ALPHA PIPER

ACCIDENT
 INTRODUCTION
•The Piper Alpha was a North
Sea Oil Production platform
operated by Occidental
Petroleum(Caledonia)Ltd.

•The platform began production

in 1976,first as an oil platform
and then later converted to gas
production.
 INTRODUCTION
•An explosion and resulting fire
destroyed it on July 6,1988, killing
167 men.

•Total insured loss was about £1.7

billion(US$ 3.4 billion).

•To date it is the world’s worst

offshore oil disaster in terms of lives
lost and impact to industry.
 Explosion!!
On 6 July 1988,a leakage of natural gas
condensate, which had build up beneath
the platform, ignited, causing a massive
explosion ignited secondary oil fires,
melting the riser of an upstream gas
pipeline.
Released gas caused a 2nd,larger
explosion, engulfed the entire platform.
Only 62 crewmembers survived out of
229 on board that day;167 perished.
AN ENTERTAINMENT

FOR
YOU……….
Alpha Piper
Early Stage of The Explosion
Evening of The Explosion
Night of The Explosion
After The Explosion
 RESPONSE
The main problem -The personnel who had
authority to order evacuation had been killed
when the 1st explosion destroyed the control
room.

This was a consequence of design of the

platform, including the absence of blast walls.

Another contributing factor was that a nearby

platform (the Tartan) continue to pump gas into
the heart of the fire until its pipeline ruptured in
the heat. The operations crew on the Tartan did
not have authority to shut off production even
though they could see that Piper Alpha was
burning.
 RESPONSE

 Nearby support vessel Lowland

Cavalier reported the initial
explosion
 20 minutes later, civil & military
rescue helicopters reached
 Tharos could not pump sufficient
water to approach it until after 2
hours.
 RESPONSE

The fire was eventually put out by

a team led by famed firefighter red
Adair in which he claims he had to
battle 80 mph winds and 70-foot
waves.
RECOMMENDATI
ONS
 RECOMMENDATION
 Enforcement on regulatory of
offshore installation
 Demonstrate an effective Safety
Management System
 HSE 1991
 Enforcement of PERMIT-TO-
WORK System
 RECOMMENDATION
 Temporary Safe Refuge (TSR)
 Prevent smoke ingress
 Evacuation & escape
 More than 1 route to
helicopters & lifeboats
 Provide secondary escape
equipments e.g. : ropes,
ladders & nets
 RECOMMENDATION

 Emergency Shutdown
Valves/System
 Place proper location for easy
cut-off fuel supply in case of fire
 Backup valves
 Maintenance
 RECOMMENDATION

 Provide annual safety training

 Inspection is vital
 Proper plant for maintenance
 RECOMMENDATION

 Fire protection
 Provide fire brigade team
Control fire in early stage
 Continual improvement of
safety management
Do you as a safety officer in
the future would like this
accident happen again?
The End…….