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Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the worst offshore oil disaster.

The Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. It accounted for around ten per cent of the oil and gas production from the North Sea at the time. The platform began production in 1976 first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production. An explosion and resulting fire destroyed it on July 6, 1988, killing 167 men. Total insured loss was $ 3.4 billion. To date it is the world’s worst offshore oil disaster.

The Amazing site Oil Rig Disasters writes about the Piper Alpha. they tell us:

On 06 July 1988, work began on one of two condensate-injection pumps, designated A and B, which were used to compress gas on the platform prior to transport of the gas to Flotta. A pressure safety valve was removed from compressor A for recalibration and re-certification and two blind flanges were fitted onto the open pipework. The dayshift crew then finished for the day.

During the evening of 06 July, pump B tripped and the nightshift crew decided that pump A should be brought back into service. Once the pump was operational, gas condensate leaked from the two blind flanges and, at around 2200 hours, the gas ignited and exploded, causing fires and damage to other areas with the further release of gas and oil. Some twenty minutes later, the Tartan gas riser failed and a second major explosion occurred followed by widespread fire. Fifty minutes later, at around 2250 hours, the MCP-01 gas riser failed resulting in a third major explosion. Further explosions then ensued, followed by the eventual structural collapse of a significant proportion of the installation.

BBC Report:

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Photos:

The Piper Alpha, as seen from a crew change helicopter, before the fire started.

All that remains of the oil platform after the devastating fire burns out.

The fire in full blaze. Imagine the heat that was generated.

A simulation of the survivability of the Piper Alpha’s Lifeboats.

The Blaze lit the night sky for miles in every direction.

Video Links:

• Piper Alpha Tribute Video
  
• Video animation of Piper Alpha Explosion
• “My Duke of Edinburgh” Movie Trailer

Links:

• 10 Deadliest Offshore Accidents
• BBC Report on this incident.
• Memories of the men who died
• UK Study on preventing large shipboard explosions
• Fire and Blast Information Group: Piper Alpha

After my last Fire Team meeting the 2nd Mate said: “you must own stock in the Halligan Tool Company”. Well I don’t (such a company doesn’t even exist) but I am a big fan of the Halligan and insist that it’s carried on each vessel I work on.

Invented by Deputy Chief Hugh Halligan of the FDNY, it is the multipurpose tool of choice for firefighters around the globe and is used for tasks ranging from forced entry to overhaul. It also has some ISPS uses not disclosed by any manufacturer.

To give you a better idea about how it’s used watch the video below then view our pdf slideshow for the shipboard uses of the tool.

gCaptain Slideshow: The Halligan Tool

When interlocked with a flat-head axe they become “married” and are called “The Irons”:

Should Have Used the Grits
By The Artful Blogger

Hi kids! This is part two of my ways to put some spice into your fire drills and maybe . . . just maybe, you might have a little fun.  I promised special effects, which or course, reminds me of a story:

I live in a great neighborhood.  I couldn’t ask for better neighbors if I had ordered them from the Sears catalog.  Most of them are either retired or past military, so we’re just like family.  I have a guy who lives a couple of doors down.  His name is Jack.  He’s a great guy, but he has one small problem.  It seems that every time he comes in contact with any sort of tool, we’re taking him to the emergency room.  I mean, even Tim the Tool Man would be scared of this guy.  One weekend, we were all outside doing the lawn-thing, when Jack approached me.  I could tell by the look on his face that he had a project in mind.  It seemed that Jack had a fire ant problem and wanted to know how to kill them.  Living in Florida, this is a common occurrence, so I was quick with my response.  I told him to use raw grits.  He looked at me funny.  Believe it or not, this actually works.  Well Jack, being from Michigan, only had instant grits (It’s a northern-thing).  I told him that instant wouldn’t work.  I was going to refer him to some commercial-type ant killers when my other neighbor, Frank, piped in.  He told him to use gasoline. (Frank’s a crusty old retired Vietnam Vet, so you can see the logic.)  As Jack scurried away with his new-found information, I gave Frank a look like, “You know better than to do that.”  Having finished my yard work, I retied to the house for baseball and my favorite malt beverage.  Little did I know what events would transpire next.

