An accident involving an underwater robot forced BP to remove a containment cap that had been collecting up to 27,100 barrels of leaking oil per day from its ruptured Macondo well today, unleashing a fresh spew of pollution into the Gulf of Mexico.
Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the senior US official who is managing the operation, said that the accident occurred when the robot, which was being operated remotely from a surface vessel, knocked into a key piece of equipment.
The collision sent a plume of gas rising up to a surface vessel, the Discoverer Enterprise, through a vent that was being used to pump warm water down in order to stop ice-like crystals of gas hydrates from forming inside the cap.
He said that the containment cap had been removed from the top of the Deepwater Horizon’s failed blowout preventer to allow for a proper inspection of the collection system and to ensure that there was no serious damage to it, before it can be refitted.
“A remotely-operated vehicle bumped into one of the vents,” Allen said, adding that if repairs were necessary it could be several days before it could be reapplied
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The accident compounded what was a torrid day in the operation.
In separate incidents, two workers involved in the project have been found dead, it was announced. The captain of a fishing boat involved in the spill clean-up apparently committed suicide. Another worker involved in the project was reportedly found dead in a hotel swimming pool.
US authorities are investigating both incidents which were not thought to have been directly related to the operation.
“It feels like this whole operation is cursed,” said Dan Pickering, an oil and gas expert at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co in Houston.
BP said the accident involving the robot took place at about 8.45am local time or 2.45pm UK time.
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Video images beamed live from the sea bed showed large clouds of oil gushing unchecked from the riser pipe for the first time since the cap was fitted.
Mr Pickering estimated that it would take 12-36 hours to perform the checks and fit the containment cap back on.
During that time, most of the 60,000 barrel-per-day oil leak is expected to flow unrestricted into the Gulf. “The timing depends on whether there has been any damage to the system or not,” he said.
A small proportion of the oil and gas is still being collected by a secondary collection device.
Thad Allen offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the other incidents.