A fire on a well connected to an oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico is out and there is no indication of an oil sheen, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.
There were no serious injuries among the platform's rescued 13 crew members, who were wearing survival suits when they were plucked out of the water. They were being evaluated at Terrebone General Hospital, officials said.
Despite earlier reports, there is no evidence of an oil sheen, said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Peter Troedsson, adding there were no visible leaks.
"We continue to investigate and to monitor that situation," he said at a news conference.
The vessel, the Vermilion Block 380, was engulfed in flames Thursday morning about 100 miles off the central coast of Louisiana. The fire forced its crew into the water. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the crew was doing maintenance when fire broke out.
Jindal said the men he spoke to were in good spirits and one was being released to go home for his son's birthday. "What's important is there are no injuries, no loss of life," Jindal said.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, officials said.
Mariner Energy, which owns the platform, said that the fire was not sparked by an explosion. It started at one of the platform's seven active wells after a safety shutoff occurred, the company said.
"Automated shutoff equipment on the platform safely turned off the flow of oil and gas from the platform's seven producing wells before the fire occurred and the crew evacuated," Mariner Energy said in a statement.
Such safety equipment did not kick in on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, which burned and sank in April, causing a major oil spill. The blowout preventer malfunctioned.
During the last week of August, production from the platform averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas a day and 1,400 barrels (58,800 gallons) of oil, the company said.
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