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A briefing on the US Coast Guard investigation into the Deepwater Horizon tragedy
On April 27, under authority provided by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and in accordance with a pre-existing Memorandum of Agreement, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Interior directed the U.S. Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service to conduct a joint investigation into the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon incident that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. The incident resulted in the loss of 11 lives, the burning and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon, and the ongoing discharge of oil into the Gulf of Mexico eco-system.
The Coast Guard has classified its investigative efforts as a Marine Board of Investigation, the highest level of investigative effort following a maritime casualty. These investigations are intended to determine the cause of the casualty to the fullest extent possible, promote safety of life and property at sea, and obtain information for the purpose of preventing or reducing the effects of similar casualties in the future. If the investigation reveals criminal misconduct on the part of any involved parties, then the Coast Guard will determine if the matter should be referred to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.
Effective 11 May 2010 the US Coast Guard has established a safety zone around the riser for the Deepwater Horizon, the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU), at Mississippi Canyon 252 in the Outer Continental Shelf where oil response efforts are taking place on the water’s surface and subsurface. The safety zone is needed to protect personnel involved in oil pollution response efforts. Placing a safety zone around the riser will significantly reduce the threat of collisions, oil spills and releases of natural gas and thereby protect the safety of life, property and the environment.
The provisions of this temporary final rule are as follows:
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Vessels responding to situations like that of Deepwater Horizon may encounter unexpected hazards with which they are unfamiliar and which are not immediately apparent.
A respondent on the gCaptain forum, Nomad, warns: “For any mariners responding to distress calls in circumstances such as this, it’s a good idea to stop – look – listen – before approaching too close. In this specific case, the venting hydrocarbons were ablaze, but in some cases there is no fire, just an uncontrolled flow. The presence of high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas is always a consideration, even with oil blowouts as there is often a gas component to the reservoir fluid.”
Hydrogen Sulphide, H2S, dangers are well known to offshore workers and vessels servicing them are usually equipped with H2S meters and alarms but others, such as fishing vessels will not. H2S is characterised by a ‘rotten eggs’ smell but the gas itself can disable the sense of smell in higher concentrations.
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Bob Couttie
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