Investigation shows Deepwater Horizon crew ignored warnings

Investigation shows Deepwater Horizon crew ignored warnings:

The crew of an oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year causing one of the worst oil spills in US history ignored warning signs a disaster was imminent, an investigator said Friday. Marshall Islands deputy maritime affairs commissioner Bill Gallagher, who carried out an inquiry into the explosion because the rig was registered in the Pacific nation, said lessons had to be learned from the disaster. He said there were indications of a problem at the Deepwater Horizon rig before the blast that killed 11 people on April 20 last year but the crew failed to act. “There were multiple signs that there were issues at the well itself, indicators, pressure testing, things of that nature were going on,” Gallagher told Australia’s ABC radio Friday. “There were signs that there were some problems with the well…the blow out started and then, of course, the disaster followed shortly thereafter.” Gallagher, whose report into the incident was released on Wednesday, also cited “deviation” from drilling rig control engineering standards as a reason for the disaster. “These factors contributed to the substantial release of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, which culminated in explosions, fire, the loss of 11 lives, the eventual sinking and total loss of the Deepwater Horizon, and the release of hydrocarbons into the Gulf of Mexico,” the report said.

[Agence France-Presse August 19th, 2011]