Maritime News

Nineteen Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives are asking the Mineral Management Service (MMS) to investigate whether British Petroleum PLC (BP) has the engineering documents required to safely operate its Atlantis oil and gas platform.

 
The Atlantis platform is the deepest moored semi-submersible floating oil and gas production facility in the world. It is located 190 miles south of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico.

 
Representative Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), who chairs the House Natural Resources subcommittee that oversees public lands, led the group that reported a whistle-blower had notified MMS in March 2009 that he believed BP did not have the required engineer-approved drawings for the Atlantis sub-sea components.

 
A review of BP’s database from that time showed that more than 90 percent of the required documents may not have been approved by a professional engineer. A BP internal document also indicated that BP was using incomplete or inaccurate documents.

  
If the platform is operating without these documents, the lawmakers wrote “(it would) increase the risk of catastrophic accident that would threaten not only the workers on the platform, but also the Gulf of Mexico and the communities that depend on the resources it provides.”

 
A BP spokesperson said the company has complied with MMS regulations. MMS will investigate.

 
When big companies are negligent, workers are put at risk.  If you have been injured while working offshore, you have rights under maritime law. Contact The Young Firm at 868-938-6113 for more information.