Ailing Drillship Worker Airlifted in the Gulf of Mexico

An ailing worker was medevaced from a Transocean drillship 189 miles south of Port Fourchon, La., on Monday.

The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector New Orleans received a request at 2:21 a.m. from Bristol Search and Rescue Services to medevac a 60 year-old-male who was experiencing stroke like symptoms on board the Deepwater Thalassa.

The watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew and a Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew.

The MH-60 aircrew arrived on scene, landed on the drillship, and transferred the worker to awaiting emergency medical services personnel at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

The worker was last reported to be in stable condition, the Coast Guard said.

Transocean's Deepwater Thalassa is an ultra-deepwater drillship currently on long-term charter to Shell.