''Petrobras 36'' (''P-36'') was at the time the largest floating semi-submersible

oil platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...

in the world prior to its sinking on 20 March 2001. It was owned by

Petrobras Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., better known by the portmanteau Petrobras (), is a state owned enterprise, state-owned Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The company's name transla ...

, a semi-public Brazilian oil company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The cost of the platform was US$350 million (currently US$). The vessel was built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa, Italy in 1995 as a drilling rig. She was owned then by Società Armamento Navi Appoggio S.p.A. The rig was converted by Davie Industry, Lévis, Canada to the world's largest oil production platform. ''P-36'' was operating for Petrobras on the Roncador Oil Field, off the Brazilian coast, producing about of crude per day. P-36 was replaced by FPSO-Brasil which is a leased vessel from SBM Offshore. The FPSO-Brasil started its lease contract with Petrobras in December 2002. In 2007, the P-52 platform (

FPSO A floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is a floating vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry for the production and processing of hydrocarbons, and for the storage of oil. An FPSO vessel is designed to receive h ...

P-52) built in Singapore and Brazil came into operation.

Accident

In the early hours of March 15, 2001 there were two explosions in the aft starboard column at or around the emergency drain tank. The first explosion was caused by an overpressure event, the second by ignition of leaking hydrocarbon vapor. At the time there were 175 people on the rig; 11 were killed. Following the explosions, the rig developed a 16° list, sufficient to allow down-flooding from the submerged fairlead boxes.

Marine salvage Marine salvage is the process of recovering a ship and its cargo after a shipwreck or other maritime casualty. Salvage may encompass towing, re-floating a vessel, or effecting repairs to a ship. Today, protecting the coastal environment from ...

teams tried over the weekend to save the platform by pumping nitrogen and

compressed air Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air is an important medium for transfer of energy in industrial processes, and is used for power tools such as air hammers, drills, wrenches, and o ...

into the tanks to expel the water, but they abandoned the rig after bad weather. The platform sank five days after the explosions (March 20), in of water with an estimated of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

remaining on board.

Accident

See also

References

External links