Transocean Deepwater Horizon –

A Bad Explosion Causes Injuries, Missing Workers

Deepwater Horizon
The DEEPWATER HORIZON is a Reading & Bates Falcon
RBS8D design semi-submersible drilling unit capable of operating
in harsh environments and water depths up to 8,000 ft
(upgradeable to 10,000 ft) using 18¾in 15,000 psi BOP and 21in
OD marine riser. 
Rig Type 5th Generation
Deepwater 
Builder Hyundai Heavy
Industries Shipyard,
Ulsan, South Korea 
Year Built 2001 
Classification ABS 
Twelve people were missing and seven critically injured after an explosion and fire at a Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday. The explosion happened about 10 p.m. CT (11 p.m. ET) Tuesday   .
The rig, about 41 miles off the Louisiana coast, was working on contract for BP PLC (BP Exploration & Production Inc.). All the estimated 126
people on board were able to get off the rig, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said. Fifteen were evacuated to the mainland via helicopter and 99
survivors are being sent on a ship to Port Fourchon, Louisiana, scheduled to arrive at its destination at 8 p.m. CDT, a Coast Guard spokeswoman
said.
Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungasser told Dow Jones Newswires that the missing people were on a life boat that drifted away from the
rig while rescuers focused on getting people off the rig.
The Deepwater Horizon is still on fire, and listing. The cause of the fire is under investigation, the Coast Guard said. Four Coast Guard
helicopters, an airplane and five cutters were responding to the incident.
A BP spokesman said that all six BP workers on board are safe and accounted for. The rig was located in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf
of Mexico when the blast occurred at 10 p.m. CDT Tuesday (0300 GMT Wednesday). It had been drilling the Macondo prospect for BP, a BP
spokesman said. On April 16, BP filed a permit to temporarily abandon the well, according to the Minerals Management Service, an arm of the
Interior Department that oversees offshore drilling. BP says it had recently wrapped up exploration drilling.
BP had begun to drill the well in June 2009, using a different Transocean platform. The Deepwater Horizon appears to have begun work in
January, according to Minerals Management Service well data. The well had reached a depth of at least 11,500 feet. The Deepwater Horizon
was earning about $500,000 a day under its contract with the U.K.-based oil giant, according to Bill Herbert, an analyst with Simmons & Co.
Last September, the Deepwater Horizon set a world deepwater record when it drilled down just over 35,000 feet at another BP site in the  Gulf
of Mexico, Greg Panagos, spokesman for Transocean ,said . "It's one of the more advanced rigs out there," he said. Panagos did not know how
much the rig cost to build, but said a similar rig today would run $600 million to $700 million.

Transocean said in a statement that a "substantial majority" of the crew is safe but some people remain unaccounted for. A "relatively small"
portion of the crew members were injured and are already receiving medical treatment, a Transocean spokesman said.
"The names and hometowns of injured persons are being withheld until family members can be notified," Transocean said in a statement on its
Web site.
The Coast Guard said that three injured were met by ambulance at the Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans. Two were evacuated to West
Jefferson hospital in New Orleans by air ambulance and two were flown to the Mobile Trauma Center in Mobile, Ala.
U.S. Coast Guard, BP and Transocean emergency response vessels and a number of private vessels are participating in a rescue operation, the
Transocean spokesman said.
"We are working with the rig operator Transocean and the U.S. Coast Guard to assist with care for all rig personnel and search for missing rig
personnel," said a BP spokesman.
Just taken picture – 14:42 hours - 4/21/10
Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, announced that its
shares will begin trading on SIX Swiss Exchange ("SIX") today under the symbol
(RIGN). Transocean's shares also trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol (RIG).
"With our company headquarters located in Switzerland since late 2008, we
believe the listing of Transocean's shares on SIX is an excellent way to increase
interest in Transocean among Swiss and European investors and re-affirm our
presence as a Swiss company," said Steven L. Newman, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Transocean Ltd.
With more than 50 years of offshore drilling experience and more than 18,000
personnel worldwide, Transocean leases offshore drilling rigs and provides related
drilling services to customers, including national, major and independent energy
companies.
For the year 2009, Transocean Ltd. reported:
Operating revenues of approximately $11.6 billion,
Net income attributable to controlling interest of approximately $3.2 billion, or
$9.84 per diluted share,
Net cash provided by operating activities of approximately $5.6 billion,
Total assets of approximately $36.4 billion, and
Total debt of approximately $11.7 billion.