USCG Air Station New Orleans aircrew aboard the Noble Globetrotter II. Photo via U.S. Coast Guard
The U.S. Coast and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) have issued a joint safety alert, Safety Alert 05-22, in response to an incident involving the ultra-deepwater drillship Noble Globetrotter II during Hurricane Ida last year.
Although the safety alert does not mention the drillship by name, it states that a Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU), with 115 personnel onboard, lost 11 marine riser joints and a lower marine riser package in its failed attempt to evacuate to evade the hurricane. 88 barrels of “miscellaneous fluids” were also released into the Gulf of Mexico.
The BSEE Gulf of Mexico Region and the USCG 8th District Outer Continental Shelf Officer in Charge initiated separate investigations into the event.
The BSEE investigation concluded that the operator and contractor representatives failed to promptly start the Temporary Abandonment (TA) procedures. Also, the T-Time calculations, which is the time needed to secure well safely, pull riser, prepare the ship for transit, and evacuate/evade ahead of a weather event, were in the red level when the operator and contractor made a “joint decision” to suspend well operations.
According to safety alert, the TA was delayed for “several hours” as the operator and contractor decided to conduct a crew change amid reduced staffing and time constraints. Over-torqued bolts and equipment breakdowns prevented the drill crew from retrieving the marine riser and LMRP, causing further delays, the joint safety alert states.
“In his duty as Ultimate Work Authority, the MODU’s Captain stopped work so the crew could make storm preparations, such as placing covers on riser hatches. The captain and marine crew maneuvered the MODU with 12 riser joints and LMRP still hanging under the moonpool at speeds between 1 and 3.5 knots. Still, they could not evade Category 2+ hurricane-force wind and high/rough seas. The riser subsequently broke just below the rotary sending 11 riser joints and LMRP to the seafloor.”
The BSEE and USCG hope the safety alert helps to highlight the importance of risk-based operational planning and preparation when addressing extreme weather events.
Hurricane Ida roared ashore on Sunday, August 29, 2021, near Port Fourchon, Louisiana as an extremely dangerouse Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph.
Drilling contractor Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) addressed the incident involving its drillship in a statement issued the day of Ida’s landfall, confirming that the drillship “encountered hurricane-force conditions” while in the Gulf of Mexico. A second statement, issued a few days later on September 2, included additional details and admitted that “a small number of crew members were treated for minor injuries.” The statement also confirmed that several riser joints and the lower marine riser package were lost during the accident, in addition to other damages including to one of the ship’s cofferdams in the moonpool area
The U.S. Coast Guard first publicly addressed the incident in a media release issued September 1, 2021, three days after Ida’s landfall, indicating that it launched a helicopter aircrew and diverted the USCGC Venturous to the drillship “out of an abundance of caution,” while members of the Coast Guard’s Eighth District Outer Continental Shelf division were in contact with both the master of the Noble Globetrotter II and Noble Corporation.
“Throughout all of the communications between the U.S. licensed master of the vessel and the Coast Guard, the master has maintained that the vessel was not in distress and not actively taking on water,” the Coast Guard said at the time.
Prior to the start of last year’s hurricane season, in March 2021 the BSEE issued Safety Alert 415 which included several recommendations to offshore operators and contractors related to inclement weather preparation following another weather-related drillship incident during Hurricane Zeta the year before. In that incident, the ultra-deepwater drillship Deepwater Asgard, belonging to Transocean, suffered major damage after failing to evacuate ahead of the approaching storm. The BSEE’s investigation identified “an inaccurate weather forecast, with a key contributing cause being the human error decision to stay latched to the well to attempt to ride out the hurricane” as the probable cause.
The joint safety alert issued today included a number of recommendations that the agencies strongly urge operators and contractors to consider. They include:
The BSEE and USCG Joint Safety Alert, Safety Alert 05-22, can be downloaded here.
Join the 82,922 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
The Biden Administration is continueing its streak of offshore wind project milestones. On Monday, the Department of the Interior announced that its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will conduct an...
By Paul Wallace Jun 5, 2022 (Bloomberg) –The US may allow more sanctioned Iranian oil onto global markets even without a revival of the 2015 nuclear accord, according to the biggest...
BEIRUT, June 5 (Reuters) – Lebanon warned Israel on Sunday against any “aggressive action” in disputed waters where both states hope to develop offshore energy, after a ship arrived off the coast to produce...
Get the latest gCaptain articles and breaking news
Get the latest gCaptain articles and breaking news
The Leader in Maritime and Offshore News
For general inquiries and to contact us, please email: [email protected]
To submit a story idea or contact our editors, please email: [email protected]
Enter your email and get some awesome stuff every week