Piper Alpha Disaster.

[Fouro]

Merchant Navy Captain Sean Ennis- Obituary.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obi...-obituary.html

Regards from,
Fouro

[j.sabourn]

Thanks fouro The Press have an awful time in speaking the truth but there you are. I will say no more than the FRCs were not inflatables, and the 50 yards sounds strange. But there you are why stand in the way of a good story. Sean like everyone else would have been taken out of context. So why taint the name of a good man at the time. Even when the explosions were over and we had withdrawn from being alongside and attempting to retrieve my FRC. The only ship closer in was the. Maersk vessel mentioned in earlier statements who retrieved my boat and crew.And she was well outside 50 yards off the platform. As I have always said take whatever the press say with a pinch of salt. Take the truth from who you want to believe. Sometimes the truth hurts then that’s too bad, but it has a habit of always coming out. Why do you think I stayed quite for so many years. While all the loud mouths made hay while the sun shone. To make sure the truth will come out as to factual accounts of the rescues I have with the copy’s on here 10 others placed with persons who on their death will be available to anyone so inclined to know. It might upset newspaper accounts and all. Those who believe in them but there you are once again. As regards the safety aspects as preached today by the oil company’s you have my story about proceeding to sea with 1 seaman, 2 years after the Piper, and another member who has stated the state of these vessels also after the piper. These stories are from the horses mouths so to speak. Seeing is believing. Cheers JWS

[j.sabourn]

Further to # 57. On taking command of the Sandhaven, the ship came with the mate who had been there on that night in question. So am very aware of the circumstances of what occurred . I will not repeat what he told me as was in confidence and his own opinions. However matches up with my own observations that I was able to make on that terrible night. Being generous I would say apart from the Tharos,the Silver Pit, probably the Lowland Cavalier who had to pull away for its own reasons, and the Maersk vessel, I doubt if there was any vessel closer than a mile off the platform during the whole of worst of the conflagration. The only small craft close in were the FRCs off the Silver Pit and the Sandhaven and a fibre glass boat I think off the Lowland Cavalier. Both FRCs were write offs. Think it was the Lowland Cavaliers boat who passed the badly damaged French survivor who died in hospital later Any journalists who questions the validity of my statement then I advise him or her to contact the mate off the Sandhaven at the time and any crew that can be found. I would like to think I am wrong and there were more vessels closer than stated and I have made a mistake, so please if necessary correct me if I am wrong. JWS

[j.sabourn]

Brian I had. Been on the Sandhaven, Burnhaven, and Johnshaven, even before the end of the Enquiry. So knew the 3 ships intimately. They were wee corkers , good conditions but believe Harrison’s although they ran supply boats couldn’t compete in the cut throat market of stand by vessels, where everyone trying to undercut everyone else the only losers of course the poor seamen. Harrison’s of Clyde being too honest for some of the Shylocks. JWS

[j.sabourn]

Ref. #58... In case not known....The 7 members of the2 frc”s received. The George Medal whether alive or dead. The 4 members of the boat from the Lowland Cavalier received The Queens Medal for Gallantry. JWS.

[j.sabourn]

As regards #53 and changed conditions , they consisted of a drop in money, drop on leave, the idea of being supplied with a sleeping bag in place of linen in the year 1989 somehow did not appeal to me. Practically it may have been ok , but I like to think that we had advanced from the donkeys breakfast. As regards some of the trawlers your mattress was a piece of foam rubber. As one of the members has already said it was usual to go on water rationing on sailing. Large plastic containers were kept for use to fill with fresh water which you begged off the rig , otherwise cooking and tea and coffee was in short supply. How does Health and Safety stand up under these basic facts of life. In 1988 on some of these floating well past their use by date vessels were paying their deck hands 16 pounds a day and 3 days leave after a tour of 3 to. 4 weeks in the North sea come rain or shine. Slave Labour ? I think the slaves had it easy. It must have come as a shock to some that these vessels that were usually sneered at by rig personel were on their doomsday the only means of their salvation. A bit of loss of face maybe.? JS

[Keith Tindell]

John, ref a posting we had some time back, and your query on exploding bodies . Whilst I have never experienced anything of that nature, I was watching a program on the TVs last night on the ancient findings when Vesuvias erupted in the bay of Naples, and it was common to find skeletons with the top of the heads blown out where the heat had turned the brain to steam and exploded. This may give backing to what you saw, regards Kt

[Captain Kong]

We did that in a safety course when we got our new Bitumen tanker, Bitumen is heated, [ I forget the temp now after 30 years] to hundreds of degrees, we were told that if the hoses burst and we were sprayed with the Bitumen at that temperature the body would explode. The body is around 80% [?] water and the instant heat turns it into steam, hence they explosion.

[j.sabourn]

I never mentioned apart from on here about the explosions of falling objects as thought people would think I was going daft. The heat must have been tremendous up further ,it was bad enough at sea level . I kept dodging off the wheel and opening a wheelhouse window to let the pressure out of the wheelhouse which I could feel building up . Did this without thinking too much about it, subconsciously under pressure one does things automatically which under different circumstances would never think of doing. Another was making for water with a lot of floating debris as subconsciously thought if things were floating there would no gas in the water for stability reasons. The human mind must think for itself where self preservation is concerned. The old mate remember at one point him coming on the bridge to see. If I was alright he was also complaining about a certain character running around wanting to launch a half deflated rubber Boat on board and saw him throw the jerry can of petrol over the side to prevent any thoughts on this idiot for doing so. Thought immediately was the right thing to do as was sure by that time that some of the fireballs were being attracted by the petrol fumes. The mate must be dead by now unless he is a real long liver as would be 100 years old today. An old Fleetwood trawler skipper who spent the war years on minesweepers. Wally Micherson another fine old seaman. Probably had forgotten more than many of us knew about. So that would break the dirty dozen theory and those remaining alive would have trouble making a soccer team up. Cheers JS.

[Fouro]

On that awful night I was on watch in the Radio room on the Brent Delta listening to the unfolding events and the desperate attempts of shipmates like JWS to rescue survivors, I think our own standby vessel was sent down to try and help. Rgds Den

The start of Brent Delta's journey to be dismantled in England in 2017.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-sc...iness-39747670

Regards from,
Fouro.