A salvage team is continuing preparations to raise the sunken jackup platform / lift boat Seacor Power (IMO 8765682) in the Gulf of Mexico.
The vessel was caught in rough weather and capsized some 5nm south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana’s southernmost port, Gulf of Mexico, during the afternoon of April 13th (IMN, April 15th), with 19 personnel on board.
Salvors in May completed the removal of more than 20,300 gallons of diesel fuel, using the hot tapping method, which involves drilling into the fuel tanks, making a hose connection, and transferring the fuel to portable tanks.
Some 4,500 gallons of hydraulic fluid remains on board in tanks that are inaccessible, but not compromised. That fluid will remain on board until after the vessel is raised.
The US Coast Guard said on Friday June 4th that a salvage crane was working to remove debris from the site while divers were prepping the lift boat to be raised.
Six crew members were recovered safely following the accident, but seven people currently remain missing.
The accident remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and USCG, although a preliminary report published in May by the NTSB revealed that Seacorp Power’s crew decided to lower the vessel’s legs to the seafloor to ride out a squall. The vessel capsized as the helmsmen was attempting to turn the Seacor Power into the wind as the legs began to descend.
The Seacor Eagle, another Seacor Marine-operated lift boat, is being utilized for the salvage operation. There remains a USCG safety zone covering a one nautical mile radius around the incident site in effect until June 15th.
2002-built, USA-flagged, 2,276 gt Seacor Power is owned by Falcon Global Offshore II LLC care of manager Seacor Liftboats LLC of Louisiana, USA. ISM manager is Seacor Marine LLC of Morgan City, Louisiana, USA. It is entered with Skuld (Business Unit Skuld Offshore) on behalf of Falcon Global Holdings LLC.