Saturday at 6:40am CDT, the forty-eight hour ambient pressure test was deemed successful.
Under the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander (NIC) and Unified Area Command, BP has been authorized to begin open water fishing operations from the MC252 Blow Out Preventer (BOP). The fishing operations will aim at removing drill pipe within the MC252 BOP. Operations commenced this morning.
Following successful fishing operations and authorization from the NIC, BP will proceed with replacement of the original BOP with the BOP from the Transocean Development Driller II (DDII). In anticipation of a successful operation, the DDII set a storm packer and has unlatched its BOP from the second relief well site.
In the case fishing operations are unsuccessful, BP and the federal science team are developing contingency procedures which would be carried out under the approval from the NIC.
[mappress]
Source: bp, August 23 , 2010;