Piper Alpha: Oil Rig Disaster | Inferno | 2

Against The Odds

Wondery

Cassie De Pecol, History, Society & Culture, Dolby, Mike Corey, Dolby Atmos, Atmos

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2024

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After an explosion rocks the Piper Alpha oil rig, a huge, smoky fire begins to spread, taking down the rig’s power supply and communications equipment. Workers hurry to their evacuation stations, and a state-of-the-art rescue ship, the Tharos, moves into position to battle the blaze and get men off the platform. But soon, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary fire.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wundery Plus subscribers can listen to Against the Odds early in ad free right now.
0:05.0	Join Wundery Plus in the Wundery App or on Apple Podcasts.
0:09.0	A listener note, Against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events.
0:15.6	Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, letting cigarette smoke fill his mouth and lungs.
0:36.0	It's a welcome relief from the smell of fresh paint.
0:40.0	He's standing on the deck of the silver Pit, a fishing vessel that's been converted into a rescue ship.
0:46.5	It's stationed near the Piper Alpha offshore oil rig in Scotland's North Sea. The Silver Pit got a new paint shop recently, white and red, and
0:57.1	the odor is overwhelming.
1:00.0	It's 10 p.m. on July 6, 1988, McNeil's first day on the job.
1:06.0	He's the coxone of a small rescue craft known as a Z-boat.
1:10.0	If it's deployed from the silver pit in an emergency,
1:12.0	he'll be in charge of the boat and its three-man crew.
1:15.6	McNeil arrived on the silver pit six hours ago, then settled into his quarters and ate dinner with his new crew.
1:23.1	Afterward, they all played cards.
1:25.4	McNeil lost, on purpose to get in the crew's good graces.
1:29.7	His men seem like a decent group,
1:31.8	even if they are untested in a real emergency, much like himself, honestly.
1:37.0	Overall, he thinks he'll like it here on this ship.
1:41.0	He just hopes the job isn't as deadly boring as he's heard. He suspects
1:45.6	they'll be playing a lot of card games. As he smokes, he studies the Piper Alpha
1:51.0	rig 400 yards away. It's framed by the gold and red glow of the sunset, which happens late this time of year on the North Sea.
2:00.0	As lights come on across the rig, he can see the drill tower and other structures
	...

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