It's 20 yrs to the day since the Piper Alpha disaster.
On the 6th July 1988 a huge leakage of gas condensate from pipework which had been at the centre of maintenance work only hours earlier ignited and exploded.
A safety valve had been removed - but crucially - during a change of shift it wasn't made clear that a pump connected to the pipe wasn't to be switched back on under any circumstances.
The explosion punctured walls - which were only designed to protect against fire.
The fire-fighting system - which would have poured thousands of gallons of seaweater onto the flames - had been switched to manual - because divers were operating in the area.
Most incredibly and tragically - the flow of oil and gas from the Tartan and Claymore fields continued - fuelling the blaze.
Piper Alpha was doomed and 167 men lost their lives in the worst ever offshore tragedy. |
