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Falcon's Deepwater Nautilus, the world's largest mobile offshore drilling rig, is the Deepwater Nautilus is a 5th-generation, semi-submersible rig capable of drilling in 8,000 feet of water and another 30,000 feet into the seafloor in search of increasingly valuable Texas Tea. HOUSTON,
Texas (AP) -- Two offshore
oil-drilling rigs were found in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday,
September 16, 2004 after
disappearing in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. Crews had been evacuated
from both rigs ahead of the storm.
The Deepwater Nautilus rig was spotted by aircraft more than 70 miles northeast of its original location, which was 160 miles south of Mobile, Alabama, said Guy Cantwell, a spokesman for Houston-based Transocean Inc., the owner of the rig. The rig was floating and upright. Built in 2000, the Nautilus is one of the largest drilling rigs in the Gulf at nearly 400 feet long and 308 feet wide. It was designed to withstand waves up to 48 feet high and winds of 120 mph, according to the company's Web site. Another Houston-based company,
Diamond Offshore Drilling, also
searched for a stray rig after Ivan passed. Its Ocean Star (below) drifted about 12
miles
from where it had been moored, about 115 miles south of Mobile.
No damage to either rig was
apparent when viewed by aircraft, and
both companies planned closer inspections before restoring them to
normal operations.
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