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Maritime Accident News

BP rig decision maker was learning on the job

Posted on May 31, 2010

A Wall Street Journal report says that a BP manager who made key decisions in the hours prior to the Deepwater Horizon explosion told investigators that he was there to “learn about deep water” and had limited offshore experience.

The report says that on the morning of the explosion, a heated argument broke out between the manager and representatives of Transocean, the platform owner. The disagreement centered around the decision by BP’s representative to remove drilling mud and replace it with seawater before temporarily sealing up the well.

Transocean’s crew leaders reportedly disagreed with the procedure but were overruled by the BP rep, who, according to the chief mechanic said, “This is how it’s gonna be.”

The BP rep’s name was not given; he was identified as a “company man.”

The person listed on BP’s documents as its company man was David Vidrine, who was unavailable for comment. He was to have testified Thursday but cancelled due to an unknown “medical issue.”

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