Yet Another Oil Rig Explodes In the Gulf
Before the oil from the BP spill could be mopped off the ocean floor, yet another Oil Rig has exploded 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay off the Louisiana coast at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel confirmed in a telephone interview to Bloomberg that seven coast guard helicopters have been rushed to the site, four from New Orleans and Houston and the rest from the Deepwater Horizon site.
Besides two airplanes and four Coast Guard cutters, the Decisive, Claibone, Skipjack and the Manta are on the way as per Fox news.
According to unconfirmed reports, there has been one serious injury among the 13 member crew that required being taken to Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma. Coastguard has not yet confirmed details of the oil spill or the extent of the rig damage. The rig called Vermilion 380 was operated by the Houston-based Mariner Energy Inc. and was operating at a depth of 340 feet.
Mariner Energy shares fell by 6% to $22.19 in New York composite trading at 11:43 a.m. Mariner Energy also has an office in Lafayette from where operations are possibly being coordinated. There is no news from the Administration on the details of the explosion, but a five nautical mile air traffic restriction over the Vermilion rig has been imposed.
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