Many Belizeans have been mesmerized by the massive structure moving offshore, and have never seen such a vessel move such a long distance.
For context the ‘FRIDA 1’ is a massive US$450million oil-drilling platform that was built by Gulf Piping in Abu Dhabi in 2011, and is operating in the Bay of Campeche in Mexico’s gulf-coast.
The FRIDA 1 has several massive diesel tanks that contain 40,000-50,000 gallons of diesel, so you can imagine what their fuel bill looks like. This type of vessel is technically listed as an ‘ultra-deep-water column stabilized semi-submersible drilling unit.
The cost to make the trip to Belizean waters and back to the Bay of Campeche is in excess of $1,million US.
On Saturday evening June 3rd., ship traffic monitoring websites (satellite GPS) indicated that the FRIDA 1 crossed into Mexico’s territorial waters with a planned destination of (CME) Campeche MX. due to arrive there on June 14th.