Deepwater Horizon - Transocean Oil Rig Fire

[kwCharlie]

Any of you SubSea men know how long it’s going to be before the riser parts? I know the Horizon isn’t moored like the Nautilus, it has to break soon, obviously the stack hasn’t been closed.

[Jones Act]

Dear All-

Our firm has just been retained by the family of one of the missing crewmen. As a result of a previous wrongful death matter that occurred in 2009 involving the Transocean Cajun Express in which we handled, we know that early investigation and fact finding is essential to a Transocean case. If anyone has any first hand knowledge of what occurred out there, please contact me on my cell at 713-569-7144. Thank you.

[fixin]

You are correct. . i don't speak of experience because none of the rigs my loved ones work for have ever had an explosion causing crewmembers to bail out into the Gulf Of Mexico. I don't doubt that Transocean has an inventory of who, what, when, and where. . but how hard is it for someone to release the facts? My friend next door frantically waited for nearly 14 hours to hear from Transocean regarding her husband. I am sorry, I don't care how inexperienced I am, that is unacceptable in my book. There is radio communication aboard the crew boats, so there is no excuse for the workers that were safe and on their way to shore for those family members to be contacted and atleast give them some security that their loved one is not floating about the Gulf of Mexico hoping to survive!

[build]

Is it still blazing? How many degrees is the list?

Prayers for them and their families..

[selahcj]

Is there listing anywhere who is seriously injured? I used to work on that rig. I have been there through small emergencies. Everyone works together to keep up with who is on board but I am imagine during chaos and need to immediately get personnel off it would be easy to lose count of personnel - especially if there were day trippers or visitors there. I have friends out there and many were like family when I was there, my prayers go out to them. I am sure they are doing their best to contact people but I would imagine with so much going on - communication is not at its best and as we can already see an attorney is on here - they want to make sure any information that comes direct from Transocean is accurate.

[anchorman]

Those photos came from the Max Chouest, more than likely - the ones that I took can be used by anyone that is interested. I have been contacted by several news organizations. The rig, even though it has been moving, is still connected to the riser. We're in 7,000 of water.....so that is expected...to have an appreciable watch circle. One of our vessels is sending down an ROV to see if they can kill the well. Earlier, there was fear that the rig would capsize and the fire boats moved out and then rig fire just exploded higher. The boats are back in fighting the fire, but it's not much use without killing the source.

[suture_man]

son-in-law is on the devils tower rig right next to horizon said this morning they took on some men from the horizon and they were airlifted off

[Mikey]

USCG just published the a second update: Read more HERE

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Coast Guard continues the search for 11 missing crewmembers from the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) Deepwater Horizon.
Watchstanders at the U.S. Coast Guard District Eight command center here received a report at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday of an explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon, approximately 42 miles Southeast of Venice, La.
Updated reports indicate that there were 126 people on board the MODU at the time of the explosion.
One-hundred-fifteen crewmembers have been accounted for. Of those accounted for:

• Seventeen crewmembers were medevaced from the scene
• Ninety-four crewmembers are being transferred to shore at Port Fourchon aboard the Damien Baxton, an offshore supply vessel. There are no major injuries reported for these members.
• Four crewmembers have been transferred to another vessel

Coast Guard is actively searching for all unaccounted for personnel and have the following units responding:
Air Station New Orleans:
* Two HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopters and crews
Aviation Training Center, Mobile, Ala.:
* One HH-60 rescue helicopter and crew
* One HC-144 Ocean Sentry rescue plane and crew
In addition, the Coast Guard cutters Pompano, Zephyr, Razorbill and Cobia are on scene.

[anchorman]

son-in-law is on the devils tower rig right next to horizon said this morning they took on the some men from the horizon and they were airlifted off and the the fire was out

The fire has never been close to being out since I first saw the flames last night

[Mikey]

Here another photo just submitted through the gCaptain tip line accompanied by this message

Just taken picture - 1442 hours - 4/21/10

IMG_1143..JPG

[bigdubya]

there's a news conference right now, but I cannot find a live feed. Can anybody find one?

UPDATE 2: Coast Guard to conduct joint press conference regarding oil drilling platform fire



Who: U.S. Coast Guard, Deputy Secretary for the Department of the Interior, BP, and Transocean
What: Press Briefing to discuss ongoing operations surrounding the Deepwater Horizon mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) explosion, fire, investigation, SAR (search and rescue), and pollution response
Where: Hale Boggs Federal Building. Coast Guard representative will be in the foyer at 2:45 p.m. to escort media.
When: 3 p.m. CST. The call-in number for press unable to attend: (866) 857-0581; Passcode - 8868760.
RSVP: Media interested in physically attending are asked to contact Coast Guard District Eight at (504) 671-2020 no later than 2:30 p.m. to confirm.

[jbtam99]

Thanks for keeping us updated Mikey. I'm here in Fourchon at the dock BP's leased out, but on a boat without water cannons so we weren't sent out.

[anchorman]

[bigdubya]

http://blogs.chron.com/newswatchener...ves/accidents/

Live Blog covering the News Conference.

http://www.wwltv.com/home/Watch-Live.html

Live Video of conference.

[cmakin]

You are correct. . i don't speak of experience because none of the rigs my loved ones work for have ever had an explosion causing crewmembers to bail out into the Gulf Of Mexico. I don't doubt that Transocean has an inventory of who, what, when, and where. . but how hard is it for someone to release the facts? My friend next door frantically waited for nearly 14 hours to hear from Transocean regarding her husband. I am sorry, I don't care how inexperienced I am, that is unacceptable in my book. There is radio communication aboard the crew boats, so there is no excuse for the workers that were safe and on their way to shore for those family members to be contacted and atleast give them some security that their loved one is not floating about the Gulf of Mexico hoping to survive!

What you have to remember is that on any given day, service company and other hands come and go. Records are kept on the rig and at the dispatcher's office, but there may also be people in transit. I would imagine that any record of exactly who was onboard at the time of the incident were left behind, so it WILL take some time before any exact count will be made.

[Aeeo]

Ninety-four crewmembers from the Deepwater Horizon are being transferred to Port Fourchon aboard the Damien Baxton with and estimated time of arrival 0100

[orangejulius]

does anyone know if they are releasing any of the boats? Or if the Sailfish is still on station?

[userGOM]

anchorman, how far has the rig drifted? Surely the riser has parted, after being on fire for that long, derrick collaspe, rig floor would have melted and the diverter given way which should separate the rig from the riser.

[userGOM]

On one of the early morning photos, you can clearly see the gas going out the diverter on the side of the rig. Whether that was set before the fire or the diverter internal valve gave way, but you can see it almost like a jet exhaust on the side.

http://gcaptain.com/forum/attachment...izon-fire-.jpg

[kwCharlie]

riser has NOT parted, blowout on the backside they think, see http://blogs.chron.com/newswatchener...ves/accidents/