Jack took his little half gallon gas can over to the ant mound and poured a liberal amount of petrol onto it.  After striking a stick match (mind you, the only smart thing he did was to use a stick match), he tossed it onto the mound.  A small one foot flame briefly flared up and quickly died down to a few inches.  What Frank neglected to tell Jack was that was all the fire he needed to perform the extermination.  Jack thought to himself, “Is that it? Maybe I need more gas.” (OK kids,  here’s where it gets good!)  Jack tips the little gas can over the open flame from about three feet up.  The gas dumps down onto the flame.  (Can you guess what happens next?  No, jack couldn’t either.)  The flame traveled up the pouring gasoline and this ramjet with conviction shot out of the nozzle of his tiny gas can (After all, it’s not the size, but how you use it).  The thing was like a flame thrower.  So, what does our hero do?  He starts violently shaking the can, trying to put out the flame.  Instead of extinguishing it, he sprays fuel all over his lawn.  Now, half his lawn is on fire . . . and his curbside mailbox . . . and his wife’s flower garden . . . and the left front tire of his wife’s Buick.

I hear a knock at my door.  It’s Frank.  [Continue Reading →]

Bravo on My Watch
By The Artful Blogger

I review shipboard incidents every day. It’s what I write about. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of material out there. The other day, something came across my desk. At first, I thought it someone’s idea of a joke. “Artful,” I said to myself, “There is no way that this really happened.” It was then I came to the realization that this paper was no joke . . . this actually happened . . . and , well I’ll just share this little tidbit with you and you can blog for yourself. Of course, I left out the names to protect the guilty. I’m just going to reflect on the high points of the story (mainly because it’s the most interesting part!).

Once upon a time, there was this cruise ship that went out for a three hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was . . . (Oops. Sorry, wrong story). [Continue Reading →]

Like It Or Not; It’s Here

Fighting LNG Ship Fires

Originally Published Sept 2007

By Tom Guldner, Marine Firefighting Inc.

First, let me state that this article is neither FOR nor AGAINST Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) in the USA. Its purpose is to understand what it is and how the vessels crew and Land-Based Firefighters and first responders can deal with emergencies. Opponents of LNG have come up with many false statements about the dangers of LNG while the LNG industry may lead us to believe there is absolutely no danger in handling LNG. We as firefighters (marine or land-based) and as the mariners who work with the LNG vessels must look at this issue in a more unbiased view. Anything is dangerous if used improperly. Even water has been found to be the culprit of many devastating oil tanker explosions when used under pressure to clean the vessels tanks. The static electric charge the water builds up can create a spark which can rip apart a huge oil tanker. We have also seen that water has caused many vessels to capsize and sink when too much of it has accumulated aboard a ship during firefighting operations.

My company, Marine Firefighting Inc., has been involved in providing informational seminars to the tug boat crews who have the task of escorting some of the large LNG ships into US waters. The tug boats being used are specially designed for this task. Each is equipped with state of the art firefighting equipment. MFI has been providing the familiarization with this new firefighting equipment and also familiarization with the properties of the LNG they will be working with.

Much controversy surrounds the Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) industry in the United States. A good deal of the criticism comes from the “Not in my back yard” syndrome. Most of us realize that our energy needs will soon outpace our supplies. With new emerging economies such as China and India the world’s existing oil reserves are going to be drawn upon much more than at any time in our history. LNG has been presented as one of the answers of bridging the eminent energy gap between users and suppliers. However, no one wants to live next door to an LNG plant.

What is LNG? Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) is a colorless, odorless, liquid which is natural gas in a liquid form. Previously, the world’s large supplies of natural gas have not been available to areas remote from these gas wells. The cost of shipping natural gas in its gaseous state was simply too expensive. Liquefying natural gas reduces its volume 600 times (see diagram left.). Because of this reduction in volume it became profitable to export natural gas in its liquid form (LNG). The process of liquefying natural gas differs from the liquefying of other gasses. The main difference is that LNG does not require pressurization to keep this gas in a liquid state as is the case with Liquid Petroleum Gases (LPG) such as Propane. (Marine transport of Propane may use refrigeration to reduce its pressure during transit.) LNG is formed by subjecting natural gas to extremely cold temperatures. At minus 260 degrees F (-161°C ) the gas becomes a liquid at atmospheric pressure. Liquids at these temperatures are considered “Cryogenic”.1 [Continue Reading →]

We recently showed you the video game Ship Simulator 2008, the “realistic” (we haven’t tested this claim) simulator game for your PC, but today we point you towards another product from the company Vstep; RescueSim. Here’s the short description from the RescueSim website;

RescueSim allows emergency response teams to prepare for incidents in a virtual working environment. Under the guidance of your own instructor, any incident can be realistically simulated. Crews experience the incident as they would in real life. They determine the best response strategy, implement it and then observe the consequences of their decisions.

