to be at incident cc at Westlake then onto NOLA and Houma

Anybody else going to be local that I can hook up for some local intel

tia

Derek

"Things" do not look well for the rig...

[wiley]

I was going to ask if Ludi had any involvement in the operations and if he could post a follow-up when he has time.

Terrible situation about to get worse.

[Mardi Gras]

I was going to ask if Ludi had any involvement in the operations and if he could post a follow-up when he has time.

Terrible situation about to get worse.

Actually this is condensate from the well, it does have some crude product, if it were a true crude oil spill it would not have such a far reaching sheen spill. The warm weather environment speeds evaporation and dispersing through natural ways

Good news is that roughly 50% of the condensate evaporates in the first 24 hours. the rest becomes more viscous material that resembles the properties of crude oil.

On another note the more viscous the material the easier it is to collect through booming and mechanical skimming.

Remember this is not a refined product it is straight from the tap per se

I will post some pix to show difference from condensate to crude spills

Updates can be seen here if Wiley approves ]http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/532827/

Edited May 2, 2010 by Mardi Gras

[Mardi Gras]

The first two pix are of Prestige, the crude carrier spill off of Spain and then DWH GOM

Edited May 2, 2010 by Mardi Gras

[Ludicrous]

I was going to ask if Ludi had any involvement in the operations and if he could post a follow-up when he has time.

Terrible situation about to get worse.

Back home for two weeks before the next crew change. Yes, I had some involvement in the incident. We were 21 miles away setting anchors for the next move of the sister rig to the Deepwater Horizon, the Deepwater Nautilus. Mayday call came in at 948 pm, abandon rig call shortly thereafter. We had our ROV down 7200 feet and were in the process of pre-setting anchors for the next rig move. It took some time to retrieve our equipment so we could get underway. We could see the fire clearly from 21 miles. We arrived on scene about two hours later at 1230 am. About 10-15 other vessels beat us there. We setup a search pattern on the SW side of the rig and used our 4 spot lamps and 45 personnel to search the water for the reported 11 missing. (at the time we arrived the number was 15 missing but headcount was not so good at that time) Three or four vessels were putting water on the fire which at that time was shooting up into the sky about 500-900 feet. We stayed on scene for two days and watched it burn, list and sink.

photos I took:

Videos:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=NeY68eBNzOU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u8C-c4aeL8

Edited May 3, 2010 by Ludicrous