-
Transocean Report Blames BP For Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Explosion
by Matthew D. Shaffer on July 01, 2011
Transocean has released its investigative report into the Gulf Of Mexico oil rig explosion last April. Not surprisingly to maritime lawyers, the company has chosen to place the blame for the explosion on BP. According to the Transocean press release, soon after the Deepwater Horizon explosion last year, the company commissioned an internal inv...
-
No Injuries Reported aboard Transocean Oil Rig Off Ghana
by Matthew D. Shaffer on July 12, 2011
All crew members on a Transocean semisubmersible rig off Ghana are reported to be uninjured after reports of water on board. The water ingress on the Transocean Marianas came to light when the crew members were getting ready to move location. According to Transocean, the rig was not drilling at the time. However, all 108 nonessential personne...
-
Offshore Drilling Safety Bill in Limbo due to Dispute over Revenue Sharing
by Matthew D. Shaffer on July 27, 2011
An important piece of offshore safety legislation that would have clearly defined how drilling safety plans in US waters should progress, is currently left hanging after lawmakers disagreed over revenue sharing payments to states. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee was debating legislation that would enhance offshore drilling sa...
-
Judge Rules BP Can Be Sued for Punitive Damages
by Dennis M. McElwee on September 23, 2011
A judge has handed plaintiffs, who sustained losses during the BP oil rig explosion last year, a huge victory. He has ruled that BP can indeed be sued for punitive damages. According to Judge Carl Barbier plaintiffs are allowed under maritime law to make a claim for punitive damages. BP, Transocean and other defendants have insisted that puni...
-
Focus on Shell’s Offshore Safety Record
by Matthew D. Shaffer on September 26, 2011
Royal Dutch Shell is trying to defend its offshore safety record, after attacks by environmental safety groups over a leak from a Shell platform in the North Sea. Shell has confirmed that it has managed to plug the leak from its Gannet Alpha platform, which is located just 112 miles off Aberdeen, Scotland. The leak resulted in more than 200 ton...
-
Federal Report Blames BP, Transocean, Halliburton for Rig Explosion
by Matthew D. Shaffer on October 12, 2011
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has laid much of the blame for the Gulf of Mexico oil explosion last year on BP. However, Transocean, the owner of the rig, and Halliburton, which did much of the cementing work on the vessel, have not been spared blame either. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation an...
-
Stem Cell Treatment Could Help Treat Maritime Workers with Spinal Cord Injury
by Matthew D. Shaffer on October 17, 2011
The world's first clinical trial into the use of embryonic stem cells to treat spinal cord injury is continuing in California. Last week, another patient, the first from California, enlisted in the trial. This person has been paralyzed waist down, and is currently undergoing stem cell injection therapy at the Santa Clara Medical Valley Center. ...
-
Chemical Safety Agency Has Concerns about Offshore Safety
by Matthew D. Shaffer on October 31, 2011
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board is conducting an investigation into the BP explosion and oil spill last year. The investigation is being conducted at the request of Congress. The investigation is still on, but according to the New York Times, the board has found that lax federal offshore safety regulatory standards were re...
-
New Zealand Struggles to Contain Worst Maritime Oil Spill
by Matthew D. Shaffer on November 23, 2011
Maritime attorneys and environmental groups will not quickly forget last year's Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion and the resulting spill. In New Zealand, the government is struggling to contain that country’s biggest oil spill, resulting after a maritime accident earlier this month. The Liberia-flagged Rena ran aground on October 5 about 22 km ...
-
Failure to Identify Gearbox Problem Led to Offshore Helicopter Crash
by Dennis M. McElwee on December 14, 2011
The Air Accident Investigations Branch has completed its investigation into an offshore helicopter crash in the North Sea in March 2009 that killed 16 people, including 14 offshore workers and 2 pilots. The report blames the accident on the failure to identify a potential problem in the gearbox just one week before the crash. According to the r...
-
Bill Would Require Stationing of Rescue Vessels within 3 Miles of Offshore Rigs
by Dennis M. McElwee on January 09, 2012
A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives would require rescue boats to be stationed within three nautical miles of offshore oil and gas drilling rigs. The measure has been sponsored by Louisiana Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia. According to him, the proposal aims to find a common sense approach to the safety problems facing the offs...
-
2 Workers Missing After Chevron Rig Catches Fire Off Nigerian Coast
by Matthew D. Shaffer on January 16, 2012
Chevron Corp. officials said 2 workers were missing after a rig off Nigeria’s coast caught fire Monday. The company said that 152 workers had been found, but officials were still accounting for all those working on the offshore rig, which was exploring possible deep-water oil and gas fields. The cause of the fire was still under investigation,...
