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The Rowan Gorilla III drilling rig, located o the southwest coast of Trinidad, prepares for an annual coast guard inspection. The initiating event in the explosion and sink- ing of the mobile oshore drilling unit (MODU) Deepwater Horizon (DWH) was a loss of well con-trol. e ensuing vapor cloud that engulfed the rig was so large and so rich that it overwhelmed the active and passive safety systems, and the crew was not able to pre- vent the explosion or eectively ght the subsequent re. Tragically, 11 men lost their lives. Of the 126 crew aboard, 115 did survive the explosion and re, and were able to evac- uate the rig successfully. e evidence indicates that, in general, the United States Coast Guard-regulated safety and lifesavings systems aboard DWH had a benecial eect in aiding the survivors despite the extreme nature of this event. e DWH stayed aoat for more than 48 hours after being severely damaged by the explosion and re. Nonetheless, the coast guard investiga- tion found that additional action can and should be taken to enhance the safety of life and stewardship of the environ- ment on the U. S. outer continental shelf (OCS). Currently, there are approximately 47 active drill- ing rigs operating on the OCS. Of those, 20 are deepwater rigs capable of drilling in water deeper than 5,000 ft. All of those currently operating are non-U.S. ag. Of the remain- ing 27 active rigs, only 8 are U.S. ag. Compliance and certicates U.S.-ag MODUs are certied by the coast guard to the requirements of 46 CFR Subchapter I-A, which also sat- isfies all international requirements. As the flag state authority, the coast guard is authorized to, and often does, accept certain certicates required by U.S. law and inter- national standards issued by classication societies acting as recognized organizations (RO) on behalf of the coast guard. An RO, for example, may issue the International Mobile Oshore Drilling Unit Safety Certicate, which demonstrates compliance with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) MODU code. The coast guard, however, issues the Certicate of Inspection for U.S.-agged MODUs, which demonstrates compliance with U.S. requirements. The coast guard?s flag state inspection of U.S.-flag MODUs is comprehensive, and includes initial design and January 2012 www.sname.org/sname/mt A Coast Guard Perspective Enhancing safety on the U.S. outer continental shelf in the wake of Deepwater Horizon (policy brieng )BY Cþÿ a p t a i nAPTAIN Pþÿ a uAUL Tþÿ hHOþÿ m a sMAS01_25_FDept_SNAME_Jan12_P4.indd 712/22/11 3:35 PM