Robot vessels used to cap Gulf of Mexico oil leak - but why no failsafe?. ∞
Update, I didn’t realise the blowout-preventer was the failsafe — but it failed!
I am amazed that there appears not to be a failsafe shutoff valve on the oil well on the seabed. Surely it would be a good idea that the top of the well should be sealed if there is a disastrous problem with the rig above — if only to prevent loss of the valuable commodity, not to say anything about minimising the environmental damage.
BP is using submersible vehicles, equipped with cameras and remote-controlled arms, to try to activate a blow-out preventer – a series of pipes and valves that could stop the leak.
However, this was a “highly complex task” and “it may not be successful”, said chief operating officer of BP’s exploration and production unit, Doug Suttles.
… the oil slick was estimated to have grown to about 600 sq miles (1,550 sq km)
More on the oil slick, and the estimated two months to fix it by Richard Black Oil stirs troubled waters
This is another scandalous example of the environmental disregard of oil companies. But we continue to support them by driving around in our cars, flying off to foreign climes (ash permitting), and buying food transported half way round the world instead of eating fresher local produce…