West Atlas
On 21 August 2009, the drill rig West Atlas, located in the Timor Sea in Montara oil field, off the Kimberley coast, suffered an oil eruption. The rig belongs to the Norwegian company Seadrill Ltd and is managed by the Thai company PTTEP Australasia.
This incident caused one of the largest oil spills Australia has ever known, ranking third after the Kirki (17,300 tonnes on 21 July 1991) and the Princess Anne Marie (14,800 tonnes on 14 July 1975).
Thankfully, the 69 engineers and technicians onboard were safely evacuated and a response team was mobilised by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to control and plug the leak.
The eruption caused a continuous leak of 60 to 70 m3 a day, resulting in a total spill of between 18,000 and 33,500 m3 of oil. The slick created stretched up to 40 km wide by 136 km long. From the very beginning, AMSA took charge of response operations at sea. It treated the slick with dispersants, sprayed from a Hercules C130 plane. These operations mobilised 300 people, 17 vessels and 9 aircraft.
PTTEP sent a mobile drilling rig, West Triton, to drill a relief well to intercept the leaking well, 2,600 m below the sea, and pump mud to plug the leak.
No oil was reported to arrive on the shore. From September, the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) funded two impact studies, the first on birds and mammals, the second on coastal pollution.
Sources:
Name: West Atlas
Date: 21 August 2009
Location: Australia
Accident area: Timor Sea
Cause of spill: oil eruption
Type of pollutant: crude oil
Quantity spilled: 4,800 tonnes
Structure type: drilling rig
See also
- Australian government- Australian Maritime Safety Authority
- Montara Well Head Platform information and updates
Last update: 18/03/11