
Where Oil Rigs Go to Die (2017) - fredley
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/02/where-oil-rigs-go-to-die
======
simonsarris
The graveyard shot is incredible.

Surprised there's not more photos of ship-breaking itself, which lends itself
to some dramatic shots. Examples:
[https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/11/the-ship-
breakers/...](https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/11/the-ship-
breakers/100859/)

~~~
ghaff
It really is. My first engineering job out of school was designing offshore
drilling rigs (mostly service systems like ballast) and running shipyard
projects. The economics of the industry have really gone through boom and bust
cycles as the article says. I lucked out on timing. I got out just as a bust
cycle was getting serious to go back to school as I had always planned to
anyway.

~~~
ryanmarsh
They truly are magnificent structures. The popular image of the oil industry
is one of roughnecks around ugly old drilling equipment next to a hole in the
ground.

The size and scale of the engineering challenge, especially of deep water
drilling, are incredible. I wish more people could be exposed to the marvels
of engineering in the O&G industry.

~~~
ghaff
I was interested to learn a while back that one of the rigs I worked on the
design of, the Ocean Odyssey, was repurposed as an equatorial launch platform
after it was damaged in a blowout. It was mothballed after Sea Launch ran into
financial difficulties.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_(launch_platform)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_\(launch_platform\))

I haven't kept up with the industry but, especially in retrospect, it was a
great first job.

~~~
martinpw
Several satellites, including the first X-ray telescope, Uhuru, was launched
from a former oil platform off the coast of Kenya:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broglio_Space_Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broglio_Space_Center)

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JamesCoyne
Slightly off topic: Here is an amazing video of the heavy lift ship
_Pioneering Spirit_ lifting an off-shore rig off its base.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jEXmOQ22fQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jEXmOQ22fQ)

The _Pioneering Spirit_ is the largest ship, in terms of gross tonnage, by a
wide margin

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_ships_by_gross...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_ships_by_gross_tonnage)

edit: forgot video link....

~~~
vermontdevil
Im assuming you are referring to this video?

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jEXmOQ22fQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jEXmOQ22fQ)

~~~
JamesCoyne
Yes, thank-you.

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jihadjihad
Great find. On a related note, one of the best pieces of journalism I've found
in the past several years is about a similar incident:
[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/magazine/the-wreck-of-
the...](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/magazine/the-wreck-of-the-
kulluk.html)

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wilburTheDog
What a strangely touching article. I'm not particularly interested in oil
rigs, but that was a compelling read.

~~~
megy
> I'm not particularly interested in oil rigs,

Are many people?

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crtasm
For any UK comedy fans, there's an episode of Only Fools and Horses that was
made to promote careers in the oil industry. No laughter track and I guess
they didn't want to pay for the theme tune but it's still a fun watch

[http://tellyspotting.kera.org/2013/11/08/the-lost-only-
fools...](http://tellyspotting.kera.org/2013/11/08/the-lost-only-fools-and-
horses-episode-licensed-to-drill/)

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akshayB
Is it worth sinking them in areas where they can boost aquatic life ecosystems
or attract scuba diving tourism. I have read many times on how old shipwrecks
turn into a house where lot of aquatic life flourish.

~~~
chrisseaton
Surely they're absolutely filthy and you don't want all the paints, oils,
lubricants going into the water?

~~~
Grazester
Some can and are decontaminated and sunk for creating reefs. I dont think old
oil tankers are used for obvious reasons.

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polpenn
Why not repurpose the rigs for residential use?

~~~
ghaff
Huh? A drilling rig has a rather small living space for maybe 50 people or so
in mostly bunk housing. Compared to, say, a cruise ship, they're tiny.

~~~
joemi
I wonder if it'd be possible to augment or replace the existing living spaces
(and other spaces) on a rig. Maybe turn a rig into a hotel-on-the-water kind
of thing.

~~~
toomanybeersies
They've tried floating hotels before, generally they aren't successful.

The problem with floating hotels is that they're all the disadvantages of
cruise ships, mixed with the disadvantages of a hotel.

Like a cruise ship, you're still on a relatively small floating building,
which limits the activities you can do, and you also have to deal with sea
sickness and storms. Like a hotel you're stuck in one place, the main drawcard
of cruise ships is that you're cruising between locations.

Now instead of a floating hotel, you could turn it into a little sovereign
floating town for libertarians. People have proposed this and made efforts to
manifest such a libertarian utopia, but have never actually succeeded.

~~~
leetcrew
aside from the significant engineering required, my guess is that most people
who could afford to construct or live on such a structure don't actually find
libertarianism that appealing.

