A large oil spill was reported Sunday, after Transocean Ltd.’s semi-submersible oil rig Deep Horizon sank in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast on Thursday, April 22.
The U.S. Coast Guard estimated that 1,000 barrels of oil a day are leaking at the sea floor. The Coast Guard is trying to clear the surface and stop the oil from reaching the coast.
“Our response plan is focused on quickly securing the source of the subsurface oil emanating from the well, clean the oil on the surface of the water, and keeping the response well offshore,” said Rear Adm. Mary Landry, incident commander and federal on scene coordinator on the Coast Guard official website.
The Transocean rig was doing work for British Petroleum when it caught fire, then sank, leading to the disappearance of 11 people. Those lost have not yet been confirmed dead nor have their names been released, but rescue efforts have ceased.
“I would once again like to express our gratitude to the U.S. Coast Guard, BP, and everyone involved for their exhaustive search and rescue efforts, despite this very sad outcome,” said Transocean President Steven L. Newman in press release.
