Fighting Oil Rig Fire
Boats shoot water onto the Vermilion 380-A oil-and-gas platform Thursday. Owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy, the rig had exploded into flames in the Gulf of Mexico (map) earlier that day—135 days after the BP oil rig explosion that resulted in millions of barrels of crude being spilled into the Gulf.
The fire on the shallow-water oil rig, which sits about 80 miles (130 kilometers) off Louisiana, was extinguished Thursday afternoon, at which time the cause of the Mariner Energy oil-rig fire remained unknown.
All 13 workers on the platform had donned protective suits and taken to the water after the oil rig caught fire. About two hours later a rig-supply boat rescued the Mariner Energy employees. No serious injuries have been reported, according to the New York Times.
A press release from Mariner Energy stated that no oil leaks had been found as of Thursday afternoon. At the same time the U.S. Coast Guard, contradicting an earlier statement, reported no oily sheen around the Mariner Energy rig.
(See pictures of the oil sick resulting from the BP oil rig explosion).
Oil Rig Explosion Photos: Mariner Energy Platform Burns
Just months after BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, which leaked millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, another Gulf oil rig exploded into flames Thursday.
