Containment dome suspended just above U.S. Gulf leak

Typography
BP Plc engineers using undersea robots had a massive metal chamber hovering just above a gushing, ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday in a mission seen as the best chance yet to contain what could be the most damaging U.S. oil spill. The 98-ton structure has been lowered to the seabed almost 1 mile below the surface. The mission requires pinpoint accuracy in the dark and under high water pressure. The container was suspended just over the leak while crews using remotely operated vehicles prepared the seabed, said the Unified Command Center, which is coordinating spill-fighting efforts. "It will hover there until they are ready. They hope to lower to sea floor today, but they need to finish prepping the surface," the center said in an update late on Friday.

BP Plc engineers using undersea robots had a massive metal chamber hovering just above a gushing, ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday in a mission seen as the best chance yet to contain what could be the most damaging U.S. oil spill.

The 98-ton structure has been lowered to the seabed almost 1 mile below the surface. The mission requires pinpoint accuracy in the dark and under high water pressure.

The container was suspended just over the leak while crews using remotely operated vehicles prepared the seabed, said the Unified Command Center, which is coordinating spill-fighting efforts.

!ADVERTISEMENT!

"It will hover there until they are ready. They hope to lower to sea floor today, but they need to finish prepping the surface," the center said in an update late on Friday.

BP, which faces major financial losses from the spill, suffered a further blow on Friday when ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook on the British oil giant to negative from stable.

It is under pressure from the Obama administration to limit the damage. BP has said it will pay all legitimate costs, a bill that is likely to run into the billions of dollars.

BP officials hope to attach a pipe to the big metal box to start siphoning oil to a ship next week.

The device has not been tried at that depth, where engineers guiding remotely operated vehicles battle darkness, currents and intense undersea pressure. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward warned there was no certainty of success.

BP is drilling a relief well to halt the leak -- which began after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 crew members -- but it could take up to three months to complete.

They gave up on efforts to close valves on a failed blowout preventer with underwater robots, after trying in vain for two weeks, said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer.

Surface containment efforts continue, helped by calm seas. crews conducted controlled burns for a second straight day.

Article continues: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100508