2010-11_ANNUAL_REPORTS_-_FINAL_VERSION_(3)

Deepwater Horizon
On April 20, 2010, another disaster called for MARAD assistance, this one man-made. An explosion
sank the British Petroleum-owned Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig, killed 11 and injured 17
crewmembers, and led to what is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in history. In the days
immediately following the explosion, resources were mobilized for what would be, in many ways, an
unprecedented response effort.
Maritime Administration leadership activated the Maritime Command Center (MCC) to participate in
the Interagency Solutions Group (IASG) by monitoring the spill and providing personnel and
information services to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the National Incident Command (NIC). The
MCC Watch compiled time-critical information received from diverse sources and condensed it into a
standardized format for dissemination and distribution.
Using its maritime expertise, MARAD initially focused on assessing the availability of U.S.-flag vessels
in a timely fashion. Problems multiplied as successive attempts to cap the well failed. On June 16,
2010, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) made the determination that until the flow of oil from
the well was stopped, an adequate number of U.S.-flag oil spill response vessels (oil skimmers) could
not be employed in a timely manner to keep up with the pace of the spill. Based on this FOSC
determination, and in response to concerns by some that the Jones Act was hindering British
Petroleum’s ability to obtain skimmer boats in sufficient quantities and in varying types to keep the oil
from spreading to Florida, MARAD facilitated the use of foreign-flag skimming vessels by the USCG
(when no U.S. response vessels were available) by assisting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) in processing Jones Act waiver requests in a timely manner, and in actually locating needed U.S.-
flag assets when they were urgently needed.
The Maritime Administration reviewed the capabilities of oil spill response vessels, and the USCG
emergency rulemaking providing for additional spill response vessels, and was instrumental in
developing a multi-agency Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the use of needed foreign-flag
vessels in the spill cleanup process. The MOA with MARAD, USCG, EPA, and DOS expedited
requests for Jones Act exemptions for oil-spill-response vessels that did not already qualify pursuant to
46 U.S.C. §55113. The agreement essentially memorializes the process that these agencies created in
response to the Deepwater Horizon spill, and will continue to expedite allowances for foreign oil-spillresponse
vessels for use in future oil spill events.
Staff from MARAD worked with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to process Jones Act exemption and
waiver requests in a timely fashion. Seven foreign-flag, non-oil-spill response vessels were allowed to
be used in urgent situations. Total foreign participation in the spill response was limited and estimated
at fewer than 100 foreign-flag vessels. The U.S.-flag merchant marine response to the Deepwater
Horizon disaster was early and extensive. At the center of the response site, known as “spill source
control,” were approximately 38 vessels, including U.S.-flag drill ships, offshore supply vessels,
research vessels, and shuttle tankers.
Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an engineer and a naval architect from MARAD joined an
interagency team to access thousands of proposals for new oil-spill response and clean-up technologies.
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