Near miss with a downed line off Louisiana taught me a hard lesson about checking currents twice

Last month I was on a job about 12 miles out from Grand Isle, doing an inspection on a platform leg. The surface current looked fine when we dropped, but 30 feet down it was ripping hard and pushed me straight into a loose cathodic protection cable. That cable wrapped around my umbilical and started pulling me sideways before I could signal topside. I got cut free after maybe 20 seconds, but it felt like an hour. Now I always pull a current profile with a drogue line before I even suit up. Has anyone else had a close call from something stupid like a stray cable or line?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony_lane5523d agoMost Upvoted

Thirteen feet of umbilical and I’m a human yo-yo, thanks to that cable.

the_jesse23d agoMost Upvoted

Buddy of mine had a brand new DSLR with a tether cable that was barely five feet long. He tripped over a light stand and yanked the whole rig off the table, camera hit the floor and the lens shattered. He still calls that thing the "yo-yo of regret.