The Ocean Ranger Oil Rig Disaster: Deadlier than Deepwater

[@DZuls1]

I worked on the Ocean Ranger ll, renamed shortly after the disaster to Ocean Odyssey while still in the shipyard. It was an arctic class super semi, the derrick was enclosed and had heat trace wiring everywhere to keep things from freezing up. There was a single plaque on board with the original name, Ocean Ranger II. It was on the control console of the aft gantry crane. Everyone was very aware of what happened to the Ranger, and some design changes had been made. The ballast control room was taken out of the support column and made a part of the Pilot House, just above the main deck and 90 feet above the water line. Training was constant, we could all get into our survival suits in record time and abandon drills were weekly and attendance was mandatory, no excuses. Other drills were fire, man down, poison gas, and were also weekly and mandatory. Training classes and certification were offered and were attended with enthusiasm, we were at one point 260 miles from help and 8 to 10 hours from an emergency room, we were so far out in the Bering Sea that land was a distant fantasy. Accidents dwindled to almost nothing, 1 loss of life in 2 years due to a fluke and we all felt it sorely. We were by nature a closed and close knit community and largely we all got along pretty well. But the Ranger, it kept us on our toes. Several years later, the Odysset caught fire in the North Sea, only 1 life lost - the radio operator. The rig still floated, and was towed to a shipyard in Stevanger Norway and largely forgotten. Years later it was bought and refitted as a satellite launch platform, with limited success. But we all remember our time aboard, and the fearful lesson of the legacy of the Ranger.

[@jayceewedmak9524]

What a story! Thank you

[@norml.hugh-mann]

To this day Most the rigs....especially in the rougher weather areas of the world still train like that...hopefully with the same enthusiasm but being removed from.tragedy by half a century makes it impact people's lives less

[@redsloane9905]

Do glad your experience was generally positive!

[@redsloane9905]

...*So....

[@jackflotta]

I really don't know how was in the 80s even if I knew a couple of

[@austineisert3228]

My grandpa was on the ocean ranger I never thought I’d see someone make a quality video talking about what happened. Thank you❤️

[@austineisert3228]

Also I believe it was somewhere around around $20 million that got split between all the families so yes... peanuts.

[@worgan744]

There's another channel called brick immortar that made an incredibly in depth video of the disaster. It's a bit more long form and focused on the things leading up to the loss though.

[@zeitgeistx5239]

Yeah Brick Immortar’s video is much much better.

[@TheKazragore]

@@worgan744 Was about to recommend that very channel!

[@Wooargh]

As a Qualified Health & Safety Technician I am an Expert and can say that this was the result of a lack of Health & Safety. Until we are given the powers that we need disasters like this will continue to happen.

[@scottcarter6623]

This was a huge event in Newfoundland. I was a young teenager at the time and the shock this cause all across the island was something you could feel in the air. You know how people of a certain age use to ask where you were when JFK was shot and more recently 911. In Newfoundland that is how this felt.

[@wfcoaker1398]

In my apartment on Smith Ave. with the storm howling outdoors. I heard on the radio there was a rig in trouble.

[@MFobes]

I live in New York and was a child durning 9/11. I genuinely love hearing people who live elsewhere use this as an empathetic boundary of human loss. It makes me understand how deeply your community felt these things and what kind of humanity was involved. Tldr thanks for sharing your perspective.

[@garywall1823]

Hi Simon Nice video, My name is Gary Wall, I was the last man off the Ranger, My house caught fire on Friday night, I found out Saturday Morning via Telex, One of the rigs next to us was stuck in the hole and an unscheduled chopper came out with tools. To make a long and complex story short they came by and picked me up. I arrived back in St. John's about 25 hrs before the Ranger sank. I have always thought it was strange other then the RCMP no one, not even the the people from the inquiry ever asked me one question. Not even Schlumberger for who I worked. I think of those men often, Rest in peace boys!

[@charisanna4914]

That is an insane story to have! I'm glad you survived, but sorry about your friends. Truly hectic

[@winstonknowitall4181]

In a hindsight, do you agree with the findings about lax procedures and training?

