About 2228 on February 4, 1978, the industrial vessel HALLIBURTON 207 exploded while attempting to plug an offshore oil well in the Garden Island Bay section of the Mississippi River Delta. The explosion raised the forward section of the vessel's main deck approximately 4 feet, distorted internal bulkheads and strength members, and breached the hull. The vessel flooded slowly and sank. The explosion killed one person and injured two others. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the entry of natural gas from an offshore oil well into the vessel's interior through a failed piping joint, and the subsequent ignition of the gas by the arcing of the contacts of an electric motor controller. Contributing to the accident was the lack of a device in the vessel's piping system to prevent flow-back from the well, the interior location of the piping, and the lack of emergency procedures to insure that valves at the wellhead were closed at the first indication of difficulty.


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    Title :

    Marine Accident Report - M/V HALLIBURTON 207 Explosion and Sinking, Garden Island Bay, Mississippi River Delta, February 4, 1978


    Publication date :

    1978


    Size :

    18 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English