Our Horizon: In The Moment

9:56 PM CDT, April 20th, 2010. 4.9 million barrels’ worth of oil begins to spew into the Gulf of Mexico as the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, stationed on the Macondo Project, violently erupts. This is a first-hand story of Deepwater Horizon and its crew, told by a former member. For many, Deepwater Horizon oil spill was a terrible environmental catastrophe. It was deemed a result of irresponsible behavior and failed safety systems that wreaked havoc on the local ecosystem while shattering British Petroleum’s reputation. A media circus soon followed as shocking images were beamed to television sets around the world, accompanied by opinionated and conjecturing “talking heads” and an eponymous Hollywood movie. At the heart of this story lies the crew who suffered the full brunt of the disaster. Of the 126 crew on board at the time of the explosion, 11 lost their lives. 8 of them were author Greg Williams’ friends, a part of the “rig family”. For years, they have suffered the opprobrium of public opinion and its notions of what happened, a silent reflection on mainstream news today. These brave and industrious people have dismissed the “distorted fabrications” of Hollywood, and this is their story. During the 1990s and 2000s, oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico was pushing the limits of the possible and accepting all challenges to further explore and discover; the Deepwater Horizon was one of these crews. Williams worked at the coalface, as a floor hand then on to a driller. In Our Horizon, he brings the rig to life, sharing its stories. From the mundanity of day-to-day life including the highs and lows, he charts the life of offshore drilling and the pain and heartache endured by survivors through first-hand accounts of the fateful night itself and the devastating aftermath in raw human terms. Our Horizon also explores the historical perspective, charting the rig’s discoveries and records over the course of a decade from its construction in the Korean port city of Ulsan. Williams examines the economics of the industry, Deepwater Horizon’s incredible discoveries, and the steely determination of crew to achieve the impossible while pushing technology to its limits. All the while, this pioneering progress was pushed by powerful global organizations overseeing operations, putting a multi-faceted dynamic at the heart of the infamous explosion. This is not just a history: this is their story—the story of heroes.