Photos: Oil Platform Catches Fire in the Gulf of Mexico
The U.S. Coast Guard said an oil production platform has caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, roughly 80 miles southwest of Grand Isle, La.
The fire, which broke out aboard the Ship Shoal 266 A oil production platform at approximately 2:30 a.m. Thursday, was reported to have been full extinguished by approximately 5:50 a.m., according to the rig’s owner Renaissance Offshore.
There were four crew members aboard the platform who, after initial efforts to extinguish the fire, evacuated into the water aboard a life raft and were recovered by the offshore supply vessel Mary Wyatt Milano, Renaissance Offshore said in a statement.
The four were flown to a hospital in Houma for medical evaluation, and no injuries have been reported.
Photos released by the Coast Guard show four offshore supply vessels were deployed to extinguish the blaze.
There is no visible oil sheen reported.
Renaissance Offshore said that company and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) personnel boarded the platform at 1:45 p.m. Thursday and confirmed the ignition source was extinguished and all hyrdocarbons are secure.
As a result of the fire, production has been shut in on both the A and B platforms, which are co-located and operated by Renaissance Offshore, BSEE said. The 10 wells on Platform A and seven on Platform B were shut in prior to the operators’ evacuation.
BSEE inspectors are onsite and have begun conducting an investigation.