A massive “eye of fire” straight out of a superhero movie was seen in Mexican waters early on Friday morning. Officials say the fire was due to a rupture and leak in an underground pipeline.
Mexican journalist Manuel Lopez San Martin was first on the scene as the fire burned out of control near an active working Pemex oil platform (see the translation below):
🚨 Incendio registrado en aguas del Golfo de México
A 400 metros de la plataforma Ku-Charly (dentro del Activo Integral de ProducciĂłn Ku Maloob Zaap)
Una válvula de una lĂnea submarina habrĂa reventado y provocado el incendio
Esta fuera de control hace 8 horas pic.twitter.com/KceOTDU1kX
— Manuel Lopez San Martin (@MLopezSanMartin) July 2, 2021
Translated from Spanish by Google:
Fire registered in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico
400 meters from the Ku-Charly platform (within the Ku Maloob Zaap Integral Production Asset)
A valve on a submersible line burst and caused the fire
It’s out of control 8 hours ago
🚨 Sobre el incendio registrado en aguas del Golfo de México, en la Sonda de Campeche, a unos metros de la plataforma Ku-Charly (dentro del Activo Integral de Producción Ku Maloob Zaap)
Tres barcos han apoyado para sofocar las llamas pic.twitter.com/thIOl8PLQo
— Manuel Lopez San Martin (@MLopezSanMartin) July 2, 2021
Translated from Spanish by Google:
About the fire registered in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, in the Campeche Sound, a few meters from the Ku-Charly platform (within the Ku Maloob Zaap Integral Production Asset)
Three boats supported to dousing the flames
According to a Reuters report, it took over five hours to completely extinguish the fire using nitrogen. Later, Angel Carrizales, head of Mexico’s oil safety regulator ASEA, tweeted that “the incident did not generate any spill” of oil into the Gulf waters.
We can only assume most everything leaked was burned up in the fire.
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The exact cause of the leak is under investigation, but it has been reported that the area was impacted by “an electrical storm and heavy rains,” according to a Pemex incident report shared by one of Reuters’ sources.
Meanwhile, Manuel San Lopez Martin’s original on-the-scene tweets and videos have gone viral. We can bet he never thought he’d report on the ocean being on fire when he got up this morning–or ever.
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