Louis Cyprien Chaisson
December 28, 2006January Exhibits
January 2, 2007
No serious problems are expected from a liftboat that experienced problems during jack-up procedures early last Thursday morning in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Lt. Cmdr. Andy Sheffield of U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit (MSU) Morgan City.
At approximately 2:15 a.m., MSU Morgan City received a report that liftboat Juan suffered an initial 10-degree list to its right side—meaning the liftboat was leaning 10 degrees to the right. By Thursday afternoon, the vessel’s list increased to 45 degrees.
All six crewmembers were safely evacuated.
Sheffield said because of the amount of fuel on board, there should not be any problems stemming from the incident. “There shouldn’t be an issue because of just how far out offshore it is,” said Sheffield, “and the amount of product, or the amount of fuel that it had onboard, it shouldn’t be an issue even if something was to come out.”
The incident occurred in the Gulf of Mexico’s Outer Continental Shelf, in Ship Shoal Block 207, which is about 30 miles south of Caillou Bay, or 70 miles south of Gibson.
Liftboat Juan is owned and operated by Montco Offshore, Inc., of Galliano.
An over-flight to assess the condition of liftboat Juan was done late Friday morning. As of press time, Sheffield had not received a report from the over-flight.
