Battle in the deep to stop leak
Source: Agencies |
May 9, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
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ENGINEERS from BP Plc using undersea robots had a massive metal chamber hovering just above a gushing, ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday in a mission seen as the best chance yet to contain what could be the most damaging United States oil spill. 3
The 98-ton structure has been lowered to the seabed almost 1.6 kilometers below the surface in a mission requiring pinpoint accuracy.
The container was suspended just over the leak while crews using remotely operated vehicles prepared the seabed, said the Unified Command Center, which is coordinating spill-fighting efforts.
"It will hover there until they are ready, but they need to finish prepping the surface," the center said on Friday.
BP officials hope to attach a pipe to the big metal box to start syphoning oil to a ship this week.
The device has not been tried at that depth, where engineers guiding remotely operated vehicles battle darkness, currents and intense undersea pressure. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward warned that there was no certainty of success.
BP is drilling a relief well to halt the leak -- which began after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 crew members -- but it could take up to three months to complete.
They gave up on efforts to close valves on a failed blowout preventer with underwater robots, after trying in vain for two weeks, said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer.
Surface containment efforts continue, helped by calm seas. Crews conducted controlled burns for a second straight day.
Light winds are forecast for the area, although they are expected to shift and come from the south to southwest, which could push the slick toward the Louisiana shore.
About 270 boats deployed protective booms and used dispersants to break up the thick oil on Friday. Crews have laid almost 240,000 meters of boom, and spread 1 million liters of dispersant.
An estimated 5,000 barrels (795,000 liters) of oil have poured into the Gulf each day since the well ruptured.
But Ian MacDonald, a biological oceanographer at Florida State University, said that estimate was too conservative. Based on aerial images and estimates of the thickness of the oil, it was probably closer to 25,000 barrels per day, he said.
BP, which faces major financial losses from the spill, suffered a further blow on Friday when ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook on the British oil giant to negative from stable.
It is under pressure from the US government to limit the damage.
BP said it will pay all legitimate costs, likely to run into billions of dollars.
The 98-ton structure has been lowered to the seabed almost 1.6 kilometers below the surface in a mission requiring pinpoint accuracy.
The container was suspended just over the leak while crews using remotely operated vehicles prepared the seabed, said the Unified Command Center, which is coordinating spill-fighting efforts.
"It will hover there until they are ready, but they need to finish prepping the surface," the center said on Friday.
BP officials hope to attach a pipe to the big metal box to start syphoning oil to a ship this week.
The device has not been tried at that depth, where engineers guiding remotely operated vehicles battle darkness, currents and intense undersea pressure. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward warned that there was no certainty of success.
BP is drilling a relief well to halt the leak -- which began after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 crew members -- but it could take up to three months to complete.
They gave up on efforts to close valves on a failed blowout preventer with underwater robots, after trying in vain for two weeks, said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer.
Surface containment efforts continue, helped by calm seas. Crews conducted controlled burns for a second straight day.
Light winds are forecast for the area, although they are expected to shift and come from the south to southwest, which could push the slick toward the Louisiana shore.
About 270 boats deployed protective booms and used dispersants to break up the thick oil on Friday. Crews have laid almost 240,000 meters of boom, and spread 1 million liters of dispersant.
An estimated 5,000 barrels (795,000 liters) of oil have poured into the Gulf each day since the well ruptured.
But Ian MacDonald, a biological oceanographer at Florida State University, said that estimate was too conservative. Based on aerial images and estimates of the thickness of the oil, it was probably closer to 25,000 barrels per day, he said.
BP, which faces major financial losses from the spill, suffered a further blow on Friday when ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook on the British oil giant to negative from stable.
It is under pressure from the US government to limit the damage.
BP said it will pay all legitimate costs, likely to run into billions of dollars.
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