Oil spill report calls for improved emergency procedures

The flag state for the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year wants improved procedures for activating emergency systems and maintaining fail-safe devices meant to prevent blowouts like the one that led to the massive BP oil spill. The Republic of the Marshall Islands, a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the Pacific Ocean, also says in a report released today that there should be better communication between regulatory bodies about the operation of offshore rigs. The report recommends rig operators ensure that new crewmembers, contractors and visitors are told when they board about the roles and responsibilities of people in charge of the vessel and how the chain of command works in emergencies. But it does little to place blame for the disaster on the principal companies involved, Deepwater Horizon rig owner Transocean Ltd. and British oil giant BP, which leased the rig to drill at its Macondo well site off the Louisiana coast. Granting something like a pass for Transocean, the report concludes confusion regarding decision-making authority during the incident was not a cause of the disaster. A U.S. government investigation by the Coast Guard and the agency that regulates offshore drilling has spent a lot of time focusing on that question. Their final report has not yet been released. Transocean says the Marshall Islands report further confirms that the Deepwater Horizon was fit for service at the time of the disaster. The company, based in Switzerland, says it continues to blame a catastrophic failure of BP’s well for the disaster.