Discover the Uncle-John: Ratings & Maritime News

A fire broke out in the engine room of Cal Dive International's semi-submersible saturation diving support vessel, MV Uncle John, on Sunday night. Disturbingly, the vessel was left adrift around 20 miles off the coast of Venice, Louisiana, and 14 miles from an underwater obstruction. The U.S. Coast Guard provided a statement confirming that the blaze occurred in the #2 engine room. Thankfully, the engine room was effectively sealed off, and the vessel's HALON fire suppression system was successfully activated, extinguishing the flames. With assistance from four nearby offshore supply vessels, the situation was brought under control. Once the emergency generator became operational, the crew utilized Uncle John’s crane to transfer all non-essential personnel to a nearby offshore supply vessel. Out of the 84 people aboard, 37 U.S. personnel were safely transferred and later transported to Port Fourchon. Meanwhile, the two offshore supply vessels that remained on-site ensured the Uncle John was maintained under positive control and aided in its transit back to Venice, Louisiana, for loading a generator crucial for the vessel's deballasting. The Coast Guard announced that Uncle John is expected to be towed to Mobile, Alabama, with no reports of pollution or injuries resulting from the incident.