I know it is early for post mortems but I believe this accident is going to become the PIPER ALPHA of the GoM. A complete and total game changer as far as deepwater drilling is concerned.
I also want to weigh in on the loss of the rig…I am appalled that the USCG allowed so many support vessels to flood the rig with so much water. The greatest effort should have been to keep the rig afloat and the fire buring to consume the hydrocarbons flowing from the well. Now we have no burned out rig to conduct an investigation aboard and worse, now black oil flowing from the well into the sea. Didn’t this same thing happen in Mexico many years ago which ended up with millions of barrels of oil flowing uncontrolled for months?
Ironically, I am just starting as chief mate on a brand new deepwater rated drillship at the moment and what a thing to happen in my first week? Oh well, now to see what the future over the horizon (no pun intended) brings…
[QUOTE=c.captain;31403]Now we have no burned out rig to conduct an investigation aboard ![/QUOTE]
The VDR was located behind the bridge, on top of the elevator shaft. It’s bright orange. Has anyone seen it in any pictures? I was not a float free type.
I’m no reservoir engineer, but I’m pretty sure that well could flow for years before it ran out of hydrocarbons. Dousing it with water to keep the heat down and trying to keep the entire rig from melting was likely the only option available.
[QUOTE=oilfield cementer;31391]My brothers Godfather has told my family … His son-in-law is Rig Superintendant on the Horizon.
He was in the galley when the explosion occurred. Blew in the doors of the galley.
Was airlifted to U of Alabama Trauma Center in Mobile.
He suffered a shattered leg (will require a knee replacement) and 2nd degree burns on thighs and back.[/QUOTE]
So what failure resulted in an explosion of this size without warning. How could they not see this coming?
Some professor somebody from some University in Louisiana was on the radio this morning saying they were trying to set a plug before tripping out and waiting on the analysis on how they wanted to complete the hole. He didn’t say where he got the info. He also said that he had no specific evidence to support his belief that complications from this caused the explosion, just his guess with what limited info was available.
[QUOTE=rlanasa;31406]So what failure resulted in an explosion of this size without warning. How could they not see this coming?[/QUOTE]
I have no idea. Only those souls that were onboard at the time can answer that question.
I have not spoken to anyone. I just know what was told to me by his family.
[QUOTE=c.captain;31403]
I also want to weigh in on the loss of the rig…I am appalled that the USCG allowed so many support vessels to flood the rig with so much water. The greatest effort should have been to keep the rig afloat and the fire buring to consume the hydrocarbons flowing from the well. Now we have no burned out rig to conduct an investigation aboard and worse, now black oil flowing from the well into the sea. Didn’t this same thing happening Mexico many years ago which ended up with millions of barrels of oil flowing uncontrolled for months?[/QUOTE]
Did you even read that before you posted it? “millions of barrels of oil flowing uncontrolled for months” in the same paragraph as “keep … the fire bur(n)ing to consume the hydrocarbons flowing from the well”
So you are saying that the CG needed to maintain this fire for months & then when it finally burned out, all the answers would have been available in the rig which would still be floating?
I pray you don’t use that same logic on whichever brand new drillship you are assigned to. And fine way to trash the USCG for doing something that they are probably MUCH more trained to handle than you are. It was a quick & horrible catastrophe & I seriously doubt if the rig sank strictly because they were spraying water on it.
[QUOTE=rlanasa;31406]So what failure resulted in an explosion of this size without warning. How could they not see this coming?[/QUOTE]
Do you understand depth, anulus and calculated hydrostatic pressure?
[QUOTE=TxKingfisher;31395]Has the Louisiana responder been dispatched to deal with environmental impacts?
(I’m sorry if this has already been covered… I scanned the thread quickly and didn’t see anything about it.)[/QUOTE]
As of 5 pm, there were three, the MS, LA and GC plus one NRC skimmer.
I have heard the USCG “impounded” (not sure if that is the right word to use) some vessels that were around the area because of the VDR. Not that they are in trouble. Only so they can hear any comm’s at the time of the incident.
I am sure someone can verify if this is true or not.
[QUOTE=jbtam99;31402]Can anyone out there on scene verify that the well is shut in at the moment? I’m hearing reports that it is, but that they don’t know how long it will hold.[/QUOTE]
I heard the same and that the last overflight showed very little new oil released.
