This Wave Killed All 84 Men

Ocean oil platforms are designed to withstand the harshest weather conditions in the middle of the ocean, hundreds of miles from Earth, the crew of the Ocean Ranger put their faith in the technology and integrity of the oil platform, but due to poor training poor design and extreme weather conditions line up, not even their faith can save them. The Ocean Ranger is a self-propelled semi-submersible offshore drilling rig working in an area called the Grand Banks. It is owned by an American company Ocean Drilling and Exploration or, for short, Odeko, it is leased. to Mobile Oil Canada, owner of the drilling rights to the Hibernia oil field.

Mobile Oil Canada is a subsidiary of the American company Mobile Corporation at the time of its construction. It is the largest semi-submersible platform in the world. The platform weighs almost 25,000 tons. It is 396 feet long. 362 feet. wide and 337 feet tall, making it as tall as a 30-story building, of course, when it's floating, almost a third of that is below the water line, it floats on two 400-foot-high pontoons. long that are 80 feet below the water line. These pontoons have ballast. Tank compartments that can be partially filled with seawater This helps stabilize the rig in rough seas It is capable of drilling in ocean depths of 1500 feet The large shoals are located in the North Atlantic Ocean 166 miles east of Saint John's Newfoundland in Canada is known for its rich oil and gas reserves and is also known for its severe weather conditions, especially in winter, with ocean depths in the area ranging from 100 to 600 feet on the morning of February 14, 1982. 84 Crew members aboard the Ocean Ranger receive weather forecasts predicting that a severe winter storm is rapidly approaching the Great Banks The storm is related to a major Atlantic cyclone This time of year the region is often subject to weather events extremes and

this

incoming storm is forecast to be particularly powerful for which the Ocean Ranger is designed.

In such an extreme storm, the platforms previously endured harsh conditions, leading the crew and platform operators to be confident in their ability. to handle

this

storm. The Ocean Ranges crew begins to prepare for severe weather. Standard procedures involve securing any loose equipment and checking that all watertight doors and portholes are sealed and ensuring the stability of the platform by handling its ballast tanks. The ballast control system is essential to maintain the stability of the platform. It regulates the amount of water in the ballast tanks located beneath the platform, allowing the platform to adjust its buoyancy instability in response to sea conditions in preparation for the storm.

The crew thoroughly checked the system even though they began to take these necessary precautions there is no immediate cause for concern know that the platforms have weathered these storms before despite the expected severity of this storm regular operations on the platform continue as night falls the storm reaches the ocean Strong winds and towering

wave

s of the Ranger dwarf the immense size of the Oceanic Ranger. It is designed to withstand winds of up to 100 knots and

wave

s up to 110 feet high, but this storm is proving to be extraordinarily powerful with waves that go beyond the limits calculated by Riggs at 7:00 p.m. a rogue wave hits a platform nearby the sidco 706 which is also operated by a mobile the wave damages deck equipment and washes away a lifeboat despite deteriorating weather and rising seas State of the ocean Ranger continues its drilling operations, the crew has faith in the platform and the culture of the offshore industry is that disruptions to operations are avoided at all costs, however conditions are becoming challenging, the crew has to navigate the platform in stormy weather working to maintain everything. operate smoothly and safely, this requires constant monitoring of the platform systems, especially the ballast control system, which is crucial to maintain the stability of the platform in turbulent maritime communication with the coast.

It also continues to report on the status of the platform and the evolution of the situation. This commitment to continuing operations in despite worsening weather conditions demonstrates the level of confidence they have in the design and capabilities of the ocean ranges or perhaps their fear of retaliation for abandoning their station in waves of 55 to 65. feet hit the ocean Ranger a rogue wave hits the ranger just after midnight, this rogue wave is significantly larger than other waves in the storm that are already pushing the ranger to their calculated limits. The wave hits with such force that it shatters the glass of a porthole window in the ballast control room, the nerve center responsible for maintaining the platform's stability.

The porthole is only 25 feet above the line. of water with each subsequent wave seawater pours into the room through the broken portal this room is filled with electronic equipment and control panels that control the ballast tank systems with seawater flooding the center system control starts and malfunctions almost immediately seawater causes major electrical shorts within the system causing key components in the ballast control system to malfunction at 21:00 the setco 706 radio operator picks up the radio communication in the ocean Ranger and describes how the valves in the Ocean's ballast systems appear to be opening and closing on their own, the crew is unable to control the heel and trim of the platforms and it becomes progressively more unstable as the crew attempts to manually control the ballast, the storm worsens and more seawater is dumped into the control center without the ability to properly control the ballast tanks, the equipment begins to tilt or tilt towards the front of the equipment, this means that as the team heads into the oncoming waves, its bow shifting lower on each subsequent wave, pushing it further into the water rather than sailing. up and over the approaching waves water begins to flood the front chain The lockers in the corner support columns the equipment that operates the bat control has several disadvantages the water is wreaking havoc on the automatic control system but not They have the proper training to know how to manually control the system, they don't even have a manual to look up how to override the automatic system and take manual control, that might not matter anyway when the bow sinks, it forces the stern out. higher than the water, the ballast control pumps are at the stern of the boat as the bow sinks and the stern rises the ballast pumps do not have the power to pump water up such a long slope and at the stern the The degree of list increases with each hour that passes.

The crew begins to implement emergency procedures. These are sets of predefined actions designed to regain control over the stability of the platform and avoid a total disaster. They try without success to manually control the ballast tanks. They stop all drilling operations and prepare for possible evacuation. They shut down all non-essential systems and operations. platform to focus all resources on crisis management, share the drill string and cut off the blowout preventer, something Deepwater Horizon was unable to do. I will leave a link to that video here as the crew is experienced and trained for emergency situations. The combination of a severe storm, equipment malfunction, and a listing platform creates an exceptionally challenging and dangerous situation on 0052.

