Deepwater Horizon - Transocean Oil Rig Fire

[fixin]

for all of you in FB. . . here is a Support page for the Crewmembers and Family:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/...&v=wall&ref=mf

[MODUke]

5,000' is a way for a rig to travel going down. Remember that 5,280' = 1 mile. If there is a subsurface current, that can dictate which way the rig will travel while going down. Depending on how much buoyancy the rig still had will dictate how quickly it goes down. That rig could easily travel a mile or two or 3 away from where it was positioned at surface. A lease block is only 3 miles x 3 miles.

[leeharb]

Has anyone made an estimate on how much oil is coming up? From that depth, it must be spread-out for a mile.

[x626xBlack]

Has anyone made an estimate on how much oil is coming up? From that depth, it must be spread-out for a mile.

I have not seen any new estimates. While she was burning I saw one article said 14,000 gph and a CG report that said 9,000 gph. A mile would be an understatement after the fire is out..... It will be MileS.. Many Miles but I do know there are a few Spill containment boats near by.

[egemeaux]

I think I also read that they could have had up to 700k gallons of diesel on board. I'm sure someone with better knowledge of the rig could clarify that number for us but that in itself is quite a bit of mess to clean up on top of what is currently being spilled.

[x626xBlack]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...0Z07SXKX-5.DTL

Law Suits have already started.....

[devildog]

I see others have mentioned the Nakika. Any word of that rig. My husband is out there. Praying for the families and crew of the Horizon.

[x626xBlack]

I think I also read that they could have had up to 700k gallons of diesel on board. I'm sure someone with better knowledge of the rig could clarify that number for us but that in itself is quite a bit of mess to clean up on top of what is currently being spilled.

Yes and no. I am not familiar with that rig and do not know where the fuel tanks were in relation to the derrick. If she did not get hot enough to burn the fuel tanks than there is another item on board to clean up and that is probably 1k-2k bbls of Base Oil and 1k-2k bbls of stored SBM (mud) on board.

[fixin]

Video of a USCG Rescue

http://videos.nola.com/times-picayune/

[leeharb]

I can see on AIS that two MSRC skimmers are out there working.

[egemeaux]

This was taken yesterday showing the smoke plume.

http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Curr...ico111_G13.jpg

[MODUke]

The total capacity space for Diesel is 1,169,910 gal (27,855 bbl) worth of Diesel. I would estimate that the rig had no more than 500,000 gal onboard. It is a DP vessel and would have carried extra fuel onboard, but should have never topped off. The storage bunkers would have been down in the pontoons and should have not seen any fire at all. The rig would have sunk long before if these areas were reached.

There are a number of hazards, but the most substantial would be as mentioned, lots of diesel fuel, Base Oil, and Synthetic Mud. All of these are serious hazards to the environment.

[ladymudengineer]

Yes and no. I am not familiar with that rig and do not know where the fuel tanks were in relation to the derrick. If she did not get hot enough to burn the fuel tanks than there is another item on board to clean up and that is probably 1k-2k bbls of Base Oil and 1k-2k bbls of stored SBM (mud) on board.

The horizon has the ability to hold up to roughly 1.1 million gallons of fuel oil. She would also have had the ablilty to hold roughly 4,400 bbl of liquid mud. It is higly doubtful that she contained that much fuel oil at the time of the fire since the rig is usually topped off at the beginning and end of jobs or before long travel distances.

[ladymudengineer]

I see others have mentioned the Nakika. Any word of that rig. My husband is out there. Praying for the families and crew of the Horizon.

The Nakika is fine. Several of the injured were transported there and then picked up by air ambulace and bought to the hospital. They provided a great service buy being able to assist the injured personnel from the Horizon.

[Poohbear]

I totally agree and I work for Transocean.

[x626xBlack]

The horizon has the ability to hold up to roughly 1.1 million gallons of fuel oil. She would also have had the ablilty to hold roughly 4,400 bbl of liquid mud. It is higly doubtful that she contained that much fuel oil at the time of the fire since the rig is usually topped off at the beginning and end of jobs or before long travel distances.

My estimates on SBM are probably low, very low. I need to look on RigZone to see what the surface pit and pontoon capacities were. Rigzone did not have any of that info.

I would assume 2-3k bbls in pits and 2-3k bbls in Pontoons.

[ladymudengineer]

My estimates on SBM are probably low, very low. I need to look on RigZone to see what the surface pit and pontoon capacities were. Rigzone did not have any of that info.

I would assume 2-3k bbls in pits and 2-3k bbls in Pontoons.

A friend of mine worked over there as the mud engineer but was on his days off. You can probably get the numbers off of transocean's website if you are interested in confirming.

[camaro5]

where is the DD3 now?

[MODUke]

Base Oil storage would have been around 2,000 bbls if topped off. All mud on surface would have only been around 5,000 bbls. This would have been mud down in the pontoons and mud on surface. However, reports show that the rig had lost circulation which means the hole was drinking. Honestly, can't tell how much drilling fluid was onboard.

[rockman]

I see others have mentioned the Nakika. Any word of that rig. My husband is out there. Praying for the families and crew of the Horizon.

Nakika is roughly 15 miles to the SE, as the crow flies. Blind Faith is another 15 miles SE of that. The Horizon accident would not have affected those locations. Sadly, the effect on the personnel would be another issue altogether.