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The
NewsRoom
Release: #3301
Date: July 14, 2005
Thunder Horse Response
Effort Continues
 Houston - In a joint-agency
response, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Coast Guard and
Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service are
coordinating with BP and other agencies on the ongoing operations to
right the listing Thunder Horse semi-submersible platform. Thunder
Horse is located 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, in Mississippi
Canyon Block 778 and is operated by BP, with a 75 percent working
interest. Exxon Mobil owns the remaining 25 percent.
Response and recovery efforts for
the semi-submersible platform will continue as contract crews and BP
employees work to remove water from the platform. The U.S. Coast Guard
Captain of the Port for the Morgan City, Louisiana zone is the Federal
On-Scene Coordinator for this operation.
 "The Coast Guard is working
closely with BP and its partners in maintaining the Thunder Horse
platform's stability and its recovery,” said Capt. Terry Gilbreath,
the Coast Guard’s Federal On-Scene Coordinator for this operation.
“We have representatives from MSO Morgan City monitoring the
operation."
BP has re-boarded the platform and
established power on the facility. Crews are now focusing their
efforts on pumping operations in order to right the vessel. The
platform continues to list at approximately 20 degrees. An MSRC
oil-spill response vessel, the Gulf Coast Responder, is on location to
deal with any potential environmental issues.
 MMS Director Johnnie Burton noted
that “MMS inspectors have been on the scene of the incident everyday.
We are coordinating with both the Coast Guard Federal On Scene
Coordinator and the BP command center in Houston. MMS structural
engineers have been involved as well.”
MMS has formed an internal
multi-person team to coordinate all aspects of the incident that are
of concern to MMS. The multi-person team will deal with operational
matters, structural engineering and stability, and oil-spill response
planning.
 These coordination steps have been
taken under the 2004 Memorandum of Agreement between MMS and the Coast
Guard. The MOA identifies which areas of offshore structures are
under the lead responsibility of each agency, and it establishes
procedures for coordination.
Personnel from U.S. Coast Guard
Marine Safety Office Morgan City, remain on scene today overseeing the
safety of all personnel involved in the operation. Additional
personnel in Morgan City and Houston are working to review and approve
recovery and safety plans for the effort.
The Coast Guard Cutter Pelican, an
87-foot patrol boat homeported in Abbeville, La., is on scene
enforcing a safety zone and will provide search and rescue response
capabilities in the event of an emergency.
The cause of the incident remains
under investigation.
Relevant Web Sites:
Media Contacts:
Debra Winbush (504)
736-2595
Caryl Fagot (504)
736-2590
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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