Wednesday: Saw Now Stuck in Pipe

(10PM EST – promoted by Nightprowlkitty)

Vroom, vroom, vroom whirrr whirrr whirrrr ……

whoopsie !  

PORT FOURCHON, La.  The risky effort to contain the nation’s worst oil spill hit a snag Wednesday when a diamond-edged saw became stuck in a thick pipe on a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said the goal was to free the saw and finish the cut later in the day. This is the latest attempt to contain, not plug,  the gusher. The best chance at stopping the leak is a relief well, which is at least two months from completion.

“I don’t think the issue is whether or not we can make the second cut. It’s about how fine we can make it, how smooth we can make it,” Allen said.

The saw and framework have now been freed from the BOP’s riser pipe, from what I have watched on the live feed, and are being hauled back up to the surface.  Here’s the photo sequence I took. The first photo is from last night, which shows the pipe saw in action on the BOP riser.  I added contrast to these pictures.

tues pm

Tues evening, June 1, 2010  The “diamond edged” pipe saw (yellow circle aprox. middle of picture, between the 2 silver pipes of the saw holder framework) cutting into the riser pipe at the top of the BOP.  The engine drive box for the saw is the yellow box on the right, mostly obscured by oil and methane plumes that are now coming out of the partially cut riser. photo, live feed bp, color bumped by arc

weds am

Weds morning June 2, 2010  Now that the saw blade is stuck in the riser pipe, a ROV arm comes in and is waving what looks to be a wire type of snare around to try to latch onto something on that side of the metal framework holding the pipe saw up to the top of the BOP, which is the large while thing in the center.  The saw machine is behind all this.  

The ROV arm then goes down a bit lower and picks up an orange colored loop attached to a cable, lifts it, and it’s shown that the other end is already attached to the pipe saw framework.  They must be blowing the oil plumes away from what they are working on to be able to see anything. This silver pipe framework is holding the saw machine onto the BOP, and to the right hand side you can see the bent over remains of the riser pipe.

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Tug of War.  When in doubt, apply brute force.  ROV arm giving a series of little tugs with the leash,  to the pipe framework with  holding the stuck saw blade, to loosen it up.  

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6/2/2010  Wave bye- bye !  You’re going for a ride to see Mr. Sawblade Shop Repair & Service.   The pipe cutting machine and blades are now freed and heading for the surface.  

All that damned oil and they can’t keep the thing lubricated.