Having approved the Deepwater Horizon’s safety procedures before the offshore oil rig exploded and unleashed the worst spill in U.S. history, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) of Norway now has been hired by the federal government to inspect the vital piece of equipment that should have stopped the disaster from happening. The Department of the Interior awarded DNV a $1.3 million contract to examine the Deepwater Horizon’s blowout preventer, much to the dismay of some industry officials.

 

The American Bureau of Shipping, a nonprofit organization that classifies marine vessels and offshore rigs, did not recommend DNV for the inspection work on the blowout preventer because it assumed the company’s previous work on the rig constituted a conflict of interest. The shipping organization said it was “surprised” by the Interior Department’s decision.

 

Three years ago, DNV checked and recertified the Deepwater Horizon’s safety protocol. In 2009, Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon, hired the Norwegian firm to study the reliability of blowout preventers.

=Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Interior Hires Firm That OK'd Deepwater Safety Procedures To Do Autopsy of Failed Device (by Steven Mufson, Washington Post)