SIMOPS--I'm guessing, that means SIMultaneous OPerationS--the on-site coordinator of ship traffic, gave the Ridley permission to enter the 5nm exclusion zone, and approach to 3nm of the wellhead in order to survey. So we did, and I took some more digital photos...
The Discovery Enterprise (the gray one with the drilling tower amidships), partially concealed by support vessels. The smaller, paler flame is from the Discovery: it's flaring methane. The larger, more orange, smokier flame is from a floating platform (almost completely hidden), the Q4000. It's burning oil. Together, they're drawing about 25,000 barrels (~2,000,000 gallons) of oil per day from the well.
The whole floating assembly from a distance--note the smoke.
The flotilla.
Somewhere between those two floating platforms, DDII and DDIII, and 5,000 feet down, is the blown-out well.
Another contracted science vessel, going about its business--water testing.
The Discovery Enterprise (the gray one with the drilling tower amidships), partially concealed by support vessels. The smaller, paler flame is from the Discovery: it's flaring methane. The larger, more orange, smokier flame is from a floating platform (almost completely hidden), the Q4000. It's burning oil. Together, they're drawing about 25,000 barrels (~2,000,000 gallons) of oil per day from the well.
The whole floating assembly from a distance--note the smoke.
The flotilla.
Somewhere between those two floating platforms, DDII and DDIII, and 5,000 feet down, is the blown-out well.
Another contracted science vessel, going about its business--water testing.
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