[@staticchu]

It was a sad day for all of NL. Thanks for covering this, Simon. Containing the oldest city in North America it's amazing how little coverage of our history there is online.

[@fastinradfordable]

Ummmm Native Americans having lived here for 10s of thousands of years….

[@kless001]

@@fastinradfordable did the person you replied to delete their comment?

[@jsea3850]

Living in Newfoundland, I remember this horrible day very clearly. The whole province was in mourning.

[@elainemoreland3908]

I worked for ODECO from 1975-1980, in the Purching Department/TrafficDepartment. I met a number of the rig men at the office on Canal Street. You couldn't find a greater group of men. Had great respect for these men. They knew how dangerous the job is. This was a respectful video. Thank You.

[@jrmckim]

My great uncle was a driller for the Ranger at one time. He lost friends and coworkers.. his brother (my grandpa) said He was never the same after that. Never working on an offshore rig again. He ended up moving up in the company then decided to start his own with another coworker. He worked in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait until the Gulf War.

[@KarlMathiasMoberg]

The Alexander Kielland rig that went down on the 80s was even worse… 103 people died when one of its legs collapsed, and is one of the major reasons why a lot of rig security is what it is today.

[@SkunkApe407]

The only reason it was "worse" is because nobody knew who was supposed to order abandonment. Had literally anyone given the order and the lifeboats been launched, relatively few would have died aboard the Kielland. It was because of those two facts that the IMO passed new legislation regarding the chain-of-command and lifeboat specifications.

[@johnty4304]

So it was worse because it was worse, and if things were different it would have been better. Got it

[@felonious_c]

@@johnty4304 bahahaha 😂

[@SkunkApe407]

@@johnty4304 slight correction: "If idiots hadn't been in charge, things would have been different. " But then, isn't that just the way of things?

[@norml.hugh-mann]

In think you meant "Safety" and not "Security"

[@petertobin7214]

Being from Aberdeen, Scotland Piper Alpha was a terrible disaster. Almost everyone in Aberdeen knew someone who died.167 men lost their lives. There's a beautiful memorial garden in Hazelhead park. You have to see it if you ever visit.

[@DeliveryMcGee]

Piper Alpha would make a good Simon video. No reason for it to have happened, just everybody massively failed at safety procedures. There's a reason lockout/tagout is A Thing.

[@norml.hugh-mann]

@@DeliveryMcGee in reality the same thing can be said for nearly every disaster....capitalism at work....profit over all

[@vargasbryce]

@@norml.hugh-mann yeah bc the USSR has such a clean safety record lmao. But it's those dirty capitalists fault!!

[@somethinglikethat2176]

I think he covered it on another channel.

[@somethinglikethat2176]

​@@norml.hugh-mann I don't know. Humans seem pretty capable of disasters with or without capitalism. The Soviet Union gave us many examples of that in recent history.

[@MarshallLush]

The memory of the CBC coverage and of the adults around me being so very upset is a very young memory. Thank you for this sensitive and factual video, as a Newfoundlander I am glad the story of the brave crew remains available for new audiences to learn about.

[@timknight68]

I was a fourteen-year-old boy growing up in Newfoundland. I remember hearing the harrowing news on CBC radio at breakfast that morning. The province was in shock and collective morning for months afterwards.

[@oragamiowl5031]

If you haven’t already you should definitely cover the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster on one of your channels. 167 people died and it’s such an awful tragedy.

[@AmpcatProductions]

A suggestion for Into The Shadows: the RMS Lusitania. When it was torpedoed in WWI it sank in only 15 minutes and many passengers were trapped. Might be a good fit for that channel I think

[@bustedloads9045]

Claiming your vessel is “the best” at something seems to be a good way to get it sunk.

[@lillithveil]

Thank you Simon for covering this, one of the provinces biggest tragedies.

[@richardaitkenhead]

Things like this remind us why there is so much health and safety stuff nowadays and sometimes they can be a pain in the arse, they are there for a reason.

