Two people sustained injuries, after a fire erupted on Shell’s “Enchilada” oil platform, in the Gulf of Mexico, in the early hours of Wednesday, the US Coast Guard informed.
As informed, USCG Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a report at 1:20 a.m. that Shell Enchilada platform was on fire, approximately 112 nautical miles south of Vermilion Bay, Louisiana.
At the time of the incident, there were 46 crew members reported aboard the platform, who were evacuated to a lifeboat and transferred to a nearby platform, Salsa.
As a result from the fire, a 54-year-old male suffered from flash burns and a concussion, and a 29-year-old male suffered from a sprained wrist and a concussion. Shell launched an emergency helicopter and medevaced both people and transferred them to the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston.
The platform and all associated production has been shut in. The fire has been reduced to a small flame coming out of a pipe on the platform. There is report of a light sheen north of the Shell platform Enchilada.
USCG and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) responded to the incident and they are jointly investigating the root causes.
