- Author
- National Transportation Safety Board
- Title
- Marine Accident Report. Explosion and Fire Aboard the U.S. Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit, Zapata, Lexington, Gulf of Mexico, September 14, 1984.
- Coporate
- National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC
- Report
- NTSB/MAR-85/11, October 1, 1985, 26 p.
- Keywords
- offshore drilling
- Abstract
- About 1230 on September 14, 1984, the U.S.-flag mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) ZAPATA LEXINGTON suffered an explosion and fire while moored and conducting drilling operations in 1,465 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico. The accident occurred while procedures were being employed to evacuate a gas bubble from the subsea blowout preventer stack on the sea floor. Instead, gas trapped in the blowout preventer entered the base of the marine riser, rose to the surface, and escaped into the atmosphere, expelling a large volume of drilling mud out of the riser. The gas infiltrated the areas above and below the drill floor at the base of the derrick and was ignited. The explosion and fire that followed resulted in the deaths of four persons and severe injuries to three persons. Sixty-four persons abandoned the MODU using two survival capsules and three inflatable liferafts. The gas fire burned itself out about 30 minutes after the rig was evacuated. The cost of repairs was estimated at $12 million.