Piper Alpha Disaster.

Another thing would like topoint out more so for my own inquisitiveness. Is a Query.... the very first and single passenger in the FRC off the platform was an individual of alien appearance dressed in shore going clothes and wearing a collar and tie, very much out of place in his present surroundings. He came onboard and disappeared into The accomodation. This was within the first I would say 15 minutes of the initial explosion. The next load of survivors from the same area off the leg of the rig were a bunch of divers of whom one came on the bridge wanting sea sick tablets and complained that the smoke was probably toxic . I was a bit sarcastic on his sea sick demand for tablets, but did steam around the Tharos and come into the platform from up wind and by this time things had progressed into a very serious situation. The story then is history as regards those who know it that is. However on my private interview at Occidentals office in Aberdeen I brought up the question of who was this survivor who I christened the suit. Oh they said that would of been Mr. so and so out of the Office. If that was the case maybe someone who has covered all the stories put out by the media, may know if this man was ever interviewed. I assumed my own boat crew on being interviewed by the police would also have mentioned. Especially as he was famous for being the first off in style. Did the press ever interview Mr. So and So as being a company man from the office would of thought he would have been the obvious one for any statements. He must have got rid of his suit, as all the survivors leaving. In their boat loads the following day were all dressed in what one would consider suitable apparel for offshore , and I never spotted a suit which again would have stood out like a sore thumb. There are always unanswered questions after every upheaval , but that one individual obviously out of place has always made me want to know if he ever did an interview for our ever vigilant media. Cheers JWS

#65.. Re Brent Delta being one of the earliest platforms. I always was under the impression that the Piper Alpha also had that distinction. To anyone who serviced this platform regularly ( piper) it alway gave me the impression of having a bit of a list, that was it was not perfectly upright. Whether this was an optical illusion from sea level I don’t know, but others also remarked on it. The idea of leaving the platforms legs in position when dismantling smells to me like a get out of obligations excuse. To me those platforms would have made ideal detention centres and prisons for the increasing lack of prisoner space.Maybe they aren’t considered salubrious enough for today’s criminals. Cheers JWS

Fouro if you go on to google and put in July 8 1988 abrdeen harbour Silver Pit You will see among the pictures Charles and dianna and crew of Silver Pit . I’m the well dressed one with a tie on. You may be able to get a picture of the Silver Pit if rummage around a bit. Must be on there somewhere. Cheers JWS. Ps just tried going back to it and doesn’t come up again. Was sure that was what I put in on google. The internet is mysterious in its ways to me. Will try a few more titles. jS

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by j.sabourn

#65.. Re Brent Delta being one of the earliest platforms. I always was under the impression that the Piper Alpha also had that distinction. To anyone who serviced this platform regularly ( piper) it alway gave me the impression of having a bit of a list, that was it was not perfectly upright. Whether this was an optical illusion from sea level I don’t know, but others also remarked on it. The idea of leaving the platforms legs in position when dismantling smells to me like a get out of obligations excuse. To me those platforms would have made ideal detention centres and prisons for the increasing lack of prisoner space.Maybe they aren’t considered salubrious enough for today’s criminals. Cheers JWS

---

ha ha excellent idea, plenty of room to swim instead of walking round an exercise yard.

Yes what a tragedy, my friend's husband lost his life, and many of our young men up here in Dundee were involved with the oil rigs back then ,many on the Piper Alpha, so much grief up here in Dundee back then

#70... Ann there are still many like your friend who lost family and friends and still are grieving. Every year however this will get less and less and like our war dead will be only remembered by token gestures of those who remember. The Piper Alpha tragedy will always be remembered by those involved , but even those will die off in time, and things will find their own level once again. To all the seafarers who stood and. Watched the Piper burn that night, it was obvious that the only salvation that those on her could expect was by getting into the sea. To greet those few who did the only thing to meet them was a clapped out trawler twoFRCs and a fibre glass work boat and 16 men striving to survive themselves in some cases. The pundits today make a big show of how advanced we are
now. Maybe so I don’t know. If the piper Alpha had not happened there would more than likely be no safety ships out there as the oil company’s were trying to get legislation passed to do away with them, Even after the disaster they were still trying their argument being that the helicopters could be there within a couple of hours. Ignoring the fact that life expectancy in winter could be less than 5 minutes in the water. There is no answer but to update and pay for any possible safety that the workers out there expect and rightfully so. The only thing that people who work in the industry can say to those poor family’s and friends of those lost is sorry. Chances are similar occurrences may happen again and there will be once again a big flurry of emotion and the whole thing will go through the same cycle of events again. However the Piper Alpha should be enforced onto people’s minds , and the two ladies who started off the Aberdeen Park. Ceremony have made a good starting base for this to happen. Time doesn’t cause memory loss it just obscures it from those who don’t want to know. Regards JWS.

John, yes in time it will be forgotten, those left will fade away as will the memory.

One can only hope that good men and true will have learned a valuable lesson from the disaster and just maybe such can be avoided in the future.

Man strives to improve himself but at times in such ways that he forgets the simple rules of safety and preservation.

I actually think that it won't fade that easily John because an awful lot of the health and safety that is taught today is based on the fact that the permits to work system was not correctly applied whether it was a not I don't know whether it's blame the man not the system again I don't know but I do know that the Health and Safety Executive are very big on permits to work and they all related back to that day

Time heals for some but not everyone.

What really upsets me about the Piper Alpha tragedy is, that we now know it could have been avoided. The accident was caused by cost-driven decisions, and when costs became more important than safety, Piper Alpha showed what the result could be. Shoddy maintenance was another important factor.
Those poor souls who were lost on Piper Alpha will serve as a reminder that corners must never be cut, and that the job done by workers in the North Sea is one of the most dangerous around.
After 30 years, lets hope the offshore employers have learned something from this horrendous tragedy.

Regards from,
Fouro.

#73... I hope you are right Rob. Also hope you are taking your answers from the official reports and not press reports. All you have to do is read the report of the Sandhaven being 50 yards off the platform to know how ludicrous some of the reading matter and put out as authentic really is by the media. The thing is people believe it as well. Personally actual rig discipline was a mystery to me at the time as was never employed on the rigs. However later I was in Australia. What I saw then was that the work was always done under the permit system and I got the impression this had always been the case. Regardless of the Piper Alpha. However I may be wrong.
The rig workers I saw at their place of work were all safety conscious a bit like the crews on tankers. However my knowledge is limited the same as any lay man. Cheers JWS.