[@LoPhatKao]

safety regs are written in someones blood

[@adamkearsey916]

Well done Simon!!! A good friend of my parents went down on the ranger. I've only heard my father speak about it twice in my 42 years. And people in general who remember that night and the following day also talk very little about it. Sadly time does not heal all wounds.

[@garywall1823]

Hi Adam Is Rick your father? if so I worked with him on the Ugland.

[@jeffbrebner6688]

In my youth I worked on the Ocean Odyssey in the Bering Sea. Older members of the crew loved to tell me that we were on the identical sister ship of the Ranger, lost with all hands.

[@jayceewedmak9524]

Dennis Zulls posted about working on the Ocean Odyssey - couple of posts below yours. Maybe you knew each other and can reconnect.

[@skyskimmer]

My uncle Wayne died on the Ocean Ranger, I appreciate the video!

[@earlyriser8998]

One of the first major disasters I read about in depth in Both Coast Guard reports as I was working on similar vessels. Lessons learned.

[@Patricia-zq5ug]

"Last year the Ocean Ranger Lost all the souls she bore Lord I feel like I'm ten thousand miles from shore" - Murray McLauchlan 'Ten Thousand Miles from Shore'

[@redsloane9905]

LOVE Murray!

[@daveroberts7295]

An honest telling of the tale. A clusterflack with many fathers. Having worked on Norwegian rigs offshore East Coast and having witnessed 2 storms of similar magnitude working on a well managed and regulated rig is comforting. The absence of specialists in stability and an understanding that anything that floats on the North Atlantic requires professionals onboard assigned to the most critical marine tasks, keeping the rig safe. In each case the vessel I was on had senior level persons in charge of stability, each held captains papers, that was not policy on the Ocean Ranger and if it had been it would have been just another North Atlantic winter cyclone and not 84 men dead through neglect. I was in Calgary that fateful day and heard on CBC radio the jolting message that a rig was missing on the Grand Banks. I knew people who worked on that rig. Never forget. I am a Newfoundlander, 35 years oil field. Retired home.

[@garywall1823]

Was your father Frank? I worked on the rigs there,

[@bradlevantis913]

The legacy of this accident has made a significant positive impact on the lives of people who work on the water to this day

[@jcmartin961]

A very sensitive approach to a terrible disaster. Thanks, Simon.

[@nobilismaximus]

Piper Alpha in the Northsea. That was the most deadly. Horrific!

[@AM-bj7yo]

Oh Simon making another KZbin channel, I can’t say I’m surprised at this point, this guy gonna take over KZbin

[@jasonplant5432]

Just ABSOLUTELY LOVE your content. Already scoped out the new channel. Thanks .really. Thanks

[@martinstallard2742]

1:26 background 3:04 the storm 7:37 salvage and relocation 8:36 inquiries and investigations 10:48 ocean ranger legacy

[@missile156]

Man this video was great! Thank you so much for being so informative. I'm actually crying right now. ❤️

[@cambo867]

A informative video on a tragic event. As always it takes lives lost to implement safety regulations and protocols so prevent future loss of lives. Rarely before a event happens as it cost money and that eats into profits.

[@0fficialdregs]

i think videos like this that talk about death should have an outro with the same mood and tone. I remember you doing a video about a very touchy topic i shared with a friend who experienced that and they came away with anger for the ending of the video than the topic in it. i personally love the information in these videos but the ending of them should reflect the tone within the videos.

[@duckydarrick7460]

So I just went and checked out "Atlantic Blue" and it's a beautiful song

[@logicalfalse]

Ron Hynes was/is a treasure.

[@KiwiCanuck117]

Question for Simmon: Have you ever covered the Pipper Alpha rig disaster? I'd love to see you cover it.

[@EEsmalls]

That's so sad, help got there but they just couldn't be saved. Imagine being the rig workers, being already in bad shape and help finally arrives, then they literally can't save you. Very tragic

[@CmdrTomalak]

I remember this tragedy very well. Thank you for chronicling it.

