“The DWH and its crewmembers were the sole responsibilty of the USCG licensed OIM on board at the time. He could and should have saved the DWH and his crew by just saying NO WAY IN HELL I’M DOING THAT!”
In my experience many time the OIM on DP rigs and drillships has NO background in drilling and therefore wouldn’t know enough to make a decision as to whether or not a drilling operation was safe. I’ve seen OIM’s who were previously DP operators or mates but couldn’t tell you the psi their mud pumps could put out. Some companies designate the licensed master as OIM only so long as the rig is underway. Once on location the drilling superintendent, Sr TP or someone else with a drilling background is the OIM. It’s a good idea to do it that way for obvious reasons. I am not sure of the background of the OIM on the Horizon, perhaps someone could enlighten us?
Tengineer