Piper Alpha

[badger]

I'm sure everyone knows tomorrow is the 20th Anniversary but I haven't seen any mention of an official remembrance. There will be a special service in Aberdeen tomorrow and Westminster Parliament will also remember it next week (what about Scottish Parliament) but there doesn't seem to be any general call to remember it in church services, for instance.

This is one of the fullest articles I've found on this terrible incident
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/spectrum/The-night-the-sea-caught.4184800.jp

The bravery of the rescuers was amazing. One man was describing on radio this morning how a rescue boat saw through the smoke a hand sticking up out of the water so they drove right under the rig and pulled him out without stopping. The decision by the crew to do this was unanimous.

[ciderally]

i hope scotland hasent forgotten these men....

[Dusty]

I was on nightshift offshore on the Brent Bravo the night of the disaster and can remember that night clearly.

As we listened to the reports coming through on the radio patched through to the Control Room, the shift team were uncharacteristically subdued and carried out their duties with no more than essential communication. There was a palpable sense of "It could just as easily have been us".

The unfortunate thing is, that in spite of what was learned from Piper Alpha, companies both on and offshore are once again succumbing to the dictates of accountancy and safety is suffering.

I fervently hope that there is to be no repeat of the horrors of that night twenty years ago either on or offshore.

[JamesMcVean]

10 years ago I worked on the Saltire Platform, where the OIM Offshore Installation Manager was a survivor of the disaster. A helluva fine bloke who only survived because he didnt follow the usual procedures and jumped over the side...sadly the majority of the men that perished were at muster stations when the accomodation block went to the sea bed...

I must say I have seen a change in safety in the last 20yrs...but it will be interesting to see if the overinflated price of Oil has a bearing on the companies shutdown and maintenance procedures...I hope it does not!