A shallow-water production rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded this morning, causing the thirteen crew members aboard to abandon the structure.
Coast Guard rescuers are en route to the scene of the fire, 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay, Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough said. Twelve of the workers are in immersion suits, designed to protect them from hypothermia. One is reported injured.
Once plucked from the Gulf, the injured will be taken Terrebone General Medical Center in Houma, Colclough said.
A helicopter pilot for a private company named Bristow reported the rig on fire around 9:30 a.m.
The rig is an oil and gas production platform located in 340 feet of water in Vermillion Block 380, according to federal government records. The well was not producing any “product” at the time of the accident, Colclough said.
It is owned by Mariner Energy, headquartered in Houston…According to its website, Mariner is among the largest lease holders on the continental shelf with interests in approximately 240 federal leases and more than 30 state blocks, at year-end 2009…
With all the unwanted attention just starting to wane, members of industry groups were staggered by the latest accident today, even though it was on a much smaller scale and appears to have nothing to do with the deepwater drilling dangers that surrounded the BP incident.
First thoughts, of course, are for the poor buggers in the water. Latest news on TV sounds positive. They have all been rescued.
The crew reported to the Coast Guard that they had initiated shutdown procedures before abandoning the platform. The Coast Guard hasn’t yet succeeded in confirming success of the shutdown.
Hey, it is only happening twice a year… what’s the big deal? And the percentage of drilling platforms catching fire relative to the total number is very small, so what’s the big deal? And oil is a natural substance that biodegrades nicely, so what’s the big deal? And most of our shrimp comes from farms in Asia anyway, so what’s the big deal? And oil companies have revamped their response plans to take care of problems like this, so what’s the big deal? And we have equipment close by and experience fixing this kind of problem, so what’s the big deal?
Well – – – “ok” – – – – I’ll bite: What is the big deal?
OMG. An oil rig explosion epidemic and I was just about to unpack my dig dig dig teeshirt for the fall elections.
Where is that Kenyan and why did he let this happen?
The big deal is that the people who own and operate the rigs seem to be the kind of people who I wouldn’t trust to know enough not to smoke in a room full of dynamite.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the were Al Queda.
How much did the last little blow out cost.
How many people got killed?
Oh, what a relief, it is not a drilling rig, it is a ‘platform’… so what’s the big deal? And the oil leak is only one mile long as of right now… so what’s the big deal? And it doesn’t belong to BP, the only ‘unprepared’ company, so what’s the big deal?
On the more somber side of things… the platform does not have a ‘blowout preventer’ installed… but is that surprising at all?
Drill Baby Drill! I’m so glad that Palin corrected Biden during the dabate… (heckuva job Palin!)
@#5 The big deal: that it is not drilling rig and that it is not actively used. To translate – there is no direct access to the oil. Hence “blowout preventer” is technically a nonsense in this situation.
Yes, “drill baby drill” is the solution. Because it provides energy resource we otherwise need to get from hostile nations. It provides jobs. It provides prosperity. Guess why was BP able to offer 20 Bil. without a twitch? – because profits are vastly greater than that. With complete utilization of oil in the Gulf we could provider every citizen of the region much better paying job than they have now (if they have any). While sticking finger in the eye to Arabs and S.American Communists, driving their economies down until they are ignorable factor in the World. More spills? – we’d have enough money to pay for dozens of cleanups per year.
As for Palin, guess if Alaska Govt. is taking money FROM the citizens or giving it TO them from the oil proceeds… When Eco-Nuts find a way to provide jobs and tax credits to every citizen, please let them call.
I wish they would shut EVERY rig and platform in U.S. waters down. What’s the big deal? There are plenty of other energy sources. What’s the big deal? We surely don’t need the jobs.
Not clear what was going on but nobody was killed. Everybody has now been rescued and it sounds like no oil was spilled.
It isn’t even clear what blew up.
Management is out a lot of money but get on with it. Get er done. There is a reason these guys make a heck of lot more money than I make and risk is part of it.
That being said my brother in law made his money as a safety inspector and trainer and the procedures in place in this case seem to have worked nicely.
Barrack Obama sent his secret police to blow up the platform so he can make oil look bad. Looks like it didn’t do as much damage as last time.
#6,
We don’t get this oil drilled off our coast. BP (a multinational company headquartered in Britain), sells it in the world market. Yes, them taking oil off our coasts adds more oil to the market, but it in no way relieves us from having to buy it.
Something fishy in The Gulf?
Twice within 6 months.
Good job oil people.
Now is anyone up to convert platforms to solar and wind and then run lines underwater to power stations along the coast yet?
Anyone? Lots of sun in the gulf, lots of wind when you have have flat surface areas. Anyone?
We could even build more platforms out there and along other coasts and just run cable. Anyone?
Cursor_
if by “blows up”, you mean, catches fire
and if by “leaking oil into the gulf” you mean, not doing anything then technically you are correct.
non-story, enviro wackos are just on a hair trigger now to anything that remotely sounds like it’ll promote their agenda.
I blame the Discovery channel, we should storm the place with guns!
13,
So your answer is to let the companies involved regulate themselves? I’d rather have an industry dealing with technologies and hazardous materials to be SMOTHERED in regulation than one that lets the industry do as it pleases. Every single problem we have today, from the mine explosion to the financial meltdown to the oil disaster can be directly attributed to lack of regulatory control.
Even in cases where proper regulations exist, industry managed to defeat the controls. This is why most regulation is overly complex. It is a direct result of gray-area activity on the part of the industry being regulated.
I often hear about profit. If the business wants to make an obscene profit it should go do something else. Even the most heaviliy-taxed industries in places like taxachusetts (home of some cutting-edge power electronics and semiconductor companies) can manage to tuirn a profit. Those against regulation just want more profit than is prudent for ethical operation. IMHO they can go f*ck themselves.
These companies need to run their operations in a more responsible manner, period. they have demonstrated that they cannot or will not do it themselves. Therefore we must regulate to protect oursevles from those who consider profit more important than the health and welfare of the people.
#12 “Anyone? Lots of sun in the gulf, lots of wind when you have have flat surface areas. Anyone?”
Yep, good idea. Those wind platforms should do real well in the Mississippi Flyway. You obviously know nothing about the Gulf of Mexico and have never seen the platforms/rigs covered with migratory birds, butterflies, etc.
Just so it fits the left loon knee-jerk agenda.
Right, anyone?
#14 has gone off the deep end…….
obscene profits huh? they make less than computer companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft etc. percentage wise……
your govt regulation is why they failed. The lackluster govt employees weren’t doing their inspections
#14 will be the next guy to blow up a platform
Then I guess those executives should be in the software business, huh? Hazardous industries have higher operating costs when they have to worry about safety and they hate to “lose” money.
I don’t see how wanting companies to operate their businesses responsibly is ‘off the deep end”. I guess you simply don’t care. Maybe when your kids can’t eat fish because of the chemicals in the water, or have mercury poisoning, or have premature adolescence due to hormones in food you may actually start to give a shit.
14,
HOW about a Gov. contingent that FIXES IT, then charges/fines the CORP to death to fix it..
The idiot that suggests the Corp fix it, hasnt lived long enough to know what happens.
It was reported in New Zealand three days ago.
Think of it this way, you’re buying new and interesting supplies and tools for your hobby all the time, it only makes sense that other enthusiasts are doing the exact same thing.