Rescue crews are searching the Gulf of Mexico for 11 oil rig workers missing since their platform exploded a day earlie

BATON ROUGE, La. (April 21) -- Rescue crews are searching the Gulf of Mexico for 11 oil rig workers missing since their platform exploded a day earlier, injuring at least 17, the Coast Guard said today.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said it was unclear whether the missing workers were in the gulf waters or still on the drilling platform, which was still burning 18 hours after the explosion.

"We have no information as to the whereabouts of the 11 personnel at this point," Landry said at a New Orleans news conference. "We will continue the search and rescue case until it's reasonable that we won't find anybody out there."

The explosion was reported late Tuesday night on a Transocean Ltd. mobile offshore drilling unit called Deepwater Horizon, about 50 miles southeast of Venice, La. Crews continued dousing the fire with water today, while others worked to shut off the valve that was feeding the blaze with oil, said Adrian Rose, a Transocean vice president.

The 17 injured workers were airlifted for medical care in Louisiana and Alabama, Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Baker told AOL News. Three of them are said to be critically injured.

Rose said the platform is listing up to 10 degrees but is stable. "I don't think it's in danger of capsizing," he said.

It's unclear what caused the explosion, Rose said, partly because workers have not yet been interviewed about the moments leading up to the blast.

David Hayes, deputy secretary of the interior, said the federal Minerals Management Service had inspected the platform three times this year -- once earlier this month. Landry said the Coast Guard had also done an annual compliance report on the platform.

"I don't believe" there were any safety violations found, Hayes said.

Transocean and Coast Guard officials downplayed the pollution risks thus far, because any oil and gas in the gulf was being burned up in the flames. Landry said oil spill containment vessels would prevent environmental damage to the coastline.

Landry said crews would continue searching for the missing men into the night, if necessary. "The seas are calm, the winds are down, so we have very good conditions for search and rescue," she said.

Transocean, which calls itself the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, had leased the rig to BP. Of the 126 workers on the platform, 79 worked for Transocean, six for BP and the rest for other companies, Rose said.

According to Transocean's website, Deepwater Horizon was built in 2001 and measures 396 feet long and 256 feet wide. It was in water that was 5,000 feet deep Tuesday night but can operate in depths of 8,000 feet. It can hold a crew of 130 people.

Rose declined to estimate the value of the rig, but said it would cost between $500 million and $600 million to build a similar deep-water facility today.


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