Ram XVIII On November 18, 2018, the liftboat
Ram XVIII overturned at a location in the
Gulf of Mexico about south-southeast of
Grand Isle, Louisiana. Five crew members and 10 offshore workers abandoned ship and were rescued. Three personnel suffered minor injuries, and the accident released an estimated of hydraulic oil into waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The boat was declared a
total loss at an estimated cost of $1.14 million.
Ram XVIII was a liftboat built in 2015 and owned by Aries Marine Corporation of
Lafayette, Louisiana. The
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the accident was an industry failure of not providing liftboat operators with enough information about composition of the
seafloor. The
port leg of the liftboat became unstable, leading to collapse, but it remains unclear whether the sea floor washed away, the leg settled quickly in a "punch-through", or the edge of the nearest canhole collapsed.
Kristin Faye On September 8, 2019, the liftboat
Kristin Faye capsized while servicing an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico about east of
Venice, Louisiana. The vessel was outfitted with two telescoping boom cranes on her bow. One large-capacity crane was mounted to port and another sat on a pedestal to starboard. The liftboat began listing to port and capsized in about of water after workers extended one of the cranes. The NTSB report on the accident blamed it on inadequate preload procedures that failed to account for shifting and loading the crane. Three crew members were evacuated and one was slightly injured during evacuation. The accident released about of diesel fuel into the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel was declared a total loss at a cost of $750,000.
Salvage divers reported that the port leg of the liftboat had penetrated about into the sea floor in a punch-through.
Seacor Power On April 13, 2021, the
United States Coast Guard responded to reports of a 234-foot (71.3 m) commercial lift vessel in distress south of
Port Fourchon, Louisiana, and along with
good Samaritan vessels, began rescue operations. The owner identified the liftboat as
Seacor Power, belonging to the firm Seacor Marine, and under hire at the time of the accident by the oil and gas company Talos Energy to transport equipment to its oil platform. The ship was about into a voyage from Port Fourchon to an oil platform on the other side of Louisiana's
Mississippi River Delta. It was operated by Seacor crew members and had nine service hands on board. The vessel capsized after an unnamed
Category 1 hurricane raised winds and rough seas. Six crew members were rescued on the same day from the water.
Captain David Ledet, age 63, of
Thibodaux, Louisiana, remained in the
wheelhouse calling "
mayday" even though the vessel was in trouble; he stayed at his post and continued seeking help for his crew, and later was found dead. On April 16, the body of a second crew member was recovered from the capsized liftboat, leaving 11 people still missing. ==Nomenclature==