A mariner with a head injury was medivaced from the modular capture vessel Eagle Texas off the coast of Florida Wednesday evening.
The 33-year-old man reportedly fell into a cargo hold and sustained a head injury while the 799’7”x137’8”x40’ Eagle Texas was underway approximately 300 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla. The crew of the tanker notified the Coast Guard, and changed course to rendezvous with rescuers.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Air Station Savannah launched a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and conducted the medevac at 6:52 p.m. Wednesday. The man was transported to the UF Health Jacksonville hospital in Florida. No update on his condition was available.
The 800’ Eagle Texas is homeported in the Marshall Islands. A converted Aframax tanker, the vessel is under long-term contract to the Marine Well Containment Company. MWCC provides well containment equipment and technology in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico and its mission is to be continuously ready to respond to a deepwater well control incident. The company was formed in July 2010 by a consortium of major energy firms in response to the Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill.
The Eagle Texas is one of two modular capture vessels operated by the company and is used when conditions require that fluids be diverted to capture vessels rather than capped at the wellhead. According to MWCC, the Eagle Texas and sistership Eagle Louisiana can process up to 50,000 barrels of liquid per day with 700,000 barrels of liquid storage capacity and can offload the liquids to shuttle tankers.
