Friday, March 15, 2013

Transocean failed to maintain Deepwater Horizon, engineer testifies

Transocean Limited failed to adequately maintenance Deepwater Horizon, avoiding critical repairs for years prior to the burning and sinking of the drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, according to an engineer who testified in the trial investigating the cause the disaster.

While in court yesterday, Edward G. Webster, a marine engineering expert testifying for plaintiffs, reviewed a Transocean computerized maintenance system report for the Deepwater Horizon, dated one day before the April 20, 2010 blast, which listed 222 overdue maintenance tasks, including 76 "high priority" items.

Critical safety and equipment systems went without maintenance or repairs for months and sometimes years, Webster reported, referring to the internal report.

Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon, which exploded and sank off the Louisiana coast, setting off the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

"This shows gross negligence to the rig," Webster testified, adding that the maintenance history of the Deepwater Horizon was "recklessly kept."

For more of the Bloomberg story: bloomberg.com

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