-
Families of Missing Russian Oil Rig Workers Blame Company Officials for Tragedy
by Matthew D. Shaffer on February 07, 2012
The families of 39 crewmembers of the Russian oil rig which collapsed and sank off the coast of Russia last week, are coming to terms with the fact that their loved ones will never be found. Mixed with sorrow is also anger that company officials went ahead with what was possibly a suicidal towing mission. The Kolskaya oil and gas drilling platf...
-
Canadian Offshore Drilling Industry Faces Shortage of Experienced Workers
by Dennis M. McElwee on February 16, 2012
Canada's offshore drilling industry expects to see limited growth over the next year, because of a shortage of qualified and skilled oil workers. According to the Canadian Association of Oil Well Drilling Contractors, the shortage of experienced workers is a major impediment to the expansion of drilling activities. The Association says that it...
-
Scientific Panel Calls for New Approach to Offshore Safety
by Matthew D. Shaffer on February 22, 2012
A scientific panel is recommending that U.S. offshore drilling companies take a more systematic approach to offshore safety in order to prevent a disaster like the BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last year. The recommendations were made by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. In a new report, the two ag...
-
No Injuries Reported in Transocean Rig-Supply Vessel Collision
by Matthew D. Shaffer on February 27, 2012
No crewmembers have been reported injured in a maritime accident involving a Transocean oil rig and a supply vessel off the coast of Newfoundland. According to offshore safety regulators, the collision involved the offshore drilling rig GSF Grand Banks, owned by Transocean Ltd. and working for Husky Energy Inc., off the Newfoundland coastline. ...
-
Brazilian Oil Rig Worker Killed In Fall Accident
by Dennis M. McElwee on February 29, 2012
A worker on an oil rig owned by Brazil's national oil and gas agency has been killed in a fall accident. According to Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras, the accident occurred last week on the PUB-03 oil rig, which is located in the Rio Grande do Norte in the northeastern part of the country. The worker and two of his colleagues fell on the d...
-
Fire Rages through Petroleos Mexicanos Platform; No Injuries Reported
by Dennis M. McElwee on March 26, 2012
All crew members on an offshore oil platform operated by Petroleos Mexicano have been evacuated after a fire raged through the platform last week. There were approximately 213 workers on the KU-S platform in the Ku Maloob Zaap field in the Bay of Campeche. This is Mexico's largest oil producing field, and for several years now has been a source...
-
Victory for BP As Court Disallows References to Previous Accidents
by Dennis M. McElwee on April 02, 2012
BP’s safety record is not exactly a secret to the maritime law lawyers at our firm. However, the company’s less-than-stellar record will not be admitted into court during the Deepwater Horizon trial. The trial will apportion blame for the oil explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, which killed 11 workers. But, the court has disallowed ...
-
Judge Rules Transocean Need Not Pay Pollution-Related Compensatory Damages
by Matthew D. Shaffer on April 12, 2012
Ever since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, maritime law attorneys have found Transocean and BP battling over liability and damages. A judge has ruled that Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, does not have to pay any compensatory damages arising out of the marine pollution that resulted after the disaste...
-
Improved Helicopter Crash Training Facilities for Offshore Workers
by Dennis M. McElwee on April 16, 2012
Offshore oil industry workers in Canada now have access to greater and more improved helicopter crash survival training. The Marine Institute has announced newly improved facilities for workers in the country's offshore industry. The Offshore Safety and Survival Center located in Foxtrap, Canada has invested in new survival equipment that is me...
-
Offshore Helicopter Flight Abandoned After False Fire Alarm
by Matthew D. Shaffer on April 24, 2012
There are a number of dangers that an offshore oil rig worker is exposed to, and one of these is the risk that a worker faces every time he takes a helicopter flight to or from an oil rig or platform. Offshore oil workers make frequent trips between shore and land, and these trips are not without their dangers. Last week, nine passengers on an ...
-
Shell Oil Platform Evacuated After Gas Leak
by Matthew D. Shaffer on May 02, 2012
An oil platform operated by Royal Dutch Shell in the North Sea has been partially evacuated after detection of a gas leak. There were a total of 76 crew members on the Gannett Alpha platform operated by Shell in the North Sea. Out of these, 48 members were evacuated, and returned to shore by helicopter. According to Shell, the problem came to l...
