Oil slick seen after oil rig blast
A mile-long oil sheen has been spotted spreading from an offshore oil platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about a mile long and 100ft wide, was seen near the platform off Louisiana owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy.
He said Mariner had deployed three firefighting vessels to the site and one was already in place fighting the blaze.
The Coast Guard says no one was killed in the explosion and fire, which was reported by a commercial helicopter flying over the site on Thursday morning. All 13 people aboard the rig were rescued as they floated in the water in survival outfits.
The platform is in about 340ft of water and about 100 miles south of Vermilion Bay on the central Louisiana coast. Its location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000ft where BP's well spewed oil and gas for three months after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April.
All 13 people aboard the rig were found floating in the water, sticking close together, Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.
"These guys had the presence of mind, used their training to get into survival suits before they entered the water. It speaks volumes to safety training and the importance of it because beyond getting off the rig there's all the hazards of the water such as hypothermia and things of that nature," he added said.
All were being flown to a hospital to be checked over. Coast Guard Commander Cheri Ben-Iesau said one person was injured, but Mariner Energy said there were no injuries.
"Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The cause is not known, and an investigation will be undertaken," the company said in a statement.
The platform is a fixed petroleum platform that was in production at the time of the fire, according to a homeland security operational update. The report also said the platform was producing about 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.
