Oceaneering International Disaster Management

ISDS 3100

GROUP 1: ANGELA BUCHER, AANCHAL GUPTA, BENJAMIN PETERS, MEGHAN QUINT, TIMOTHY BABCO

Oceaneering History & Information Started in 1964 as an air and gas diving business for the Gulf of Mexico,

Oceaneering International has since become a international company that lends its services to companies all over the world, though has kept its central focus with diving and ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) support.

They offer these services as well as their engineering expertise and planning in underwater-deepwater operations, namely in oil drilling of which they had plenty exposure in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oceaneering Disaster Management

Oceaneering’s focus has been underwater since its beginning and therefore it’s disaster management often concerns how to assist in disasters such as the one experienced in the 2010 BP oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company itself has its own procedures in the case of a data breach or a major disaster that would affect it. The most critical part of their data is client bank information, though it is on a corporate scale and generally not on an individual scale. For physical goods, the ROVs are generally the most expensive and valuable product that can be easily moved. Oceaneering builds their own ROVs and control centers.

Oceaneering During the 2010 BP Oil Spill

In 2010, the unexpected happened when the BP (British Petroleum) deep-water oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and started to release gallons upon gallons of oil, though this was only discovered later when oil slicks started to form around the former site of the oil rig.

There was immediate response to assess the damage and it was found the blowout preventer on the well had broken. This blowout preventer was immediately brought down on an oil pipeline after the rig explosion but it failed.

This was were Oceaneering International comes in. They were hired as a crisis response planner to assist in closing the well and start assessing the damage using ROVs (the depth was to great for a human diver).

The ROVs we’ve seen in the videos of the repair progress on the well leakage were all Oceaneering. They were the first to determine that the blowout would be more difficult to contain than originally anticipated.

Oceaneering During the 2010 BP Oil Spill (cont)

Oceaneering also served to help assess the damage that the spill caused to the coast using divers, and ROVs.

This disaster gave Oceaneering experience on how to combat future oil spills and problems with oil drilling rigs and led to the development of over 100 custom-engineered tools to assist in the maintenance and repair of oil rigs.

Oceaneering & Hurricane Katrina

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive hurricanes ever, hit the Gulf Coast and has since become the costliest natural disaster in history.

In not only preparing for it but also in assessing and repairing the damage, Oceaneering International was there.

They helped to prepare the oil rigs for this coming disaster and fortified their own buildings along the Gulf Coast, starting by moving the ROVs and other equipment further inland.