11 Historical Offshore Incidents and Why They Happened

Working offshore can be a dangerous job, and sometimes things go wrong. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at 11 historical offshore incidents and what caused them. From explosions to collisions, these accidents have claimed the lives of hundreds of workers over the years. So if you’re heading out to sea, be sure to read up on these disasters so that you know what to watch for. This list is in no particular order.

The Alexander L. Kielland Disaster – 123 Fatalities

On March 27, 1980, 212 offshore workers were aboard the floating oil rig named Alexander L. Kielland. At the time, the platform was owned by the Stavanger Drilling Company but was being used by Phillips Petroleum. Out of the 212 offshore workers aboard, 123 were killed.

During the evening on March 27th, the wind outside the rig had increased to about 45 miles per hour and was experiencing 40-foot waves. At the time, this floating rig was being held down by six anchor cables. The workers aboard the rig heard a loud sound which they later realized was five of the six anchor cables breaking, leaving the floating rig anchored by only the sixth cable. Unfortunately, due to the poor command structure aboard this floating rig, most of the workers did not attempt to evacuate. Approximately 20 minutes later, the last remaining anchor cable broke and the platform capsized. At the time of the storm, the platform had seven 50-person lifeboats and twenty 20-person rafts. Due to the platform capsizing, only one lifeboat and two rafts were able to be released by from the lowering cables.

After the investigation of this catastrophe concluded, it was determined that incident occurred due to a fatigue crack caused by a 6mm wide bad welding job. The catastrophe led to implementing new requirements for lifeboat hooks and new command structures to facilitate faster evacuation of a sinking vessel.

The Ocean Ranger Disaster – 84 Fatalities

February 14-15, 1982 – The Ocean Ranger was a mobile offshore drilling rig that sank to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Canada. At the time of this disaster the Ocean Ranger was drilling an exploratory well for Mobil Oil of Canada. During the evening on February 14th, Ocean Ranger was struck by a rogue wave. Over radio frequencies, platform workers were saying that a porthole window on the rig was broken and leaked an immense amount of water into the ballast control room. At that time, the platform was getting hit by 65-foot waves. Unfortunately, the rig’s porthole window was only at 28 feet. Around midnight, the rig reported they were listing 10-15 degrees.

On February 15^th, around 1 AM, as the platform was leaning 10 degrees to the left, the situation came to the attention of local authorities and Mobil helicopters. Additionally, all nearby vessels were asked to assist the platform. Soon thereafter, the Ocean Ranger transmitted a final message that they were abandoning the vessel.

The Deepwater Horizon Disaster – 11 Fatalities

The Deepwater Horizon is one of the worst and most publicized offshore disasters since the 1980s. At the time, Transocean owned the rig which was performing drilling operations for BP. As we all know, the oil rig exploded and caught fire on April 20, 2010 off the coast of Louisiana. However, before the oil rig exploded there were numerous red flags indicating that it could (and would) happen in the near future.

In 2009, engineers for BP were concerned that the materials BP wanted to use for drilling would not withstand the pressure. The mentality with the rig workers at that time were that they would be fired for raising safety concerns to the higherups, even though many of them had grave concerns that the equipment was unreliable and required in-depth maintenance. In March 2010, an accident that damaged the blowout preventer went unreported. It was later determined that the blowout preventer had not been inspected for 5 years prior to the explosion.

On the night of April 20th, hours before the well exploded, engineers for BP saw numerous indications and warning signs that the well was going to explode. Around 9:56 PM that night, a methane gas bubble made its way up the drill column, expanding larger and larger as it traveled upwards. The rig fire burned for over 24 hours before the Deepwater Horizon sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Out of the 126 people aboard, 11 were killed and 17 were transported to trauma centers across various parts of Louisiana.

The Piper Alpha – 167 Fatalities

From the time it came on-line in 1976 until it exploded on July 6, 1988, the Piper Alpha produced more than 300,000 barrels of crude per day which accounted for approximately 10% of the United Kingdom’s total crude production at that time. On July 6, 1988, while performing maintenance on a pump, a safety valve was removed from a gas pipe and was temporarily sealed. The pump was required to remain off until the maintenance was completed. Unfortunately, due to oversight, the next maintenance crew re-engaged the pump triggering a gas leak. Thereafter, this gas leak caused a string of enormous explosions aboard the offshore platform killing 167 men. Out of the entire crew of 226 people, 61 survived making this disaster one of the deadliest offshore rig catastrophes in history.

