Maritime News

Coast Guard says Transocean Contributed to BP Disaster

Posted on Apr 24, 2011

One year after the deadly Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, the Coast Guard has released a report showing that Transocean contributed to the disaster.

While BP PLC owned the well that blew out, Transocean owned the rig and was responsible for ensuring its safety. While the Coast Guard does not blame Transocean for the well blowout, it says that flaws in emergency training and emergency equipment, poor maintenance, a poor safety culture, and decisions made by workers may have affected the scope of the blast.

Examples:

Rig workers had not received adequate training on how and when to disconnect the rig from the well in order to avoid an explosion.
Gas alarms and automatic shutdown systems were bypassed, so the crew was not alerted. Had they been working, they may have activated an emergency shutdown that delayed or stopped the explosion.
Electrical equipment was corroded and poorly maintained and may have ignited the explosion.
The onboard fire-fighting system was dependent on electric power.
Safety drills were held at the same time each week, so workers became complacent.

BP is currently suing Transocen for $40 billion for the company's role in the disaster.

This is only the latest report of many involving investigations into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement will release its own report on the explosion. A joint final report by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and the Coast Guard will be released later this year.