BP caps ONE of the three oil leaks in Gulf of Mexico as engineers wait for giant funnel that may stem the 'volcano'

The Pollution Control Dome (R) leaves Port Fourchon onboard an oil workboat, as it makes it way to cap the source of the oil slick from the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster in Louisiana, on May 5, 2010. BP has deployed a giant "dome" to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, knowing failure will leave crude spewing into the sea for months and magnify the risk of an environmental catastrophe

Last best hope: The giant funnel is lifted onboard an the Joe Griffin ship (below) Port Fourchon, Louisiana

Engineers trying to stop the massive BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico were locked in a race against time last night as they waited for a giant funnel to be shipped out to them.

The 100-ton dome device, which is designed to bottle up the gushing liquid, was yesterday loaded onto a boat to begin its journey to the leak site about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.

The concrete-and-steel box, which stands at 400ft high, is seen as the best short-term solution to bottling up the disastrous oil spill that threatens sealife and livelihoods along the Gulf Coast.




By kukueye at 2010-05-05




Help at hand: A brown pelican covered in oil is treated by rescuers

So far BP has managed to cap the smallest of three leaks at the deepwater well, but engineers hope the funnel will finally stem the disastrous oil leak a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico.They have deployed an armada of remote-controlled submarine robots that are essentially turning wrenches to try to repair malfunctioning equipment and cap the leak while spraying chemicals from a wand into the muck to disperse the oil.

But the effort that has the best chance of success in the short term is the installation of a gigantic, rectangular containment dome that BP hopes to lower into the Gulf by today or tomorrow to cover the biggest of the underwater leaks.

The concrete-and-steel structure is 40 feet tall, weighs nearly 100 tons and is outfitted with valves and pipes that will funnel the crude into a tanker.

BP hopes to hook up the device to the ship over the weekend or perhaps as late as Monday. A second such box is also under construction.

Such domes have never been tried at this depth because of the extreme water pressure. BP spokesman Bill Salvin noted that about 3,000 feet (914 metres) of water can crush a Navy submarine.

Jason Holvey, a marine engineer, said smaller containment devices have been used in the Gulf, but at depths of only about 300 feet (91 metres).

They were used after Hurricane Katrina, he said, to capture oil spilled from platforms.

One fear is that the petroleum will clog up in the tubes and make it difficult to pump the oil into the tanker.

'We don't know for sure' whether the equipment will work, Salvin said.

'What we do know is that we have done extensive engineering and modeling and we believe this gives us the best chance to contain the oil, and that's very important to us.'

Men in hard hats are putting the finishing touches on the contraption.

But a much less visible task is unfolding at the bottom of the Gulf, 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) down.

It is there that nine submersible robots are carrying out various tasks.

In one case, a robotic arm turned a valve on a broken piece of equipment and transmitted video to crews in a control booth.
In another, a submersible applied chemicals with what looked like something a homeowner would use to spray weeds on his lawn.

The vehicles are also trying to activate a giant piece of machinery called a blowout preventer that was supposed to stop the oil flow but failed.

The undersea vehicles are the workhorses of the deepwater oil and gas industry, capable of performing chores at depths where people can't go because of the crushing water pressure. They are the size of a Humvee and are generally operated by a three-person crew using joysticks and video feeds on 40-inch screens.
'Some of those operators can pour cups of coffee, can pick up 600 pounds or pick up an eggshell without breaking it,' said Lou Dennis, vice president of programs for Perry Slingsby Systems, which claims to be the world's largest maker of the devices.

Crews have also begun drilling a new well sideways into the gusher of oil so that they can plug it up with concrete. But that solution could take three months to complete as they dig 13,000 feet (nearly 4,000 metres) below the sea floor.

'The challenge is unprecedented,' BP spokesman John Curry said yesterday.

As of yesterday, Salvin said the crews drilling the relief well had bored 1,275 feet (388 meters) below the sea floor and had 11,500 feet (3,505 metres) to go.

'The deeper you go down, the harder it is to drill,' he said.

Officials with BP and the Obama administration have been encouraged by the results of the spraying.

The vehicles have been spraying the dispersant at a rate of nine gallons per minute - nowhere near enough to keep up with such a gigantic spill, but engineers believe enough to keep a fair amount of oil from rising to the surface.

Normally, dispersants are applied to floating oil. This is the first time these chemicals have been used underwater at such depths.


Despite all the high-tech gadgetry, BP said engineers are not able to determine with any degree of precision how much oil is leaking.

'It's very difficult with the cameras down there and the way the lighting is impacted by the water to get a decent sense of perspective,' Salvin said.

The disaster began two weeks ago with an explosion and fire that killed 11 workers aboard a drilling platform 50 miles out in the Gulf.

The well is spewing an estimated 200,000 gallons of oil a day in what could become the nation's worst environmental crisis.

Crews are working around the clock to keep the spill from reaching the fishing towns and white-sand beaches that line the Gulf Coast.

The weather improved yesterday and allowed environmental teams to fight back the oil slick as residents anxiously waited to find out when and where the mess might come ashore.

BP shares slumped to a seven-month low yesterday as concerns grow over the cost of cleaning up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company has seen almost £20billion wiped off its value since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20.

With the White House vowing to keep its 'boot on the throat' of BP, to make sure it pays all the costs of the spill, experts predict its losses could run to more than £11billion.

The company could also face punitive damages as BP chief Tony Hayward goes through tough congressional hearings in Washington. And Florida Governor Charlie Crist said last night his state might sue BP over any damage.

The financial developments came as convicts were drafted in to help the oil clean-up in Louisiana.

More than 80 prisoners wearing green jumpsuits were searching for wildlife affected by the spill.