[@Nomad111.]

As a true sailor my jaw is dropped by this story. Safety first when it comes to taking on mother nature. Sad story.

[@pakde8002]

Even the Side Projects is dark. I'm getting worried about Simon. Beware of the dark side Luke!

[@pakde8002]

Commenting on my comment because Simon said this video didn't do well. To the algorithm!!!

[@willlyhickey]

You should do one of these segments on El Faro. Might be a good one for Into the Shadows. Multiple people warned the captain of El Faro that they were headed right into the eye of a hurricane. Worst American shipping accident in 40 years. Can’t imagine that crew, knowing their captain was about to kill them all

[@MrLuckytrucker21]

That was a rare case of the 2nd and 3rd officers who should have taken command of the ship!

[@LoPhatKao]

not sure if you've done a video yet on the destruction of Fort McMurray, Alberta by fire in 2016 it was crazy

[@redsloane9905]

Whoa! That was nasty!!😦

[@cdybft9050]

“At sea, all the horrors, always happen at night.” Janes Moody 6th officer Titanic In a letter a few years before he died.

[@alixhunter612]

Love these videos! Simon is a KZbin content master.

[@japanesehighlander]

Thank you for this, I was a kid when it happened, still a part of the regions saddest experience

[@davidtelford4160]

You want to do one on piper alpha, my dad was an OIM at the time on another rig and was one of the people on the board for the report after the disaster.

[@doughampton5421]

You have made my list of "people to have a beer with". I will admit, that it is getting hard to keep up with all of your content. Congrats on your success!! Keep up the good work.

[@bdjm8595]

Interesting episode, thanks !!!

[@NewfieRC]

As a Newfie, I'm proud to say you did a great job on the video!

[@Shadooe]

"And the Newfoundland story of loss to the sea, was told as so often before." ~ Bud Davidge

[@dodoubleg2356]

FYI, if it's in the Atlantic Ocean it's not referred to as a "cyclone" 🌀, rather it's either a hurricane or a bad storm if there's no rotation. No worries, enjoyed the vid as always 😉✌️.

[@norml.hugh-mann]

But they are still referred to as "cyclonic"

[@ryanwhiteman9492]

Anyone else notice there are two "Chapter Four" sections of the video? ;) Great content though. Really enjoy learning about historic events like this.

[@doctoronishispsychosislab1474]

Mr Whistler Sir. The interval between waves is called the wave length. :)

[@cassandraralph5906]

Most industrial, aviation, and building design disasters are caused by one main thing - the love of money, especially with the CEO'S, or the lack of money caused by poor financial management, or a combination of both.

[@Phantom2316]

Check out Brick Immortar’s video on this !

[@Rammstein0963.]

Iirc the reason for the failure was that water getting into the portholes in the ballast room/s actually hit and shorted out the ballast controls... which if memory serves were directly beneath said portholes and not even remotely waterproofed...

[@mikeharrington5593]

A good summary on what is known, but doubtless there were unknowns which contributed to the disaster & will never be uncovered. Not saying there was any foul play, but its impossible to believe that all the contributing factors in those difficult circumstances could ever be identified despite the communications that were possible.

[@redsloane9905]

Not sure, Mike ....it was 40 years ago.

[@aggonzalezdc]

Simon, the first step to dealing with your KZbin channel addiction is admitting you have a problem. To be fair, I'm very enabling.

[@AllisonMoon-SheWandersFeral]

My Dad was the RCAF lead on rescue for this disaster. Yes, they came in from Canada to help.

[@grapeshot]

The sea she can be a cruel mistress.

[@karmpuscookie]

So can my bit on the side, Doris.

