R/V Pelican Honors Those Lost in Deepwater Horizon Memorial Service

May 11, 2012

On April 20, 2010, when tragedy struck the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, researcher Carol B. Lutken, Associate Director for Research Programs of the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute, along with scientists from Ole Miss University were aboard the R/V Pelican conducting research in the Gulf of Mexico.

On the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Lutken and her team were again aboard the Pelican.  In the early morning hours of April 20, the Pelican’s passengers and crew were on site at MC252, and held a short memorial service on the bow of the vessel.  Lutken read the names the victims and this prayer in their honor:  
 
Eternal Father,
strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty
ocean deep
It's own appointed
limits keep;
Oh, hear us when
we cry to Thee,
For those in peril
on the sea!

Of the 126 workers on the rig, 115 were rescued.  The eleven who were never found, but presumably lost their lives are listed below.
 
Keith Blair Manuel
Donald Clark 
Dewey A. Revette
Stephen Ray Curtis
Karl D. Kleppinger, Jr.
Aaron Dale Burkeen   
Jason C. Anderson 
Gordon L. Jones   
Roy Wyatt Kemp 
Adam T. Weise     
Shane M. Roshto                

Crew member Max Wike rang ship’s bell eleven times in honor of each life lost.  Afterwards, a wreath was placed in the water and a moment of silence was observed.