‘Ranger’ disaster report

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 10

‘Ranger’ disaster report

NZPA-AFP Ottawa An investigation into the collapse of the oil-drilling platform Ocean Ranger off the east coast of Newfoundland in February, 1982, with 84 lives lost, has shown that all parties and factors involved were partially responsible, according to the report released by the inquiry commission. The 400-page report blames the drill rig’s design, the lack of adequate safety and rescue measures, and the fierce storm on the

night of February 14, 1982, for the loss of one of the world’s largest semi-sub-mersible platforms. The commission found the Mobil Oil Company, which operated the platform, at fault for not having provided enough life-jackets for the rig’s crew, as well as for neglecting to order a maintenance ship to stay in the area in bad weather. The panel blamed the designers and builders for the platform’s inability to stand up to the storm, and the Canadian Government for

neglecting to establish “sufficiently precise criteria and rules” for offshore oildrilling operations. Many of the commission’s 66 recommendations have already been put into effect. Observers said that the board’s report only confirmed investigations already carried out by the United States Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. The Royal Inquiry Commission’s 2Vi year probe cost afout SUSI 3 million, i