What went wrong in Piper Alpha?
Piper Alpha was an oil production platform in the North Sea operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited. An explosion and resulting oil and gas fires destroyed the platform, killing 167 people, including two crewmen of a rescue vessel.
What was the main contributor in the 1988 Piper Alpha incident?
Water alone would not have put the oil fires out (and with gas fires one should not even attempt to do so) but it might have cooled the structure and pipelines and have prevented — or at least significantly delayed — the gas line rupture which was the major escalating factor in the Piper Alpha disaster.
How Piper Alpha could have been prevented?
The firewalls on Piper Alpha could have stopped the spread of a fire. They were, however, not built to withstand an explosion. The initial blast blew the firewalls down. Proper location and fireproofing of emergency shutdown valves are essential in order to cut off fuel supply in case of a fire.
Is Piper Alpha still there?
Piper Alpha exploded and sank on the 6th of July, 1988, killing 165 of the men on board, and a further 2 rescue workers after their rescue vessel, which had been trapped in debris and immobilized, was destroyed by the disintegrating rig. 61 workers escaped and survived. Thirty bodies were never recovered.
How many died on Alpha Piper?
167 people
The 1988 Piper Alpha disaster killed 167 people, making it the world’s deadliest oil rig accident in history. Situated just off the coast of Aberdeen, a city famous for its oil rigs and production, the oil platform exploded on July 6 1988.
What happened to Piper Alpha oil rig?
How many people died in the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster?
167 out of 228 workers either on the rig or one of the safety vessels patrolling it died during the Piper Alpha disaster. Photograph: I.T.N./Rex Features The Piper Alpha disaster which killed 167 workers on 6 July 1988 off the coast of Aberdeen is the world’sdeadliest ever oil rig accident.
What caused the Piper Alpha oil spill?
In 1988, Piper Alpha was operated by Occidental Petroleum. On 6 July 1988, there was a massive leakage of gas condensate on Piper Alpha, which was ignited causing an explosion that led to large oil fires. The heat ruptured the riser of a gas pipeline from another installation.
What happened to Piper Alpha in 1987?
Less than a year earlier, on 07 September 1987, a contract rigger was killed in an accident on Piper Alpha. The accident highlighted the inadequacies of both the permit to work and the shift handover procedures. A golden opportunity to put these right was missed.
What is the history of the Piper Alpha oil platform?
Piper Alpha was a large North Sea oil platform that started production in 1976. A large fixed platform, Piper Alpha, was situated on the Piper oilfield, approximately 120 miles (193 kilometers) northeast of Aberdeen in 474 feet (144 meters) of water. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life it had also produced gas from two wells.