Welcome to the current BP Oilmageddon ROV liveblogging diary #30.
It bears repeating - Please DO NOT Rec this diary, rather rec the Mothership instead.
Please be kind to kossacks with bandwidth issues. Please do not post images or videos. Again, many thanks for this.
For a description of the mothership/ROV liveblogging process, check out this thread.
Yesterday I took a relative break from this disaster. Today I have been glued to the streaming video (and, DARN, that is frustrating).
I watch and it looks like something is up and then I have to do something in RL and I come back and the scene is utterly different and I have no clue what just happened?!
In my non-technical view, this is where they are at:
Clampy the mega-clamp (ginormous hydraulic clamp/godzilla’s pinking shears) has a hold of the riser some distance from the bent riser/BOP. Lizzie the attachable diamond cutter robot is seated atop the BOP and ready to cut cleanly through the pipe just above the BOP.
We have watched other rotary saws cutting through the minor pipes next to the riser, down by Clampy.
Then, maddeningly, the video-bot pulled WAY back and what we saw could have been just about anything from cutting edge intrauterine robotic surgery to some odd flocculent fluidic space UFO encounter.
Now we have a lady-bugs view of Clampy bear-hugging the riser. While I appreciate the intimacy of the view, nothing is happening (again).
Will today be the day Clampy pinches off the riser, Lizzy cuts her pipe and some as yet unseen capping structure attempts to cap off an oil volcano of epic proportions?
Stay tuned.
The Video Feeds
BP Video Feed
CNN Video Streams - Note: multi-view is sometimes unavailable
PBS
BP Videos - This link takes you to BP's home page, which contains a section called "Latest Video Updates from BP".
WKRG - Mobile/Pensacola - Appears WKRG only has a still shot right now.
Courtesy of whitis here are two additional video links:
Primary Feed
Secondary Feed
Tomtech's Diary with imagery
Courtesy of profgoose here is a list of links from The Oil Drum links on newer developments, etc
Again, to keep bandwidth down please do not post images or videos.
Previous Child Diaries:
BP Liveblog ROV - Diary 29 - khowell
BP Liveblog ROV - Diary 28 - Tomtech
BP Liveblog ROV - Diary 27 - yasuragi
BP Liveblog ROV - Diary 26 – alkalinesky
BP Liveblog ROV - Diary 25 - Tomtech
BP Liveblog ROV - Diary 24 - hester
BP Liveblog ROV - Diary 23 - nika7k
BP LiveBlog ROV - Diary 22 - papicek
BP LiveBlog ROV - Diary 21 - weatherdude
BP LiveBlog ROV - Diary 20 - joanneleon
BP LiveBlog ROV - Diary 19 - nika7k
BP LiveBlog - Diary 18 - yawnimawake
BP LiveBlog - Diary 17 - weatherdude
BP LiveBlog - Diary 16 - politik
BP LiveBlog - Diary 15 - RhymesWithUrple
BP LiveBlog - Diary 14 - johnsonwax
BP LiveBlog - Diary 13 - Middleagedhousewife
BP LiveBlog - Diary 12 - nika7k
BP LiveBlog - Diary 11 - Overseas
BP LiveBlog - Diary 10 - conchita
BP LiveBlog - Diary 9 - khowell
BP LiveBlog - Diary 8 - Garrett
Top Kill LiveBlog - Diary 7 - miep
Top Kill LiveBlog - Diary 6 - alkalinesky
Top Kill LiveBlog - Diary 5 - Liveblog
Top Kill LiveBlog - Diary 4 - Garrett
Top Kill LiveBlog - Diary 3 - sc kitty
Top Kill LiveBlog - Diary 2 - conchita
Top Kill Liveblog - Diary 1 - khowell
Top Kill Has Begun! - Tomtech
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Please update in the comments with any breaking news or analysis, and I will be checking the comments. I will update the diary as needed.
Later Breaking News:
RE: Obama Press Conference today:
Obama orders more manpower to spill cleanup
(CNN) -- President Obama said Tuesday that he has directed federal authorities to triple manpower in the Gulf of Mexico in places where oil from a ruptured underwater pipe has hit shore or is close to impact.
.....
Within hours, he said, robots will begin making a series of cuts to the "lower marine riser package" on the well. After that, a diamond-cut saw will be used to make a "clean cut," preparing the way for a custom-made cap to be fitted over the package.
Dudley said the company is implementing new techniques in its ongoing effort to plug the leak.
.....
This time, warm water will be pumped down in an effort to combat the formation of hydrates.
.....
After the cap is on, a second operation will create a second flow path through the blowout preventers, meaning there will be two flow paths to the surface.
"By the end of the month, we are engineering a completely separate system that will make it more storm-proof, with a free-standing riser that would allow for quick disconnects if needed," he said. "This engineering is different than the 'top kill' engineering."