On March 12, 2022, about 0020 local time, the mobile offshore drilling unit VALARIS DS-16 was in layup status at the ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, when it broke away from the dock, drifted across the Bayou Casotte channel, and collided with the bulk cargo vessel Akti moored at the Chevron Refinery dock no.6. There were no injuries reported for the 164 crewmembers and personnel on board the VALARIS DS-16 or the 22 crewmembers on board the Akti, and there was no pollution reported. The total damage resulting from the breakaway was estimated at $5 million.
We determined that the probable cause of the breakaway of the VALARIS DS-16 from the ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore Shipyard dock and the subsequent collision with the cargo vessel Akti was the failure of one of the shipyard’s mooring bollards—which had been modified to increase its height to accommodate more lines—used to secure the VALARIS DS-16’s bow mooring lines to a pier, during a cold front with strong winds.
