Nightmare blast that shattered a dream

Published on Monday 27 February 2006 15:10

IT WAS the disaster everyone had predicted would happen - some even got the location correct. The ferocity and the images of the tragedy and the death toll were what truly shocked people.

The 167 victims who perished on that fateful night in July 1988, when the Piper Alpha oil platform was engulfed by explosions and fireballs and reduced to little more than a blackened stump, were not the only victims. The exploitation of oil and gas reserves from the North Sea was to be Scotland's saviour, the industry that would make our small country competitive and relevant, perhaps even lead us towards independence. Piper Alpha was more than just a tragedy - it was the death of a dream.

It is difficult to convey the huge sense of horror caused by Piper Alpha without an appreciation of the excitement the oil industry had created. Few Britons had ever been involved with it. Americans were at the cutting edge; they were tough men who looked and sounded the part, and they had names like Red Adair and occupations like roustabouts and roughnecks - unheard of in the UK.

Aberdeen - which established itself as the Oil Capital of Europe - became the UK headquarters to a host of oil exploration companies. The city's nightlife boomed, as did its property prices and, most tellingly, its economy. There was even a curious genre of bar-room Texan oilmen impersonators.

The glamorous image onshore, however, masked a growing realisation that conditions offshore were inherently dangerous. In some instances they were reckless. There had been a string of fatal accidents, and offshore workers predicted with increasing regularity and confidence that one day there would be a "biggie". That day was 6 July 1988.

Piper Alpha lay at the heart of the Piper oilfield, 200km north-east of Aberdeen. It was operated by American company Occidental Petroleum, owned in turn by controversial businessman Armand Hammer. The company's UK headquarters in Aberdeen was known - none too affectionately - as Hammer House of Horrors. The platform was a large installation fixed to the seabed. At its peak it accounted for 10 per cent of the UK's North Sea oil production. Also in the oilfield were the Claymore and Tartan platforms which, like Piper Alpha, produced oil and gas through a series of underwater pipes or risers.

It quickly became clear that what had happened on Piper Alpha at around 10pm was out of the ordinary. Rescue helicopters reported a "glow in the sky" 130km from the giant platform. Closer the scene was one of carnage, with flames leaping more than 30 metres high, bodies floating in the water and explosion after explosion ripping through the once mighty platform.

The cause of the explosion was a simple enough mix-up. A piece of paper had been lost. Crucially, however, that piece of paper had borne a warning to overnight staff not to use one of two gas pumps from which a pressure relief valve had been removed for overhaul. In a wider sense it was seen by many as typifying a method of work which paid only lip service to safety.

After the first pressure valve blew, the situation on Piper became increasingly dire. Many men died from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning as they waited for a helicopter that never came. Then came a series of underwater explosions which blew apart the oil and gas lines from the neighbouring platforms. Tragically - and incredibly - these platforms had continued to pump gas into the lines despite the obvious tragedy unfolding on Piper.

A rescue boat with survivors inside was blown out of the water, and one of the most chilling tales was of one oil worker who ran around the accommodation module shouting for someone who worked for the same company as him. When asked why, he replied he did not want to die alone.

By the morning 167 of the 229 men on board Piper Alpha were dead.

An exhaustive inquiry conducted by respected High Court judge Lord Cullen followed and made a series of recommendations for offshore safety.

In Aberdeen, which had experienced a roller coaster of an oil ride, there was a numbness. Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher, Armand Hammer, all dressed in black, visited the survivors at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. They paid their respects and life moved on but, in truth, an era came to a close when Piper Alpha exploded.

Iain Lundy, who at the time worked for the Aberdeen Press & Journal, was among the few reporters on duty in Aberdeen on the night of the explosion.

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