Petrobras 36
| Career | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: |
Petrobras 36 Spirit of Columbus (1995–2000) |
| Owner: | Marítima |
| Operator: | Petrobras |
| Builder: | Fincantieri, Italy |
| Acquired: | 1995 |
| Status: | sank |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Oil Production Platform |
| Tonnage: | 33,000 GT |
| Capacity: |
oil: 180,000 bbl/d (29,000 m3/d) gas: 7,200,000 m3/d (250,000,000 cu ft/d)[1] |
Petrobras 36 (P-36) was the largest floating semi-submersible oil platform in the world[citation needed] prior to its sinking on 20 March 2001. It was owned by Petrobras, a semi-public Brazilian oil company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.[2] The cost of the platform was US$350 million (currently US$NaN).[3]
The vessel was built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa, Italy in 1995 as a drilling rig. She was owned then by Società Armamento Navi Appoggio S.p.A. The 33,000 tonnes (36,000 short tons) rig was converted in Canada to the world's largest oil production platform.
P-36 was operating for Petrobras on the Roncador Oil Field, 130 kilometres (80 mi) off the Brazilian coast, producing about 84,000 barrels of crude per day.[4]
Contents
Accident
In the early hours of March 15, 2001 there were two unexplained explosions in the aft starboard column. At the time there were 175 people on the rig; 11 were killed. Following the explosions, the rig developed a 16° list, sufficient to allow down-flooding from the submerged fairlead boxes.
Marine salvage teams tried over the weekend to save the platform by pumping nitrogen and compressed air into the tanks to expel the water, but they abandoned the rig after bad weather.
The platform sank five days after the explosions (March 20), in 1,200 m (3,940 ft) of water with an estimated 1,500 tonnes (1,700 short tons) of crude oil remaining on board.
Some argued that Petrobras was lax in its safety and environmental standards as it attempted to increase production and cut costs.
See also
References
- ↑ Fachetti, Marina B.; Valério, Cid G.P.; Loureiro, José E.; Jorge, Henídio Q. (1–4 May 2000). "The Conversion of Spirit of Columbus Semi-submersible into Petrobras 36". Offshore Technology Conference. Houston, Texas. http://www.onepetro.org/mslib/servlet/onepetropreview?id=OTC-12140-MS&soc=OTC. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
- ↑ Investor Relations. "Shareholders' Information". Petrobras. http://www2.petrobras.com.br/ri/ing/InformacoesAcionistas/ComposicaoCapitalSocial.asp. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
- ↑ "Petrobras P-36". Oil Rig Disasters. Monday, 14 April 2008. http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/p36.htm. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
External links
- BBC article
- Sinking of the Petrobras P-36 Photographs of the platform's sinking.
- SustainAbility case study Costs of the sinking.
- Petrobras Oil Rig Project with images on the P-36
- Article in Offshore Sinking Sequence of P36
- Ship infoboxes without an image
- Pages with broken file links
- All articles with unsourced statements
- Articles with unsourced statements from June 2010
- Articles with invalid date parameter in template
- Brazil articles missing geocoordinate data
- All articles needing coordinates
- Collapsed oil platforms
- 2001 in Brazil
- 2001 disasters
- Disasters in Brazil
- Oil platform disasters
- Petrobras
- Semi-submersibles
- Drilling rigs
- Ships built by Fincantieri
- Maritime incidents in 2001
