A leg failure on a liftboat near Southwest Pass, La., led to a Coast Guard rescue of the four-man crew early Wednesday morning.
The liftboat Superior Trust, operated by Houston-based oilfield services company Superior Energy, experienced the failure and made contact with a natural gas platform’s walkway, spilling about 10 gallons of oil discharge. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a call at 3:19 a.m. reporting the incident, and a 45’ response boat medium crew was dispatched from Coast Guard Station Venice at 3:36 a.m.
The Coast Guard crew arrived on scene at 4:30 a.m. and transported the lift boat crew back to the Venice station. There were no injuries, according to the Coast Guard. The 87’x19’ cutter Brant arrived at 10:41 a.m. to monitor the Superior Trust, while an MH-65 helicopter aircrew from Air Station New Orleans conducted an overflight.
Superior Energy was developing a salvage plan to recover the Superior Trust and has a pollution cleanup company on standby, Coast Guard officials said. I.G. Petroleum, L.L.C., deployed a response vessel to survey the damage to the platform and begin repairs.
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