FEATURES

DEEPWATER HORIZON

Deepwater Horizon - What Have we Done to Deserve This
Deepwater Horizon - After the BP Report
Deepwater Horizon - The Investigation
The Deepwater Horizon and the Late MMS.
The Deepwater Horizon - PR and Politics
The Deepwater Horizon - Forces at Work
The Deepwater Horizon - Where Are We Now?
ROVs, Risers and Mud
The Deepwater Horizon - Later
Something about the Deepwater Horizon Accident
Channelling the Oil Leak
Preventing Fires and Explosions on Offshore Installations

OTHER ACCIDENTS
The Costa Concordia Grounding
The Loss of the Normand Rough
The Bourbon Dolphin Accident
The Loss of the Stevns Power
Another Marine Disaster
Something About the P36
The Cormorant Alpha Accident
The Loss of the Ocean Express

OPERATIONS
The Life of the Oil Mariner
Offshore Technology and the Kursk
The Sovereign Explorer and the Black Marlin

SAFETY
Safety Case Development
The ALARP Demonstration
PFEER, DCR and Verification
PFEER and the Dacon Scoop
Human Error and Heavy Weather Damage
Lifeboats & Offshore Installations
More about PFEER
The Offshore Safety Regime - Fit for the Next Decade
The Safety Case and its Future
Jigsaw
Collision Risk Management
Shuttle Tanker Collisions
A Good Prospect of Recovery

TECHNICAL
The History of the UT 704
The Peterhead Connection
Goodbye Kiss
Uses for New Ships
Supporting Deepwater Drilling
Jack-up Moving - An Overview
Seismic Surveying
Breaking the Ice
Tank Cleaning and the Environment
More about Mud Tank Cleaning
Datatrac
Tank Cleaning in 2004
Glossary of Terms

CREATIVE WRITING
An Unusual Investigation
Gaia and Oil Pollution
The True Price of Oil
Icebergs and Anchor-Handlers
Atlantic SOS
The Greatest Influence
How It Used to Be
Homemade Pizza
Goodbye Far Turbot
The Ship Manager
Running Aground
A Cook's Tale
Navigating the Channel
The Captain's Letter

GENERAL INTEREST
The Sealaunch Project
Ghost Ships of Hartlepool
Beam Him Up Scotty
Q790
The Bilbao OSV Conference

DEEPWATER HORIZON - THE INVESTIGATION

It is now six weeks since I last wrote anything about the Deepwater Horizon accident, and while I have been away the investigators have been away as well. In the last article BP had fitted the cap to the end of the riser sticking out of the top of the BOP, and after some time and testing they found that they could stop the flow of oil from the well. It seems likely that they had originally intended to direct the flow of oil to the vessels on the surface, but of course stopping the flow was an even better result. Then it might have occurred to them that if they could actually stop the flow then they could have another go at the top kill, which those following events in the Gulf of Mexico will remember was last attempted by inserting a pipe into the end of the riser. So using a very high pressure pumping system, the cement unit,  which is routinely fitted to all rigs they pumped in mud and then cement, and succeeded in regaining control of the well.

Reports in the media, now well into the inside pages, tell us that nearly all the oil has dispersed in a variety of ways, to the point that special surveys have been commissioned to find it, and on the coast watches are being maintained in case tar balls come ashore. Today on 30th August the investigation into the disaster has continued. Lists of witnesses have been made available, and the joint investigation website indicates that it may be some time before any conclusions are reached. Earlier this month the testimony from the hearings which took place in July were posted on the internet, and in UK this resulted in a headline in the Guardian "BP rig's alarms were switched off to help workers sleep". This was taken from the testimony of Michael Williams who had the job of maintaining the electronics on the doomed rig. He said that the alarm systems on the rig had been inhibited, and that it had been stated by others on the rig that it was to allow people sleep.

The testimony itself reads like something from an action novel. Williams was in his workshop when he saw his computer monitor explode before his eyes, and at the same time he heard the engines overspeeding, which although no-one seems to have actually said so, indicates that they were being fuelled by gas. Then he heard explosions and in the dark struggled out onto the deck, and to the pilot house. While he and others were unsuccessfully trying to start the standby generator, nearly everyone else evacuated in the lifeboats at the forward end leaving them with few options but to jump over the side. It seems likely that his training in the US military probably saved his life, that and the FRC from the Damon B Bankston, the ship which had been taking on board the mud from the rig when control of the well had been lost. This small craft was so successful that others are now asking why rigs are not fitted with FRCs, and just for once I have an answer. There are two reasons. The first is that one of the lifeboats may be the emergency craft, as long as it can be recovered at the appropriate speed, and the second is that without the right training an FRC deployed from a rig can be a danger to those on board it.

The only other nugget of information in the public domain at the moment is that the Marshall Islands incorrectly classified the Deepwater Horizon as a self-propelled MODU (Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit), which would move by itself between locations before being anchored, while it should have been classified as a Dynamically Positioned MODU, one which both moves by itself and maintains station on location by itself. Without going into details, a higher level of marine qualification is required for the latter for most positions. Apparently the error was made in 2004. One has to ask how the owners of the unit had not realised that the error had occurred.

And I realise that it may be worth providing just a bit more information about DP, dynamically positioned, vessels, again. There are now all sorts of DP vessels in the world from drilling rigs and drill ships to passenger ships and super yachts. The proliferation of this type of craft has been fostered by the global positioning system (GPS), which as we all know is now available an an accessory on your camera never mind a billion dollars worth of oil rig. DP rigs are provided with multiple engines which provide the power for probably eight omni-directional thusters, and the thrusters are interfaced with a computer system which receives signals from the GPS system, and detects if the rig moves away from its assigned position. In that case the thrusters fire up and return it to where it should be. The whole process is monitored by DP Operators whose job it is to watch the computers, and to take over if things go wrong. It is curious, to those of us who are or have been professional mariners, that no actual marine qualification is required for those wishing to be trained as DP Operators.

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