Coast Guard, Supply Vessels Responding to Platform Fire in Gulf of Mexico -UPDATE

Four offshore supply vessels extinguish a fire on an oil production platform fire near Grand Isle, Louisiana, January 5, 2017. U.S. Coast Guard Photo

The U.S. Coast Guard and at least four offshore supply vessels are responding to a fire on an oil production platform belonging to Renaissance Offshore near Grand Isle, Louisianna.

The fire was extinguished Friday morning at about 6 a.m.

The Coast Guard says it was notified at about 2:30 a.m. that an oil production platform was on fire approximately 80 miles south of Grand Isle. The Coast Guard has dispatched a HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew from Mobile to scene.

There were four people aboard the platform who evacuated into the water and were recovered by the offshore supply vessel Mary Wyatt Milano. There were no reported injuries.

The Crew of Mary Wyatt Milano and three other offshore supply vessels were sent to fight the fire, the Coast Guard said.

An update from the Coast Guard said the fire is reported to have been extinguished at approximately 6:15 a.m., Thursday.

Clean Gulf, an oil spill response organization, was also responding.

The platform belongs to Renaissance Offshore LLC. The company provided additional details of the incident in the following statement provided to us:

At approximately 2:30am CST this morning, January 5, 2017, a fire broke out on the Ship Shoal 266 A platform owned by Renaissance Offshore, LLC. Initial efforts were made by the crew to extinguish the fire, however the decision was made to discontinue those efforts and abandon the platform due to heavy smoke. All four crew members onboard safely evacuated from the platform aboard a life raft and were recovered by a field vessel that had been dispatched to the location. The crew has safely evacuated to a nearby facility and will be transferred onshore for a full evaluation. The fire was completely extinguished at approximately 5:50am CST.

An update from the company said company and BSEE personnel boarded the platform at 1:45pm CST Thursday afternoon and confirmed the ignition source was extinguished and all hyrdocarbons are secure. 

Some video of the firefighting has been posted online:

Video shot by a supply boat Capt on the scene of this morning’s oil platform fire. @Darwin_WPMI will have more at 12:30 on Local 15 news. pic.twitter.com/3ClX6ieKrt

— LOCAL 15 (@LOCAL15NEWS) January 5, 2017

Renaissance Offshore LLC, based in Houston, Texas, invests primarily established fields on the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico in water depths no greater than 1,000 feet.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

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