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Intrepid drilling rig and the Floatel Endurance accommodation rig.

They watched as their floatel became a twisted, inflamed spire sinking into the ocean at a 45-degree angle.

They called the Deepwater Horizon their "floatel" because the rig was a world unto itself: an isolated tower on 5,000-foot-deep seas, with only scratchy satellite phones and the occasional helicopter to bridge the 50 miles to Louisiana shores.

Awaiting them will be everything from a $95-a-week "floatel" on the River Shannon to an army of newly popular pub balladeers and manorial dinners which will be served in medieval castles.