Ixtoc 1 Oil Spill - June 3, 1979 - March 23, 1980
Location: Bay of Campeche off Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico
Amount of Oil Spilled: 140 million gallons
This oil spill didn’t involve a tanker, but rather an offshore oil well. Pemex, a state-owned Mexican petroleum company was drilling an oil well when a blowout occurred. The oil ignited causing the drilling rig to collapse. Oil began gushing out of the well into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 10,000 to 30,000 barrels a day for almost an entire year beforeworkers were finally able to cap the well and stop the leak.
and that was in shallow water!
[QUOTE=c.captain;31403]Didn’t this same thing happening Mexico many years ago which ended up with millions of barrels of oil flowing uncontrolled for months?[/QUOTE]
IXTOC I, somewhere between 3 and 5 million barrels over a 10 month period. I spent a couple of months 4 point moored next to the fire running a ROV that got hung up in the wreckage early on. We just turned it on a few times a day to monitor the flow. About half the flow came up a kill line, crossed the deck and dumped over the other side.
[QUOTE=c.captain;31403]
I also want to weigh in on the loss of the rig…I am appalled that the USCG allowed so many support vessels to flood the rig with so much water.
Ironically, I am just starting as chief mate on a brand new deepwater rated drillship at the moment and what a thing to happen in my first week? I am dazed and contused![/QUOTE]
I wish John wasn’t at Sea right now because, having been fired after Transocean’s cover-up of there last major fire, he has a better grasp on the issues behind this incident than anyone else in the world. Yes, the USCG is making mistakes but, as John wrote a few weeks back (http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/top-10-recent-failures-of-the-uscg-part-2/ read part 1 also!), their mistakes didn’t start yesterday… they go back may years. I just hope the officers talk to a maritime license lawyer (JonesAct helped reffer a good one to a friend of mine if anyone here needs legal advice ) because the USCG is better on shining the spotlight on mariners than it is at shining it on it’s own errors and faults. MMS also has fundemental problems but I’m hopefull that the two agencies can get along together long enought to find and fix the real faults n the system.
"Release date: 22 April 2010
<!-- Paragraph information --> <!-- Modified for CR_ 709 --> <!-- Modified for CR_ 709 --> <!--BEGIN:Plain Text para--> BP today activated an extensive oil spill response in the US Gulf of Mexico following the fire and subsequent sinking of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig 130 miles south-east of New Orleans.
<!--END:Plain Text para--> <!-- Begin: Links. --> <!-- End: Links --> <!-- Modified for CR_ 709 --> <!-- Modified for CR_ 709 --> <!--BEGIN:Plain Text para--> BP is assisting Transocean in an assessment of the well and subsea blow out preventer with remotely operated vehicles.
BP has also initiated a plan for the drilling of a relief well, if required. A nearby drilling rig will be used to drill the well. The rig is available to begin activity immediately.
<!–END:Plain Text para–> <!-- Begin: Links. --> <!-- End: Links --> <!-- Modified for CR_ 709 --> <!-- Modified for CR_ 709 --> <!–BEGIN:Plain Text para–> BP has mobilized a flotilla of vessels and resources that includes:
[ul]
[li]significant mechanical recovery capacity;[/li][li]32 spill response vessels including a large storage barge;[/li][li]skimming capacity of more than 171,000 barrels per day, with more available if needed;[/li][li]offshore storage capacity of 122,000 barrels and additional 175,000 barrels available and on standby;[/li][li]supplies of more than 100,000 gallons of dispersants and four aircraft ready to spray dispersant to the spill, and the pre-approval of the US Coast Guard to use them;[/li][li]500,000 feet of boom increasing to 1,000,000 feet of boom by day’s end;[/li][li]pre-planned forecasting of 48-hour spill trajectory which indicates spilled oil will remain well offshore during that period;[/li][li]pre-planned staging of resources for protection of environmentally sensitive areas.[/li][/ul]
<!--END:Plain Text para--> <!-- Begin: Links. --> <!-- End: Links --> <!-- Modified for CR_ 709 --> <!-- Modified for CR_ 709 --> <!--BEGIN:Plain Text para--> "We are determined to do everything in our power to contain this oil spill and resolve the situation as rapidly, safely and effectively as possible," said Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward. "We have assembled and are now deploying world-class facilities, resources and expertise, and can call on more if needed. There should be no doubt of our resolve to limit the escape of oil and protect the marine and coastal environments from its effects."
As part of its planning and approval requirement prior to offshore activity, the area was evaluated for use of dispersants and the plans approved by the US Coast Guard which has now given the go-ahead for their use."
