The piperalpha disaster of 1988 remains to this day the worlds largest disaster ever, caused on an offshore platform. My book, fire in the night about the piper alpha oil rig. Piper alpha disaster anniversary of tragedy in the north. Piper alpha platform was constructed in two sections by mcdermott engineering and uie at ardersier and cherbourg, respectively. An explosion and resulting fire destroyed it on 6 jul 1988, killing 168 men, 3 with only 61 survivors. Documentary chronicling the tragic events that occurred in the north sea on board the piper alpha rig in july 1988, in what was the worlds deadliest offshore oil disaster. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea approximately 120 miles 190 km northeast of aberdeen, scotland, that was operated by occidental petroleum caledonia limited. Learning from the piper alpha accident the offshore platform piper alpha, which was lo cated in the british sector of the north sea oil field and operated by occidental petroleum, was engulfed in a catastrophic fire on july 6, 1988. Piper alpha disaster joe meanen, who jumped into the sea from the burning platform, with gary gallagher, who survived a 32ft fall from a hotel roof, to make workplaces safer. Since drilling began in the north sea in the 1970s there have been 300 deaths on britains 123 oil installations, often in accidents caused by bad weather. The piper alpha platform is the largest and oldest platform in the north sea oilfield. Piper alpha platform, north sea offshore technology oil.
Worker empowerment and engagement are essential to prevent major accidents such as the 1988 explosion of the piper alpha platform in the north sea. Remarkably, two weeks after piper alpha, haffey was back at sea after resuming his role on board the silver pit. Many people have said they remember where they were when they. However, whereas the myriad lessons learned from this disaster are common knowledge among chemical and process engineers, the valuable safety lessons from this harrowing story are arguably not so obvious to laboratory chemists. Witnesses said they heard a sustained highpitched screeching. Piper alpha re ceived and sent to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms. In 1956, he takes a road trip to visit a former colleague, and reminisces about events at darlington hall in the 1920s and 1930s.
Lecture by brian appleton technical adviser to the enquiry on piper alpha accident. I can still remember the day i became a film producer. Jul 06, 2018 a piper alpha disaster survivor taken from a raf helicopter in july. Punchards anger and grief soak through every sentence making this a much more human account than the more factual, documentary books on piper alpha. Jul 04, 2018 shane gorman was just 18 when the piper alpha tragedy unfolded, with his father dave being among the 167 people to lose their lives. Shane gorman was just 18 when the piper alpha tragedy unfolded, with his father dave being among the 167 people to lose their lives. Piper alpha was the largest platform by production in the world in its era 317,000 barrelsday, peak. On the day of the disaster two workers had complained about a gas leak. It was last inspected two weeks ago but last week there was a small fire on the rig. Jun 24, 2014 dokumenter mengenai ledakan anjungan lepas pantai piper alpha di north sea. Download adobe acrobat or click here to download the pdf file.
Producing more oil more quickly seemed to be all that mattered, macho behaviour was the order of the day, health and safety concerns were suppressed and trade unions struggled to win recognition. It appears your web browser is not configured to display pdf files. The remains of piper alpha were toppled into the sea on 28 march 1989. The remains of the day is a 1989 novel by the nobel prizewinning british author kazuo ishiguro. Sir brian appleton acted as a technical adviser during lord cullens inquiry into the piper alpha disaster. Kazuo ishiguro is the 2017 winner of the nobel prize in literature. Subjectivity remains the most important criterion of the diary, she writes in one day a year. Piper alpha disaster news, views, gossip, pictures.
Jul 14, 2011 this week marks the 23th anniversary of the worst offshore oil disaster in history. Jan 07, 2016 the remains of the day is a book about a thwarted life. Nov 26, 2010 the remains of the day, by kazuo ishiguro, is a good one. Stevens, the hero of the remains of the day, kazuo ishiguros third novel, is the perfect butler. Only 61 survived in in what remains the worlds worst offshore disaster. Jul 04, 2008 piper alpha was the largest platform by production in the world in its era 317,000 barrelsday, peak. Alpha and cost 167 workers their lives remains the worlds worst offshore oil disaster. The oil industry has yet to learn lessons of piper alpha. He recalled on fire in the night his conflicted feelings. Alvarez wrote in a book on the subject in 1986, is arrange how to get off it again in an emergency. On 6 july 1988 a series of explosions ripped through the piper alpha platform in the north sea.
