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13 August 2004
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DISASTER!!!
Today has been a very difficult day for everyone. Late last night when the drillers were about to install the Hole 1301B CORK head into the reentry cone, they deployed a sinker bar to test that the entire CORK assembly (CORK head and instrument string) could make it all the way to the bottom of the hole. The sinker bar found an obstruction right at the seafloor when it should have made it to approximately 580 meters below the seafloor. The camera was then deployed and everybody was shocked to see only a small part of the casing inside the hole. There were approximately 400 meters of 4 1/2-inch casing strewn over the seafloor. When the drill string was brought back up to the ship all that remained was the CORK head and a very short piece of casing. It isn’t clear what happened... WOW!!!
It has been a VERY LONG day as the engineers worked to come up with a way to fish the casing out of the hole. They invented a fishing tool and used it late tonight. They will know tomorrow how successful they were at clearing the hole. The hole cannot be left open because seawater could flow into the formation which would interfere with the CORK data at Hole 1301A which is only 30 meters (98 feet) away.
On a positive note, I spent some time in the underway geophysics laboratory learning about the GI gun that was used to make sound waves for the logging.
Here is a partial update for today given by Adam Klaus, Expedition Project Manager/IODP-USIO Staff Scientist (USA):
The CORK head came back on deck early this morning. It broke off just below the bottom connection beneath the CORK head. No other parts came back (no yellow umbilical at all) and there are a couple of connections above the top CORK seal that parted as well. We are lowering the drill string right now and should start the seafloor inspection in a few hours. We need as much information as possible to decide how to proceed. It is essential for the overall CORK experiment that any hole we make into the crust here is well sealed (e.g., cementing, CORK, etc). For Hole 1301B, this presents a bit of a challenge as we most likely have some length of 4-1/2 inch casing in the hole and we need to get it out of the way.
Countdown to Astoria: 7 days
Tired Alert Level: Purple (beyond Red!)
Sad Alert Level: Purple!
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 CORK BACK ON BOARD. This was the scene in the moonpool at about 0400 this morning. The CORK should have been installed by this time, but something went very wrong. If you look closely, you won’t see any of the 4 1/2-inch casing attached to the bottom of the CORK head.
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 PULLING THE CORK HEAD. The rig floor crew is preparing the CORK head to be removed and placed on top of the core tech shop for storage. Like everyone else, the rig floor crew was very disappointed with this disaster; they have been working at this hole off and on for over 3 weeks.
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 GLUED TO THE SET. All over the ship, people were watching the live camera feed as the drillers and operations people surveyed the casing strewn around the reentry cone.
Shown from left to right are: Rosalind (Roz) Coggon, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrologist (UK); and Mark Nielson, Physical Properties Specialist (USA).
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 HOW BAD IS IT? It is easy to see from this photo that there is still a serious problem as the 4 1/2-inch casing and umbilical are coming out of the reentry cone onto the seafloor. This hole CANNOT be left open to seawater. Somehow, the drilling staff has to get the casing out of the hole and then find a way to plug it.
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 DAMAGE. I took a trip out to the roof of the core tech shop to check out the damage done to the CORK head. This is what I found (the bottom is facing away from you). Almost everything has been torn from the CORK head. There is no 4 1/2-inch casing and all that remains of either umbilical cord is part of the plastic coating under the duct tape. If you look closely at the bottom of the picture, you can see that one of the stainless steel sampling tubes is also missing from its fixture.
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 THE SHOW MUST GO ON. The drilling staff is testing a fishing tool that will be hooked under the 4 1/2-inch casing to pull it out of the hole. This fishing tool will be attached to the end of the drill string and maneuvered around by pumping seawater through the drill string. The water will be jetted out of the small hole at the base of the pipe (you can see it on the left at the base of the pipe).
Shown from left to right are: Eduardo (Eddie) Tan, Floorman (Philippines) (camouflage helmet); the two people behind Eddie are unidentified; Bartolme (Bart) Estoya, welder (Philippines); Derryl Schroeder, Operatons Engineer (USA); Wayne Malone, Offshore Installation Manager (USA); Mike Storms, Operations Manager (USA); and Ralph Maher, Crane Operator (Canada).
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 A FISH IS CAUGHT. This is probably a bigger fish than any of us has ever caught. I just hope it doesn’t get away! The fishing tool looks like it worked. The casing is clearly visible in the fishing tool. The casing was lifted about 350 meters straight up and then the ship moved over 300 meters away before lowering it back to the seafloor.
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 AMAZING!!! This is what the casing looked like after it was put back on the ocean bottom. The operations staff estimate that there is about 400 meters of casing here. The next step is to return to the hole and see if there is any more debris around the hole. I had to go to bed before this… no “fat boy special” today.
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 TAKING A BREAK. Lisa Hawkins, Student Undergraduate Trainee (USA), and I needed a break from the television coverage of the fishing operation, so we gladly accepted Lisa Crowder’s (Marine Laboratory Specialist, USA) invitation to go to the underway geophysics laboratory to see the inner workings of the GI air gun (a seismic source used during logging experiments) as she took it apart to clean after its use for logging last week. It was interesting and we also got to help a bit.
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