British Petroleum takes another hurricane hit.

[Ed Mahmoud]

BP Says Mad Dog Drilling Derrick Toppled

Mad Dog at a Glance




I think we all remember what happened to BP's "Thunder Horse" platform when UK engineering met Hurricane Dennis...

[tropicana]

wow! I forwarded that to my brother, he works in the oil industry and is often in that area from time to time, i'm not sure exactly where this rig is. but wow! They seem so strong.

-justin-

[Ed Mahmoud]

The Ocean Ranger semi-sub drilling rig sank while drilling offshore Canada in a bad winter storm in 1982. All hands were lost. Leesons were learned. Crews working in near freezing waters are required now to have survival suits, and glass ports and windows are no longer built in potential wave areas. A large wave smashed the porthole in the ballast control room on the Ranger, and shorted out the ballast pumps and valves, which led to the rig capsizing.


It did not sink for several hours after capsizing, and it took Canadian rescuers only a few hours to reach the rig. But without survival suits, the crew was doomed.