The training platform can be supplemented with industry-specific training modules that include environments, scenarios and equipment relevant to that industry. Today, modules exist for Ports; developed with the Port of Rotterdam and Rotterdam Harbour Fire Department, it includes training incident scenarios with various vessels and industrial fires.

While we still recommend any organization in need of this type of training contact our friend Tom Guldner at Marine Firefighting Institute, we look forward to learning more about this product.

If any gCaptain readers have experienced Ship Simulator 2008 or RescueSim, please let us know what you think!

Prior to using a fixed fire system, especially CO2, always have a full muster! Why? This Navy video shows the inside view of what happens when this deadly gas is released.

How about when a 75lbs bottle explodes:

Why not to use CO2 on a Class D fire:

Some facts from the EPA: [Continue Reading →]

You have a PASS Device for your shipboard fire team..right?? Why not break it out of the gear locker during confined space entries?

For those who have never seen one, a PASS device (sometimes called a Man Down Alarm) contains a motion sensor and high pitched alarm. The firefighter clips it on his bunker gear and if he passes out the motion detector senses his lack of movement and sets off the alarm. It also has a panic button that can be pushed to inform the scene leader the team is in trouble or to help the back-up team locate a lost firefighter.

We all know how unreliable UHF radios are during tank inspections. While the old trick of banging a wrench 1 time to signal OK, 2 times to signal GET OUT and 5+ times to signal SEND HELP works inside the tank it won’t an unconsciousness victim. At a cost of around $225 these devices are an inexpensive way to protect your life.

Still doing tank entries without a personal O2 meter? Sniffing the tank at the point of entry is no longer enough, instead bring along a Personal Gas Detector

*Note read more about this tip in the Confined Space Entry Handbook

Here is a video describing the P.A.S.S. device including it’s shortcomings:

I don’t have many pictures of my father but I recently ran across this one posted on the website of his fire company “Rescue 3“. Following Vietnam and the Physician Assistant program at Cornell he joined the Fire Department of New York and was soon accepted into the department’s elite company Rescue 3.

These were the “War Years” and the bronx was burning. He didn’t talk much about the fires so when he did I hung on every word. One day he was discussing the severity of the situation in the bronx with an out of state firefighter and said “How many massive, fully engulfed fires with multiple casualties have you seen in your career? There are days we see 5 or 6 in one night!”.

What does this have to do with Marine Firefighting? [Continue Reading →]

In remembrance of 9/11 we take a look at NYC’s most distinguished Fireboat, FDNY’s “Fire Fighter” ( Marine 9 ):

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With a cost of $924,000 in 1938 she is the most expensive fireboat ever constructed relative to inflation. Firefighters who have worked her deck, however, will tell you the step price tag has been repaid many times over by the work she has done throughout her 70 years of service.

Engine Room:

Marine 9’s “Fire Fighter” was designed with a pair of Winton sixteen cylinder diesel engines that each power an electric generator capable of powering her twin 1,000 horsepower electric motors. Once at the fire scene the boat’s engineers need to divide power between the screws and the fire pumps. When 100% of the power is sent to the pumps she is capable of delivering 20,000 gallons per minute of water to either her fire monitors or shore side to trucks fighting more traditional fires.

Tower:

The Fire Fighter was originally designed with a fifty-five foot water tower that has since been removed due to maintenance costs.

If you are interested in fire boats and have some extra time to donate head over to the FDNY Fireboat John J Harvey website and help restore a hero from September 11th.

Related Books:

• A Maritime History Of New York
• Report from Engine Co. 82 (a gCaptain Favorite)
• The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey(Children Book)
• Fireboats of 9/11 DVD