Deepwater Horizon

Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible drilling rig
History
NameDeepwater Horizon
OwnerTransocean's Triton Asset Leasing[1]
OperatorTransocean
Port of registry
  • Panama (23 February 2001 – 28 December 2004)
  • Majuro (29 December 2004)
RouteGulf of Mexico
OrderedDecember 1998
BuilderHyundai Heavy Industries[2]
CostUS$560 million[3][4]
Way number89
Laid down21 March 2000
Completed2001
Acquired23 February 2001
Maiden voyageLong Beach, California – Freeport, Texas
Out of service20 April 2010
Identification
  • ABS class no.: 0139290
  • Call sign: V7HC9
  • IMO number: 8764597
  • MMSI no.: 538002213
FateSank on 22 April 2010, after an explosion and fire
NotesLocated in the Gulf of Mexico at a depth of 5,000 ft (1,500 m) at 28°44′30″N 88°23′3″W / 28.74167°N 88.38417°W / 28.74167; -88.38417[5]
General characteristics
Class & typeABS +A1 DPS-3 Column Stabilized MODU
Displacement52.587 Mg
Length112 m
Beam78 m
Height97.5 m
Draught23 m (75 ft)
Depth41.5 m (136 ft)
Deck clearance34.010 m (111.58 ft)
Installed power
Propulsion8 × Kamewa 5.5 MW, 6.3 rad fixed-propeller azimuth thrusters
Speed2 m/s
Capacity
Crew150
Notes[6][7]

Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig[8] owned by Transocean and operated by the BP company. On 20 April 2010, while drilling in the Gulf of Mexico at the Macondo Prospect, a blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 40 miles (64 km) away.[9] The fire was inextinguishable and, two days later, on 22 April, the Horizon collapsed, leaving the well gushing at the seabed and becoming the largest marine oil spill in history.[10][11]

Built in 2001 in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries,[12] the rig was commissioned by R&B Falcon (a later asset of Transocean),[13] registered in Majuro, and leased to BP from 2001 until September 2013.[14] In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of 35,050 ft (10,683 m) and measured depth of 35,055 ft (10,685 m)[15] in the Tiber Oil Field at Keathley Canyon block 102, approximately 250 miles (400 km) southeast of Houston, in 4,132 feet (1,259 m) of water.[16]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference subsidiaries was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference mms ivan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Transocean Ltd. Provides Deepwater Horizon Update" (Press release). Transocean Ltd. 26 April 2010. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  4. ^ "Deepwater Horizon: A Timeline of Events". Offshore-Technology. Net Resources International. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  5. ^ USCG Investigation Team Members (27 April 2010). Report of Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Explosion, Fire, Sinking and Loss of Eleven Crew Members Aboard the MOBILE OFFSHORE DRILLING UNIT DEEPWATER HORIZON In the GULF OF MEXICO April 20 – 22, 2010 (PDF). bsee.gov (Report). Vol. 1. United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference rig spec was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference abs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Fleet Specifications: Deepwater Horizon". Transocean. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  9. ^ Crittenden, Guy (10 May 2010). "Understanding the initial Deepwater Horizon fire". HazMat Management. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  10. ^ Staff and wire (27 May 2010). "Gulf oil spill now largest offshore spill in history as BP continues plug effort". USA Today. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference MHL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Malcolm Sharples et al for Offshore Risk & Technology Consulting Inc., under contract for Minerals Management Service, Order no. 0105PO39221 (April 2006). "Post Mortem Failure Assessment of MODUs During Hurricane Ivan" (PDF). US Government Minerals Management Service. pp. 50–51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Transocean Sedco Forex to close pending merger with R&B Falcon on January 31, 2001". PR Newswire. 29 January 2001. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  14. ^ "Deepwater Horizon contract extended". Offshore Magazine. PennWell Corporation. 1 November 2009. Archived from the original on 20 May 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  15. ^ "Transocean's Ultra-Deepwater Semisubmersible Rig Deepwater Horizon Drills World's Deepest Oil and Gas Well" (Press release). Transocean. 2 September 2009. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  16. ^ "BP Makes Giant Deepwater Discovery with Tiber". Rigzone. 2 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
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