On hold
Weather still keeps listing rig off center
BY DAN PARKER SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

Rough seas have hampered efforts to remove a listing oil rig from the spot where it temporarily was grounded just off Mustang Island March 21.

When seas subside, workers will jack up the Dolphin III, drain the main deck, investigate the cause of the flooding and then tow the huge structure to Ingleside for further work, said Dennis Smith, director of corporate development for Nabors Drilling International, which owns the rig.

Exactly when all that will take place depends on when waters calm down some, said Smith, whose office is in Houston. "Hopefully, it will be a matter of days or just a couple weeks and not more than that," he said at press time - Wednesday, March 28.

A tugboat was towing the jack-up rig from Louisiana through the Gulf of Mexico, heading for the Kiewit Offshore Services plant in Ingleside. But the rig never reached the jetties at Port Aransas.

When the Dolphin III began listing March 21, the tug towed the rig to shallow waters and purposely grounded it to prevent it from sinking or collapsing. As of press time, the rig remained grounded about six miles south of the south jetty in Port Aransas. The leaning rig was resting about one mile off the beach, more than 150 feet of the structure above the water's surface, in the vicinity of the Grand Caribbean condominium.

Smith said it was still unknown why the rig began listing. Coast Guard officials said part of the rig may have become flooded after dewatering pumps stopped running.

Smith said there was some fuel on board the rig. He said he did not know exactly how much there was but that it was "minimal."

Coast Guard officials have reported no spill from the rig. "Obviously, there's always the chance of that, but my last information is, it's relatively stable," said Lt. Lane Steffenhagen, a Coast Guard public affairs officer in Corpus Christi.

Asked about the value of the rig, Smith said a new one of that type costs $50 to $60 million. The Dolphin III was built in the 1970s but has been refurbished and generally is in good shape, he said.