The Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum provides more than a look at how oil is extracted from beneath oceans. It puts you on a drilling rig that really drilled for oil.
Linda’s Pick of the Exhibits
I’ve always wondered how drilling rigs work — and now, after my visit to the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum, I have a better understanding.
My favorite exhibit was the drill floor, which is accessed on Level 3. As I walked on the skyway to it, I was able to see the entire drill platform below me. But that was just the beginning.
The drill floor is where all the action happens. I was able to touch all the big equipment for lifting and locking the pipe and doing the drilling.
Luckily for me, along with the oversize descriptions of the rig parts and explanations for how they worked, I had David along. And he used to work drilling for water.
It turns out that the technology is much the same, no matter what the drilling rig is used for.
The Derrick
The thing that interested me the most was the derrick and how it worked.
The derrick was a steel tower erected to support the tackle for boring, to raise and lower the drilling tools in the well, and to insert and remove the well casing or pipe.
Each piece of drill pipe is 30 ft long!
Three or four joints of drill pipe are screwed together to form a “stand” that’s attached to the top of the drill string and lowered into the borehole.
The top drive is equipped with powerful electric motors that rotate the drill string to penetrate the surface. So cool! (Of course, there’s a lot more to it all!)
I have to admit that another reason I was drawn to this part of the museum is because I’ve been enjoying the tv series, The Rig, from Prime Video.
What’s in the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum?
The offshore drilling rig museum was built in Beaumont, Texas, in 1969. In 1995 it was purchased by the Offshore Energy Center and opened as the Ocean Star Museum in 1997.
Fast Fact: The museum offshore drilling rig operated in the Gulf of Mexico from 1969 to 1984. It drilled about 200 wells in water depths up to 175 feet.
The museum has three levels.
- Level 1 – seismic exploration searching for oil and access to the pipe deck
- Level 2 – information about the types of production vehicles used including Shell’s Bullwinkle Jacket Platform, the Devil’s Tower Spar and more
- Level 3 – life on the rig, safety, and access to the drill floor via a skyway over the entire platform
There are many different artifacts with details on how they’ve been used in drilling.
That includes the WASP (an atmospheric diving system), a Blow Out Preventer, safety equipment and more.
There’s even a cage used to safely transport workers on or off the rig using a crane. These cages have been in use for more than a half a century and have evolved in efficiency and safety.
When workers sign on to work a drilling rig, they’re usually out on the water for a few weeks or even a month or two. That’s a long time! So, the museum has a display that show life on the rig.
And of course, as you’d expect in a museum, there’s lots of information on oil and gas history and its uses.
Linda’s Road Trip Tips
The rig was where we started our day on this leg of our visit to the Gulf Coast. Our next stop was a couple of hours away, in Beaumont.
In Beaumont, The Texas Energy Museum fills in more information about the oil industry and what we get from it. Considered together, these two museums provide all the information you need to understand drilling rigs and what the oil industry contributes to the world.
But back to Galveston. We stayed at Moody Gardens where I was attending a conference. You’ll find lots to do there, especially for families.
I also highly recommend the Texas Seaport Museum with the 1877 tall ship, Elissa, from Ship to Shore exhibit, and tour on the Seagull II. In fact, my photos of the oil rig were taken from the upper deck on the Seagull II. The Seaport Museum is located a block from the drilling rig, so easy to do in a day.
Who Should Visit the Drilling Rig Museum?
To be honest, visiting the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum topped my list of things I wanted to do in Galveston. And I wasn’t disappointed.
While I’m in a region with lots of oil derricks, our drilling rigs are all going down through dirt.
So, the museum is a great way to contrast and compare the technologies. Or, if you’re not familiar with how we get the oil to make everything from plastics to asphalt and fuels to spandex, it’s the perfect museum.
The offshore drilling museum explains the oil production processes through artifacts, written information, and models.
Information provided is in-depth and accessible to everyone from young to old. Kids will no doubt enjoy seeing all the pieces of big equipment and learning what it’s like to live on a drilling rig.
How long does it take to visit the oil rig?
We spent a couple of hours going through all the information. However, a visit would take longer if you’re unfamiliar with drilling and want to develop a full understanding.
The rig is accessed by a walkway ramp which makes it accessible to those with mobility issues. Displays have lots of room between them, so wheelchairs and strollers will be easy to navigate. There’s an elevator to the upper levels.
How Do You Visit the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum
The Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum is located in Galveston, Texas, at 2002 Wharf Rd.
Parking: The drilling rig is on Pier 19, so there's parking on the street next to the museum (signs are hard to see, so look for the long ramp that goes up to it over the water - you enter through a gift shop). If you're early in the day, there's free street parking. However, we paid for parking pretty much across the street at a small lot.
Visit Ocean Star Museum & Education Center on the Energy Education Foundation website for admissions for admission costs and to confirm days open.
Check out what’s happening on the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum Facebook page.
Take a virtual tour of the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum with Visit Galveston on YouTube.
Plan your visit to the drilling rig with Google Maps.
Find More Museums in Texas
Check out more museum reviews for museum attractions in Texas on guide2museums.com
Read More Technology Museum Reviews
- Discover the Amazing Canada Science and Technology Museum
- EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin: Airplanes from All Eras
- Medalta Museum: Ceramic Arts in Medicine Hat, Alberta
- Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site: Claybank, Saskatchewan
- Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum: Galveston, Texas, Oil Drilling History
- McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum: Chicago, Illinois
- Stafford Air & Space Museum: Space Shuttles to Rockets in Weatherford, Oklahoma
- Texas Energy Museum: Oil History in Beaumont, Texas
- Dr Pepper Museum: Great Tastes in Waco, Texas
- Museum of Clean: Pocatello, Idaho
- Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum: Puunene, Maui, Hawaii
- Idaho Potato Museum: Blackfoot, Idaho
- Manitoba Agricultural Museum: Rare Historic Farm Machines in Austin, Manitoba
guide2museums.com 