Repair Ship Arrives, Repairs on Offshore Rig Expected to Begin Sunday Morning
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – The City of Corpus Christi continues receiving updates on the offshore incident involving an unmanned platform owned by Magellan E&P. The rig is located two miles from North Padre Island’s shoreline near Bob Hall Pier.
A repair ship from Galveston arrived at Harbor Island in Port Aransas early Saturday morning. A SONAR team and repair crew are preparing to begin work early Sunday morning. The ship has been loaded with repair equipment and a wide variety of replacement parts to ensure that whatever the repair crew discovers as the cause of the incident can be repaired quickly and safely. The ship is anticipated to head out to the platform early Sunday morning as long as sea-conditions are safe. Repairs are expected to take a couple of days.
Air monitoring continues and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) assures residents the air quality remains safe and no action is needed.
Out of an abundance of caution, the USCG has established a Temporary Flight Restriction zone (TFR) for aircraft of any kind including drones that extends one mile around and 500-feet above the platform. In addition, they have identified an 800-meter safety zone around the platform which must not be crossed by any vessel without the permission of the Coast Guard. Due to safety issues, the company is asking the public not to fly any drones over the area. Citizens are also reminded beach access from the Bob Hall Pier parking lot is temporarily closed by Nueces County for heavy equipment to conduct debris removal from Hurricane Hanna.
Earlier this week, the US Coast Guard (USCG) received a report of white smoke billowing with a loud sound from an unmanned platform. The white plume consisted of natural gas, naturally occurring condensate and water. Since then, the plume has significantly diminished to an estimated 5% of its original size.
The City of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Magellan E&P, USCG, TCEQ, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) continue overlooking the incident and say the City - County beaches on Padre Island are safe and there is no danger to the public.
The City of Corpus Christi will continue providing daily updates to the community. Stay informed with the City’s social channels on Facebook @citygov, Twitter @cityofcc, or visit www.news.cctexas.com.