Incident Photos – Pemex’s Flotel Jupiter platform partially sinks in Gulf of Mexico

Partial collapse of the platform Flotel Jupiter – April 12, 2011

Name: JUPITER 1

Flag: Mexico

Rig Type: semi-submersible platform

IMO No.: 8757283

Owner Name: Cotemar Company, SA de CV

Total Length: 81.5 m

Dead Weight Tonnage: 3295 T

Incident Background – April 12, 2011

MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said Tuesday it evacuated 638 workers from a semi- submergible dormitory platform after it began to lean to one side when water entered a pontoon.

Pemex said in a statement there were no injuries as a result of the sudden inclination of the Flotel Jupiter platform housing the workers about 80 kilometers (48 miles) off the coast of Ciudad de Carmen, Campeche state.

Since the platform is used only for housing and not for production, Pemex added, the morning incident didn’t cause any leakage of hydrocarbons. “Pemex reiterates that neither production nor other activities in the area were affected,” the statement said.

The evacuated workers, Pemex said, were taken by transport ships to the Abkatun-Alfa platform. Divers were sealing the affected pontoon on the Jupiter and Pemex said it expected the platform to be stabilized shortly and moved to an inspection area.

-By Laurence Iliff, Dow Jones Newswires

Incident details provided by Pemex and translated using Google Tranlations:

According to procedures, we applied the emergency response plan installation (PSS Jupiter) and the majority of staff who was board at the time, was immediately evacuated and moved to the Abkatun-A fixture of the Southwest Marine Region of Pemex.

At the time of the incident 713 were on board, 638 or which were evacuated. 75 crew members remained
to meet the contingency.

Bilge pumps from the installation, were insufficient to ounteract the ingress of water to it, so we proceeded to
complete evacuation at 13:30.

An attempt to review the entry of water by divers, but derived from falling into the water equipment and materials available on cover were suspended platform work to care for the physical integrity divers.

After several attempts to rescue the platform, not to stabilize and given the inclination partially turned and sank at approximately 14:30. The water depth in the area is 38 meters and given the dimensions of the platform, which is 50 meters wide, remain above the level of water by 13 meters

The platform housing Jupiter is 2.075 barrels stored diesel and 82 barrels of jet fuel. The diesel is stored in tanks in the pontoons and jet fuel is in containers on deck. No evidence of leakage.

Monitoring will be maintained around Jupiter platform to detect the presence of a spill.

When addressing alternatives recovery platform and the root causes of the incident.

Rigs contracted by Pemex platforms are inspected annually for certifying companies to international standards. In
particular, the platform Jupiter, was last inspected in June 2010

More Photos:

Images via Pemex

Unlock Exclusive Insights Today!

Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.

Sign Up