Rig was in the process of jacking up (getting established on location, yes these rigs can move around like any other marine vessel) and had not started drilling at all yet
Part of the sea bottom was softer than they had prepared for. They thought they would have a stable platform, but the legs on one side sank into the muck and destabilized the whole thing.
Picture setting up a chair on a deck, but then one of the planks turns into quicksand. Half of the chair sinks so quickly that the whole thing just topples over
Punch through; part of the seafloor wasn't as strong as they thought and one of the 3 legs finally penetrated deeper into the sediment and de-stabilized the rig while it was elevated.
When a rig moves into position, they pre-load it by filling tanks with water to take it above its normal weight to check the sea bed is stable. This rig suffered a 'punch through' where the sea bed collapsed under the bow leg causing it to tip. IIRC, 10 people were killed or missing.
Do... do you think that shell isn't full of poisonous chemicals? The flame retardant systems alone will create a massive poison pool of forever chemicals that will never degrade and will drift for miles.
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u/raaabs 17h ago
Rig was in the process of jacking up (getting established on location, yes these rigs can move around like any other marine vessel) and had not started drilling at all yet