Oil Rig Explodes Off Louisiana Coast; 11 Missing

Louisiana oil rig explosion: Underwater machines attempt to plug leak

US agencies have approved a plan to use remote-controlled underwater vehicles to seal a leaking oil well beneath a drilling rig that exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last week.

Published: 7:00AM BST 26 Apr 2010

The well, 5,000 feet under the ocean surface off Louisiana's coast, is leaking about 1,000 barrels of oil a day. The spill, which the US Coast Guard has called "very serious", could threaten the GulfCoast's fragile ecosystem if not contained.

Four underwater vehicles have been deployed under the plan outlined by the Coast Guard and US Minerals Management Service. They will dive unmanned to the ocean floor to activate a blowout preventer, a giant series of pipes and valves that could staunch the leak.

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Swiss-based Transocean's Deepwater Horizon rig sank on Thursday, two days after it exploded and caught fire while finishing a well for BP 42 miles off the Louisiana coast.

Eleven workers from the rig are missing and presumed dead in what is the worst oil rig disaster in almost a decade. The Coast Guard on Friday suspended a search for the workers.

London-based BP, which is financially responsible for the cleanup, has deployed an armada of ships and aircraft to contain the oil slick.

Weather models predict it will remain about 30 miles off shore for the next three days, said Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry. "We have no shoreline impacts at this time," Ms Landry said. The oily sheen covered about 400 square miles by Saturday.

Activating the blowout preventer is a "highly complex task" and "it may not be successful," said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of BP's exploration and production unit.

As a backup, BP is sending two floating drilling rigs to the scene that could drill a series of relief wells to stop the leak. That operation, if needed, could take months, Mr Suttles said.

The spill currently is not comparable with the infamous Exxon Valdez disaster, which spilled about 11m gallons of oil into the Prince William Sound in Alaska when it ran aground in 1989.

The well, which is owned by BP, is spewing about 42,000 gallons of oil a day into the ocean, the Coast Guard estimates.