An explosion occurred late Tuesday in the engine room of a commercial diving vessel that was decommissioning a small segment of ANR Pipeline offshore Louisiana, sending six crew members of the vessel to area hospitals, said a spokesman for TransCanada, which owns ANR. The U.S. Coast Guard still is searching for one unaccounted member of the crew.

The blast, which resulted in a fire, occurred while a 6.5-mile segment of ANR that extends from a BP platform to South Marsh Island, LA, was being taken out of service by crew on the Julian Morrison vessel, which is owed by Chet Morrison Offshore in Houma, LA, said spokesman Michael Barnes. No natural gas was flowing at the time so the explosion had no impact on ANR’s customers, he noted. The fire was extinguished by the crew of the Julian Morrison, according to the Coast Guard.

Hours following the explosion, El Paso Corp.’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Wednesday declared a force majeure effective immediately for certain parts of the South Marsh Island 249 area. The pipe was reportedly moving approximnately 23,000 Dth at the time of the incident.

“The reason for the event is due to an unexpected incident caused by third-party pipeline replacement, which requires further investigation in the area,” Tennessee told its shippers in a notice. “Tennessee requires that operators and producers keep physical flow at zero until further notice for [certain] meters. Additionally, Tennessee requires operators and producers to keep scheduled volumes at zero for [these]…meters beginning Timely Cycle, 9 a.m., on the Gas Day of March 13, 2008 and until further notice.”

The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service will lead the investigation into the cause of the mishap, said Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless. Both the Coast Guard and the Marine Safety Office in Morgan City, LA, will play a secondary role, such as taking eyewitness statements, he noted.

The Coast Guard was notified of the explosion, which occurred about 15 miles south of Marsh Island, at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Harless said. The six crew members were airlifted to hospitals in Lafayette, LA, and Houma. Their conditions are unknown.

©Copyright 2008Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.