Rio De Janeiro, Brazil — Navy divers, engineers and U.S. consultants raced to salvage a crippled offshore oil rig on Saturday, despite a warning that the huge platform could sink in less than two days.
The 30 specialists entered the partly submerged rig, billed as the world's biggest, for the first time since explosions and fire Thursday forced its evacuation, state oil giant Petrobras said.
Environmentalists are concerned the 400,000 gallons of crude oil and diesel fuel aboard the rig could spill into the sea if it sinks. Petrobras has said that no oil has spilled yet.
At least two workers were killed in the disaster and eight others were missing and presumed dead.
One body was recovered from the rig on Saturday and flown by helicopter to the Rio morgue for identification, Petrobras said.
The three explosions damaged a pillar supporting the rig located 75 miles off Brazil's Atlantic coast.
As tall as a 40-story building, the rig was the largest producer in the rich Campos Basin, 120 miles northeast of Rio, which accounts for most of the 1.5 million barrels Brazil produces daily.
Listing at a 30-degree angle, the rig began sinking into the sea at about a foot every hour, Petrobras said.
Chief Executive Henri Philippe Reichstul had warned on Friday that it could sink within 48 to 72 hours.
But on Saturday the rig was sinking more slowly, raising hopes that it could be saved. Carlos Aurelio Miranda, a Petrobras press officer, said the platform sank 20 inches in the past 12 hours.
"There is growing optimism," he said.
The team of 12 divers, 16 Petrobras engineers and two American consultants sealed vents that allowed water in, the company said. The next step was to inject nitrogen and compressed air into the flooded compartments to expel the sea water.
"We are looking for possible leaks and trying to prevent more water from entering the platform until we get suction equipment in place," Petrobras technician Carlos Tadeu said.
Eleven specialists from the Dutch company Smit arrived in Rio on Saturday, along with 50 tons of high-pressure suction pumps and hoses from Germany, Petrobras said.
Two sets of oil barriers were placed around the rig, along with barges specially equipped for oil retrieval and storage, in case of a spill.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.