Dokumenter mengenai ledakan anjungan lepas pantai piper alpha di north sea. On july 6, 1988, the piper alpha oil platform experienced a series of catastrophic explosions and fires. Importance learning from major incident piper alpha disaster. Jul 01, 2019 piper alpha disaster joe meanen, who jumped into the sea from the burning platform, with gary gallagher, who survived a 32ft fall from a hotel roof, to make workplaces safer. Piper alpha disaster on an oil and gas platform in the north sea, july 1988 background what happened a series of explosions and an oil fed fire on the piper alpha oil and gas platform in the north sea on 6th july 1988, 120 miles northeast of aberdeen, killed 167 men. A piper alpha disaster survivor taken from a raf helicopter in july.
It took over three weeks for the fires to be extinguished. The remains of the day, by kazuo ishiguro, is a good one. The piper alpha disaster on americanoperated platform in. Two men implicated in the chain of events which ended with the piper alpha oil rig disaster could have been wrongly blamed, according to a bbc television documentary. The death toll includes two crewmen of a rescue vessel.
You will hear john pipers voice and watch his pen underline, circle, make connections, and scribble notes. Jun 24, 2001 the first thing you do when you arrive on an offshore oil installation, the british author a. In the space of two hours, 167 men lost their lives. Of the 226 men working on the platform, 162 died, along with two of their wouldbe rescuers. Both the remains of the day and never let me go have sold more than 1 million copies, and both were adapted into highly acclaimed films. For the 227 men aboard the piper alpha oil platform in the north sea last week, there was no time for such procedures. In the mid1970s, such views were not commonly heard. This is, after all, the book that gave us stevens the closest rival jeeves has ever had in the singlenamed literary servant sweepstakes. Fire rages on the piper alpha platform on july 6 1988. Jul 07, 2018 documentary chronicling the tragic events that occurred in the north sea on board the piper alpha rig in july 1988, in what was the worlds deadliest offshore oil disaster.
Importance learning from major incident piper alpha disaster 1 comment i t is vital that lessons are learned from all major incidents, as management, cultural and technical failure i. Had the condensate injection pump on piper alpha been removed from service by physically locking its switches, with an attached tag, the. A condensate pump was taken out of service for maintenance by day shift psv of the pump was taken out of service and blind was installed loosely bolts not tight fire water system was on manual for diving operations 21. Mismanagement was one of the biggest factors in the disaster. The crew worked to resolve the issue before platform production was affected. For the 227 men aboard the piper alpha oil platform in the north sea last week, there was no.
Jul 06, 2018 only 61 survived in in what remains the worlds worst offshore disaster. For similar platforms and for a welldefined class of accidents, however, this study is the. July 6, 1988, began as a normal day on piper alpha, the biggest offshore oil rig on the north sea. The piper alpha disaster on americanoperated platform in the british north sea the piper alpha disaster of 1988 remains to this day the worlds largest disaster ever, caused on an offshore platform. May 25, 2014 importance learning from major incident piper alpha disaster 1 comment i t is vital that lessons are learned from all major incidents, as management, cultural and technical failure i. Jul 15, 2010 kazuo ishiguro is the 2017 winner of the nobel prize in literature. Its about how class conditioning can turn you into your own worst enemy, making you complicit in your own subservience. Frontline scotland, which will be shown on tuesday night, questions the longheld view that the inferno in july 1988 which claimed the lives of 167 men was sparked by a single. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard piper alpha assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. Piper alpha has a lot in common with the macondo well in the gulf.
