courtesy Shell

Shell has won the 2006 National Ocean Industries Association prize for its recovery of the Mars platform in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it was learned Friday.

The award is given for contributions to the safety of life at sea for energy workers. The panel chosing shell comprised the U.S. Coast Guard, Minerals Management Service and the National Academy of Sciences Marine Board.

The dramatic recovery of the platform and infrastructure included the fast assembly of an international team of 500 people and lifting a toppled 1,000-tonne drill rig, “a fully engineered, single lift executed without injury of damage to the platform.”

Shell had oversee the mooring of a floating accommodations rig from the North Sea, and the repair of tattered infield pipelines and process gear at 1,000-metre depths.