The Ocean Ranger makes a distress call. Support ship Seaforth Highlander is requested to take close countermeasures against 10. to 15 degrees are proving ineffective Canadian Coast Guard and mobile helicopters are alerted just after 0-100 hospitals in St John's are put on standby vessels of support Bolton tour and norditor the reserve vessels of sidco 706 and Zapata ukland are hijacked by the Canadian The Coast Guard must provide assistance in an emergency situation. The Coast Guard has the right to take control of a vessel at sea to assist in an emergency. I was kidnapped in the waters around Cape Town when a small boat lost its engines, the Coast Guard ordered.

My crew and I headed to the area, but when we got there, another larger boat arrived on the scene that was more capable of helping than the sailboat I was on. The support ships approaching the Ocean Ranger are experiencing the same winter storm as the Ocean Ranger. High winds, rough seas and poor visibility create dangerous conditions that limit rescue teams' ability to reach the ranger. They must navigate through the violent storm to reach the increasingly unstable ocean. The ranger then evacuated the crew in extremely challenging conditions. Every minute counts at 0. 130 Ocean Ranger transmits his last message there will be no more radio communications from the ocean Ranger we are going to Lifeboat Stations abandoning any ship in the ocean is a big decision today the general rule is that you get on your raft lifeboat, meaning Your ship has already sunk beneath you, but evacuating an offshore oil platform adds several dimensions of complexity.

Gather essential survival equipment to ensure all crew members have life jackets and prepare lifeboats for evacuation while a platform tilts. Leaving the platform is the last resort. for the crew it means abandoning the perceived safety of the platform and facing the harsh elements of the storm in a lifeboat. It must be terrifying to get off a huge ship that has been destroyed by the storm and onto a tiny boat that is, by comparison, the size of a bathtub. These preparations are carried out amid growing panic and confusion with the crew very aware that their lives depend on the ballots.

Lifeboats are designed to be launched even in extreme conditions, but the Ocean Ranger's severe list makes it extremely difficult for the crew to fight. To launch against platform tilts, high winds and monster waves, Riggs lifeboats are designed to use a gravity drop system, so the platform must be relatively level to launch them. The crew managed to launch at least one lifeboat. The Seaforth Highlander sports boat arrives at the scene and they can see bodies floating in the water. A lifeboat with eight or nine men approaches them. The lifeboat sails astern and approaches its port wing. Seaforth is able to throw ropes at the liferaft before he can get anyone on board the liferaft is slammed into the hull of the Highlander Seaport and collapses the men in the water cling to the lifeboat which remains capsized the Seaforth breaks through through the waves and wind to reach the men, they slowly succumb to the cold only a man is seen wearing an orange survival suit the Seaforth Maneuvers into position and narrowly misses cutting him off with his propellers the crew on deck launches a hook of grab to try to pull the man into the boat hooks his life jacket but the man slides below the waterline, it is simply not possible to get the men out of the water in such harsh conditions with the equipment and deck configuration that have Coast Guard rescue teams Merchant ships Supply ships from other oil platforms planes and helicopters descend on the rescue work site rescue workers battle towering waves, freezing temperatures and powerful winds as they search for survivors in 0-230, the first rescue helicopter arrives on the scene.

Captain Mike Clark, the pilot of Gander's search and rescue helicopter, lowers search and rescue technician Master Corporal Randy Brown from a 24 meter cable into the icy water and Howling Gale to attempt to recover the first man. What do you see, he is already dead. Snow and waves estimated at 16 meters make their efforts impossible. It is the first and last air rescue attempt. Conditions are too dangerous to fly over the search area. Rescue helicopters are battling winds approaching 90 miles per hour. The surge makes recovery of the body impossible. Captain Clark attempts to guide the support ships to Bodies In The Water.

It quickly becomes clear that the supply ship has to fight for its own survival by sending men. on deck to recover bodies is a suicide mission a rescue helicopter lands to refuel on another platform the platform tilts violently in rough seas the helicopter crew becomes dizzy untilthe point they have to abandon refueling and return to their shore base the platforms severe list deteriorates until reaching a critical point where the platform is no longer stable at 03:13 the ocean ranger capsizes and sinks below of the water line search and rescue operation becomes a recovery operation in the following days debris and personal belongings from the ocean Rangers wash up on the coast of Newfoundland even though hospitals in Saint John's are on standby , not a single Ocean Ranger patient is admitted.

All 84 crew members aboard the Ocean Ranger are missing. Only 22 bodies are recovered of the 84 crew members brought in each year. 17 in the port of Saint John journalists are detained so that photographs cannot be taken a mechanical Russian trawler Tarasov sinks in the same storm the bodies of Russian sailors are taken to the same pier out of service ocean Members of Ranger crew to check the Russian Corps to make sure no Ocean Ranger men were accidentally sent to Russia after the storm had passed. It has been decided that sonar and underwater vehicles will be used to locate the remains of the Ocean Ranger at the bottom of the sea.

The platform is in water about 100 feet deep. that this shallow depth represents a danger to maritime traffic, so the platform will be refloated and sunk in deeper waters. A European company is awarded the contract to rescue the platform during these operations. Two divers are sent to recover fuel from the tanks on the pontoon. They cut the pontoon using a blowtorch. The fuel gases ignite creating an explosion that kills both divers. Another diver dies a week later when a large chunk of metal falls from the rescue ship and crushes him against the sunken platform, raising the total.

Ocean Ranger death toll at 87 foreign men