Ocean Odyssey
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The Ocean Odyssey is a self-propelled, semi-submersible drilling rig which was rebuilt as a mobile spacecraft launch platform and is currently used by Sea Launch for equatorial Pacific Ocean launches. It works in concert with the Sea Launch Commander assembly and control ship.
In its current form, the Odyssey is 436 feet long and about 220 feet wide, with an empty draft displacement of 30,000 tons, and a submerged draft displacement of 50,600 tons. It has accommodations for 68 crew and launch system personnel — including living, dining, medical and recreation facilities. A large, environmentally-controlled hangar stores the rocket during transit, and then rolls it out and erects it prior to fueling and launch.
[edit] History
The platform was built in 1982 for the Ocean Drilling and Exploration Company (ODECO) by Sumitomo Heavy Industries. It drilled its first exploratory hole about 40 miles south of Yakutat for ARCO Alaska, Inc. The rig cost about $110 million to build during the early eighties oil "boom" — a pricey bet given declining construction costs and lease rates just a couple of years later.
During construction Ocean Odyssey was called Ocean Ranger II. However, it was renamed to the Ocean Odyssey after the Ocean Ranger capsized during a storm off Newfoundland.
When built Ocean Odyssey was classed ABS-AMS A-1 for unrestricted worldwide ocean service. It was a 390 feet long, 226 feet wide, twin-hull design with a 12,450-hp propulsion system. The rig's structure was designed to simultaneously withstand 100 knot winds, 110 foot waves, and a 3 knot current. The derrick was fully enclosed with a heated drill floor permitting operations down to −35 °C.
The rig had other advanced extreme-condition features as well. For example, the rig's columns were strengthened to withstand some ice impact and the marine riser had a feature similar to a cow-catcher to keep floating ice off the marine riser that connected the rig to the well on the ocean bottom.
On 22 September 1988 it suffered a blowout while under hire to ARCO, drilling the 22/30b-3 well on a prospect in the North Sea. The ultimate direct cause of the incident was a failure of the subsea wellhead equipment after a prolonged period of kick control. During the resulting fire the radio operator, Timothy Williams, was killed. He had been ordered from the lifeboats and back to the radio room by the rig's manager — who failed to countermand the order when the rig was evacuated.
The Odyssey spent the next several years as a rusting hulk looming over Dundee's docks. Its availability prompted Boeing to establish the Sea Launch consortium, for which it was bought by Kværner Rosenberg of Stavanger, Norway, and rebuilt in 1995-1997.
From late 1995 to May 1997, Kværner extended the length of the platform and added a pair of support columns and additional propulsion systems. The upper deck — the location of the former drill floor — was rebuilt to accommodate the launch pad and launch vehicle service hangar. In May 1997, the Ocean Odyssey arrived at Kværner Vyborg Shipyard for the installation of the launch vehicle equipment itself.
