The platform, owned by Houston-based Arena Energy LLC., is located about 50 miles off Grand Isle, La.

The privately held company said it was not producing when the fire broke out Sunday morning, but federal offshore energy regulators are en route to the facility to ensure that status and investigate the accident’s cause, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

Arena-hired firefighters have reportedly extinguished the blaze and remain on site to watch the facility should the fire re-ignite, the Coast Guard said. Federal officials have established a 1,000-yard security zone around the platform and have restricted flights for five nautical miles around and 5,000 feet above the site.

The two rescued men, whose names were not provided and who were the only people aboard the platform when the fire started, have been taken to the West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, La., the Coast Guard said.

The men escaped from the burning platform on a life capsule and were pulled from the water by a vessel that was passing by. They were then hoisted from that boat on to a Coast Guard helicopter and taken ashore. Injuries were not disclosed.

-By Ryan Dezember, Dow Jones Newswires

LA Times – The growing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico was designated a spill of national significance and three top Cabinet officials will tour the site, the federal government said Thursday as it stepped up its efforts to deal with the environmental disaster.  »

NEW ORLEANS — President Obama increased his administration’s role in the cleanup of the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, by positioning the Department of Defense to assist the giant oil company BP in dealing with the spill and by sending three top officials to Louisiana.

• more »
• BUSINESS WEEK – BP Will Pay Spill Costs as U.S. Agencies Mobilize »
• The Guardian – Deepwater Horizon oil slick to hit US coast within hours »
• Market Watch – Oil spill threatens Gulf Coast fisheries and tourism »
• HOUSTON CHRONICLE – Lawmakers set probes of oil spill as federal attention intensifies »

"While BP is ultimately responsible for funding the cost of response and cleanup operations, my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal," President Barack Obama said in remarks at the White House.

photo USA Today

Response to the Sunken Deepwater Horizon is Immense  by Ryan Erickson; Unofficial Coast Guard Blog

I found this picture rather interesting as it puts into perspective the response that’s being undertaken with regard to the Deepwater Horizon fire/sinking/oil drain. It’s hard to call it a spill when it’s actually draining isn’t it?

Anyway, in the event you’re not aware of what I’m talking about check this out.  »

Bigger Gulf Oil Spill Prompts BP to Welcome Military Help  Associated Press/New Orleans Metro News

"We’ll take help from anyone," BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said.

But time may be running out. Not only was a third leak discovered — which government officials said is spewing five times as much oil into the water than originally estimated — but it might be closer to shore than previously known, and could have oil washing up on shore by Friday.

At the same time, there appeared to be a rift developing between BP and the Coast Guard, which is overseeing the increasingly desperate operation to contain the spill and clean it up.

• more »

• Gulf Oil Leak Worse than Thought as Burning Continues:

Planet Data: “The rig lacked a type of shut-off technology, which although not required by U.S. regulators, could have been used to close the well.”

• Smithsonian’s Surprising Science: The World’s Worst Oil Spills »

• BBC News: BP shares plunge on fears over oil slick »

• Christian Science Monitor: Oil spill – What is the Threat to Gulf of Mexico Seafood?

• Washington Post Video: Oil Spill to be Set Ablaze »

__________________________________________________________________

*keep current: subscribe to the gCaptain Forum  Thread: Transocean Deepwater Horizon is on fire »

This weeks incident photos are of the fire that was burning on Seadrill’s West Atlas jackup oil rig located in the Timor Sea between Australia and Indonesia.  BBC tells us:

An oil rig which has leaked thousands of barrels of oil into the Timor Sea over the last 10 weeks has been plugged, the rig’s operators have said.

A massive fire burning on the West Atlas rig has also largely been put out, said PTTEP Australia.

Experts plugged the leak on their fifth attempt by injecting thousands of barrels of mud into the well.

The oil leak, in the Timor Sea between Australia and Indonesia, has endangered marine life, environmentalists said.

PTTEP Australasia, said the fire broke out on Sunday as it made another attempt to plug a leak deep underwater at the West Atlas rig.

The company said it pumped nearly 3,500 barrels of mud into a relief well to plug the leak.

A few months back we brought you photos of the world’s largest crane being built, today we show you it in action.

It is the world’s first fixed dual-beam gantry crane, with an unparalleled lifting capacity of 20,000 tonnes. The crane is named “Taisun” after a sacred mountain in China’s Shandong Province reflecting its size, strength and inspirational qualities.

In 2008, Yantai Raffles Shipyard celebrated the much anticipated First Commercial Lift by Taisun amidst a blaze of fireworks and the expectant gaze of the 750 strong local and international guests, lifting the massive 14,000 MT Deckbox of COSL Drilling Europe AS’ (“COSL”) Semi-submersible Drilling Rig, the ‘COSLPioneer’, and mating it onto the Columns and Hull of the Rig in one single operation, demonstrating an unprecedented feat within the industry.

The Taisun crane has been commissioned by YRS until 2010 to complete at least 9 lifts over a 24 month period.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information on the world’s largest crane, check out the YRS website HERE

gCaptain received the above photo via our gCaptain Tip Line. Here is the official news on the incident from PEMEX;

MEXICO:  PEMEX confirmed that a fire occurred on the Kab 101 platform on Nov. 13.  The fire was caused by a spark generated during repair work to control the natural gas leak that began on Oct. 23.  No one was injured.  The fire later was extinguished in the Kab 121 well.

Meanwhile, work continues to clean the oil spilled during the original incident on Oct. 23.  An overflight revealed that the oil has traveled about 125 kilometers (78 miles).  Another overflight will take place next week to monitor the progress of the clean-up. Click to continue…

Our tipster also suggested that fatalities occurred despite PEMEX’s denial of any injuries. We have not confirmed any of the above comments and have already made one mistake related to this incident so if you have information or links this please write a comment below.

For a look at a discussion on the cause and effect of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Tragedy and read the blog post “Deepwater Horizon Explosion – Breaking News” for a real time look at the events behind a modern oil rig explosion & fire.

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A message from our sponsor: Click to read about Oil Rig Fire PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Cargo Law brings us photos of the deadliest Gulf of Mexico offshore accident in the last 43 years; last week’s Collision of the Usumacinta MODU and the Kab 101 Light-Production rig. Bloomberg News tells us;

The collision of a Petroleos Mexicanos oil rig and a floating platform in a storm this week was the deadliest offshore accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 43 years, killing at least 19 workers and leaving four missing. The death toll is the second-worst in the Gulf, where Mexico produces most of its oil and the U.S. receives about 27 percent of its output. In 1964, an explosion on a C.P. Baker drilling barge killed 22, said Simon Marquis, a U.K.-based offshore rig researcher.

Continue reading the article by clicking HERE then head over to CargoLaw.com to see the Photos HERE.

Ok… looks like we fowled up this post (thanks CargoLaw ;).

The error was caught by Simon who runs the excellent and previously featured website Oil Rig Disasters.  Head over there for all our rig photo needs and we will try to stay with what we know (drillSHIPS) next time.

Maybe it’s just because we have fans aboard the DD1,2&3 but more likely just because this is an amazing model. It shows the Global SantaFe’s (soon to be Transocean?) Development Driller III full equipped for offshore oil exploration and oil field development. To see more photos of the model Click Here.