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On the 6th July 1988 the UK’s worst offshore oil disaster killed 167 people including not just those working on the Piper Alpha platform, but 2 rescue workers attending in a rescue vessel.
A total of 61 workers managed to escape from the platform and survived the huge explosion which then resulted in a raging fire that eventually destroyed the platform in totality.
The bodies of 30 victims of the disaster were never found.
The Piper Alpha oil and gas platform was run by US company Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited and started oil production in 1976 and was located in the North Sea approximately 120 miles (190 km) north-east of Aberdeen. The platform was then later converted into producing both oil and gas.
Today as we mark the 33rd Anniversary of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters, the UK’s main offshore Trade Union the RMT remembers the 167 offshore workers who died on this day in 1988 in the explosions and fire that destroyed the Piper Alpha Platform in the North Sea.
RMT General Secretary, Mick Lynch, said:
“We ask that offshore employers allow all workers to take a moment today to remember the 167 offshore workers and the devastating effect that this disaster had on their families and communities, especially in north east Scotland. The men of Piper are gone but will never be forgotten.”
He added:
“This year, the anniversary of Piper Alpha takes place during the UK Government’s Maritime Safety Week. We call on Ministers to respect the memory of Piper Alpha’s victims by delivering the offshore safety culture of continuous improvement recommended in the Cullen Report into the disaster.”
Source: RMT / unionsafety
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