2/28/2024 0 Comments Big rig dies after losing controlThe drillship, also known as The Scan Queen, had operated in the Gulf of Thailand since 1981 for US-based Unocal. That night, Typhoon Gay produced 40ft-high waves, eventually causing the drillship to capsize. The 4,400t drillship was anchored 430km south of Bangkok, Thailand, to drill the Platong gas field. The Seacrest Drillship disaster in the South China Sea killed 91 crew members on 3 November 1989. Seacrest Drillship disaster, South China Sea, 1989 See also: Norway Petroleum Safety Authority’s reconstruction The similar Norwegian flotel that suffered a similar fate just 10 days after the Kielland The families calling for a new, public inquiry 40 years later Typhoon Gay caused the Seacrest drillship to capsize in the South China Sea. The event still marks the worst industrial accident in Norway’s history. Five years later, it made offshore operators directly responsible for their employees’ safety. The company emphasises that it has improved safety since, aiming to never have another major disaster.Īs a result of the Kielland disaster, Norway restructured and combined the authorities responsible for overseeing offshore activity. US-based Phillips Petroleum operated the platform when it capsized, and ConocoPhillips still operates in the area. The investigation also decided that a better command structure could have saved more lives in the 14 minutes after the first tilt. Eventually, harsh weather wore away at this and tore the leg off. An official investigation found that poor welding and overloading on the platform’s D column caused cracking in its bracings. In total, only 89 people on the platform that night survived the disaster. The platform was stabilised for 14 minutes by the single remaining cable, which ultimately snapped, and the platform rolled over. One of the platform’s five legs broke away, leaving it off-balance by 30° and at risk of capsizing.Įvacuations immediately began, but several lifeboats failed to launch because of their design. Shortly before 6.30pm, five of the platform’s cables securing the platform to the sea floor snapped. Rain pounded the platform on the day of the incident, with strong winds creating waves up to 12m high. Ekofisk lies approximately 235 miles east of Dundee, Scotland, on the Norwegian continental shelf. Of these, 123 workers aged between 19 and 57 died when the floating hotel capsized.Ī bridge linked the ‘flotel’ to the Edda 2/7C drilling platform, extracting on the Ekofisk field in the middle on the North Sea. The semi-submersible platform Alexander L Kielland gave accommodation to 212 workers on the evening of 27 March 1980. Alexander L Kielland, Norwegian North Sea, 1980 Kielland disaster took 123 lives in March 1980. See also: Occidental’s lawsuit against contractors operating during the disaster The story of a parent who lost their son in the disaster A timeline of what happened The Alexander L. According to the report, the company had inadequate safety measures in place at the time, though Occidental never faced criminal charges. Two rescuers also died in their attempt to help, and bringing the fire under control took three weeks.Ī public enquiry made 106 recommendations to help prevent future incidents, including greater clarity over work permits, more robust fire suppression systems, and forming a single regulator for offshore safety. At this time, there were 226 workers on the platform, though only 61 would survive the disaster. Piper Alpha’s oil extraction design could not withstand gas explosions, leaving crew vulnerable and preventing them from attempting to control the fire.Ī mayday call soon followed. An emergency stop quickly halted all extraction, but the initial explosion devastated the platform’s control room. The gas then ignited, and while automatic fire control measures would usually dampen the flames, crews had disabled these during maintenance.Įxplosions on the platform began just after 10pm. The night crew turned on the dangerous pump after another pump failed, resulting in the leakage of gas condensate from the two blind flanges.
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