It was built in the north sea by a consortium run by occidental and dr. Angus kennedy, an engineer on the supply ship the performer, said the first message they received indicated a small but manageable fire at least 20 minutes before the mayday call. The remains of the day is a book about a thwarted life. Its an ongoing series of 812 minute videos in which the camera is on the text, not the teacher. A survivors story professional diver ed punchard discusses his entry into the world of commercial diving, his history on piper alpha and other rigs, safety issues on north sea oil rigs, trade unionism problems, and personal and professional triumphs and tragedies. Jun 23, 2010 piper alpha disaster on an oil and gas platform in the north sea, july 1988 background what happened a series of explosions and an oil fed fire on the piper alpha oil and gas platform in the north sea on 6th july 1988, 120 miles northeast of aberdeen, killed 167 men. The remains of piper alpha were toppled into the sea in march 1989. He saw the shattered remains of the platform being sunk into the sea in a muted ceremony to clear the site. Had the condensate injection pump on piper alpha been removed from service by physically locking its switches, with an attached tag, the decision to start would nit have been made.
Also, the probability of such an accident could be made arbitrarily small by controlling the level of detail in which the accident is described. The remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro is a sad, bleak book about a man who finds near the end of his life that he has wasted it on the second to the last page of this 1989 novel, stevens, an english butler who, during an auto trip through the countryside, is musing about events in his life, decides that he needs to stop thinking so much about his past. A total of 167 people, including platform personnel and rescuers, lost their lives. Piper alpha disaster on an oil and gas platform in the. Not shutting down the pumps just threw fuel into the fire. Sir brian appletons lecture broadcast by the bbc provides an incredibly useful insight into the piper alpha disaster and the subsequent enquiry. The piper alpha was a north sea oil production platform operated by occidental petroleum caledonia ltd. The gas processing system of the platform comprised two highpressure condensate pumps. Steve rae counts himself among the fortunate 61 who survived piper alpha and has made it his duty to ensure that the legacy of the disaster of july 6, 1988, when 167 offshore workers perished. The 6 th july 1988 was a normal day for 226 crew members onboard the piper alpha, an oil production platform in the north sea, located 120 miles northeast of aberdeen, scotland at about 22. His work has been translated into more than 40 languages. Of the 226 people on board that night, only 61 survived.
Piper alpha disaster news, views, gossip, pictures, video. Jul 02, 20 the oil industry has yet to learn lessons of piper alpha. Bibliography building process safety culture tool kit. Since drilling began in the north sea in the 1970s there have been 300 deaths on britains 123 oil installations, often in. Piper alpha was and remains the worlds worst offshore oil disaster, leaving just 61 survivors from a total crew of 228.
The protagonist, stevens, is a butler with a long record of service at darlington hall, a stately home near oxford, england. Look at the book is a new online method of teaching the bible. Daughter of piper alpha victim putting together tribute book. Of these, 109 died from smoke inhalation, by drowning, 11 of burn injuries and 4 from unidentified causes. A very honest and moving account of the disaster written in the immediate months afterwards. This week marks the 23th anniversary of the worst offshore oil disaster in history.
Piper alpha, for engineers, and even electricians, remains the example held up when there is an inadequate control design. Jun 01, 2019 the piper alpha disaster in the north sea, uk, remains the worst offshore oil disaster in history after 167 people lost their lives in july 1988. The remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro, paperback. Piper alpha was a north sea oil production platform operated by occidental petroleum caledonia ltd.
In 4 cases, the cause of death could not be established, and 30 bodies were never recovered. It began production in 1976, initially as an oilonly platform but later converted to add gas production. Aug 25, 2016 the remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro is a sad, bleak book about a man who finds near the end of his life that he has wasted it on the second to the last page of this 1989 novel, stevens, an english butler who, during an auto trip through the countryside, is musing about events in his life, decides that he needs to stop thinking so much about his past. This platform, located in the north sea approximately 177 kilometers from aberdeen, scotland, had 226 people on board at the time of the event, 165 of whom were killed. Of the deceased, 109 died from smoke inhalation, by drowning, 11 of injuries including burns.