Seacrest Drillship Disaster – 91 Fatalities

On 3 November 1989, the Seacrest drillship capsized while operating in Unocal’s Platong gas field in the Gulf of Thailand during the passage of Typhoon Gay. At that time, the Seacrest had 97 crewmembers. Six survived and 91 lost their lives. The cause of the capsize was attributed to the the Seacrest’s unseaworthiness as well as the severe weather conditions it encountered during the typhoon. Contrary to industry custom and practice, Unocal did not have a standby vessel tending to the Seacrest at the time she capsized, so the crewmen in the water were carried away by the typhoon and the loss of the ship went unnoticed until a helicopter found it floating upside down approximately four miles from its last known location on November 4^th.

Glomar Java Sea Drillship – 81 Fatalities

On October 25, 1983, the Glomar Java Sea drillship, owned by Global Marine, was hit by Typhoon Lex, capsized and sank in the South China Sea off the coast of Hainan, China. Prior to the drillship’s capsizing, crew members reported that the drillship was experiencing severe gusts of wind in excess of 86 miles per hour.

Out of the 81 crew members aboard, search and rescue teams were only able to recover the bodies of 36 crew members and the remaining 45 crew members were presumed dead.

Bohai 2 Oil Rig Disaster – 72 Fatalities

In November 1979, the Bohai 2 jack-up rig capsized in the Gulf of Bohai killing 72 out of the 76 crew members aboard. While in tow through a dangerous storm a ventilator pump broke on the platform and created a hole allowing the platform to flood. The extensive flooding and severe weather conditions caused the jack-up to capsize. A subsequent investigation determined that the disaster could have been avoided but crew members had not received adequate training in evacuation procedures or the use of life-saving equipment.

Enchova Central Platform – 42 Fatalities

In August 1984, the Enchova Central Platform, operated by Petrobras, suffered a blowout and exploded in the Campos Basin near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 42 crew members were killed during the evacuation of the platform. Of these 42 fatalities, 36 crew members died due to the malfunction of a lowering mechanism of a lifeboat which rendered it vertically suspended until it eventually fell into the ocean. Additionally, six crew members lost their lives when they jumped from the burning platform into the sea. In April 1988, merely four years later, the Encova Platform suffered another blowout. Fortunately, all personnel during that instance were safely evacuated.

Mumbai High North – 22 Fatalities

July 2005 – High swells caused a support vessel to collide into the Mumbai High North offshore platform, owned by the Indian government. The collision ruptured multiple gas risers on the platform allowing gas to escape. Unfortunately, this gas exploded and set the entire platform ablaze. The platform was evacuated and destroyed within two hours. 22 out of the 384 workers aboard the Mumbai High North lost their lives because of this incident.

Usumacinta Jack-up – 22 Fatalities

On October 23, 2007, 22 crew members’ lives were lost in the Usumacinta Jack-Up rig catastrophe. Prior to this disaster, Pemex had contracted the Usumacinta Jack-up rig to be positioned alongside the Kab-101 platform in order to complete the drilling of the Kab-103 well in the Bay of Campeche, located in the Gulf of Mexico. While operating in those positions, an unprecedented storm developed in the area which produced winds in excess of 80 mph and 26-foot swells.

When the storm came, the Usumacinta’s anchor points were not fully secured. Thus, with the storm’s excess winds and rising swells the rig was allowed to oscillate with the currents and eventually collided into the production valve tree on the Kab-101 platform. This resulted in a dramatic oil and gas leak and necessitated the crew to close the safety valves on two of the platform’s production wells. Unfortunately, crew members could seal these valves 100% and they continued leaking. Shortly thereafter, oil and gas ignited and the 73 crew members attempted to evacuate via-two lifeboats. Of the two lifeboats, one of them filled with water and capsized, and the other was overturned by a large wave. This disaster claimed the lives of 21 crew members during evacuation procedure and another crew member went missing during the search and rescue mission and was pronounced dead. 

C.P. Baker Drilling Barge – 22 Fatalities

In June 1964, an explosion and fire aboard the C.P. Baker drilling barge killed 22 crewmembers. While operating in the Gulf of Mexico, the C.P. Baker’s 260-foot long hulls experienced a blowout, letting water rush through the open doors onto the main deck of the vessel. Shortly thereafter, an explosion occurred and gradually engulfed the vessel in flames. 30 minutes later, the vessel sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Rescue teams recovered eight crew members’ bodies, but 13 crew members were never recovered and were presumed dead.

Contact Top-Rated Offshore Injury Attorneys

As one can tell, offshore workers are susceptible to an exponentially long list of risks associated with their work. If you or a loved one have been injured in an offshore-related accident, do not hesitate to contact an experienced offshore drilling rig accident lawyer at Morrow & Sheppard, LLP today to discuss your legal rights.