[@ellenbryn]

Do you ever stop and think just how many people have given up their lives through the centuries in the collection of fuel, whether it's coal mining or oil extraction or whaling for whale oil or even logging? Fire has been such a basic need for so long - before the industrial revolution people still needed a lot of charcoal for metal smelting and ore extraction and the firing of clays and ceramics for vessels, tiles, pipes, pavements, glass. We honor soldiers' courage, and rightly so. But Americans often forget why Labor Day is essentially just as important as Memorial Day, and why so many countries have a workers' holiday in May. Never minx politics and ideologies that turn worksrs' holidays into propaganda - my point is that we should remember the vast armies of mostly unknown workers who put their lives in harm's way to keep our lights on.

[@paulstewart6293]

We were close to Occean Ranger, heading to Montreal. A badd, bad storm. Our boat was having a bad time. A coastguard plane came down and circled and asked if we were ok. We got to port but the Russian boat or the Greek one didn't. But the office in London waned us to go faster. CP Ships

[@tomatoisnotafruit5670]

that Russian boat sank and some 88 or something people also died on that boat from the same storm.

[@TheIfifi]

Reminds you of the old saying. "There are the living, the dead and those at sea."

[@Shinzon23]

Wait, she only massed 25kt's? That's pretty lightweight for such a construction, i was expecting 100,000 tons or more.

[@mikeyoung9810]

It's often true of we humans that we can't see far enough ahead to take precautions that might save lives until something horrific happens (sometimes more than once).

[@LoPhatKao]

forethought is hard most people can barely do one thought

[@MaYkO-WWH]

Okay so before I even start watching this video, I need to address the addition of another channel. Simon, it's becoming abundantly clear that you are either a twin or of some sort of cybernetic origin. If I had a bacon flavored meat patty for every time you started a new channel I have a shitload of not hungry dogs. You sir, are becoming KZbin 🤖👾 -and thanks for the content ☺️

[@paulherman5822]

He's allegedly the result of a secret UK experiment splicing starfish DNA in the human genome. Cut off a piece, grow a new Simon with memories intact. How he allegedly keeps adding channels. Soon, Lord Simon will announce his Simon Whistler replicant army, and he'll usher in a new world of peace and prosperity and lack of knowledge of most movies. Allegedly. #hailLordSimon

[@KovarrBlue]

I was a child when this happened, and it wasn't until years later that I actually understood what had happened.

[@stevesteffen7001]

extremely sad but interesting. thank you for making it personal.

[@Goprof150]

You should do one about the “Texas tower”.

[@adamloverin231]

Simon is the David Attenborough of KZbin.

[@TheEvilCommenter]

Good video 👍

[@jasonrussell9906]

I just hate that it takes severe tragedies for Countries, or even businesses, to put safety regulations in place... There should be a think tank of ppl putting minds together and thinking of as many scenarios as possible to figure out best course of action but also to be in front of possible things going wrong. Especially natural disasters

[@tomatoisnotafruit5670]

well, the safety regs were in place at that time, if the Ocean Ranger followed those reg, this event would probably be avoided or at the very least go down very differently with very little loss of life if any..

[@fmf5304]

got a topic similar to this for a video, doesnt seem to be one on it at all on youtube yet, but in 1985 a gas drilling rig called the vinland was abandoned, the entire 76 man crew made it off though one passed away before the week was over from a heart attack, i only know of this story because the day after that rig was abandoned my father was going back aboard, so it was the last day of the 3 week shift then a crew rotation would have happened, if there had been a spark it would have been the same as deepwater horizon. good luck with research if you intend on making a video about it though as i couldnt even find pictures of the rig and a flood ruined the ones my dad had, though there is a photo of a model that dad said was rather accurate so that may be of use.

[@redsloane9905]

I was living in Nova Scotia when this happened. Horrible.....😟

[@emmanuelrodriguez1043]

I only think about those 20 found in the scape (Emergency) vessel! Maybe hugging each other! Trying to stay warm, who knows! I hope that no one will ever go through something like that!

[@hannahp1108]

Their lack of training doomed them. It was so awful of the company.

[@paulsimmons5726]

What a sad video, and so preventable also.

[@travisgale5558]

Hey Simon. You should do A show on The King and His Court. Probably t he best athlete in a single sport ever.

[@brandongaines1731]

How did Simon Whistler manage to fail to mention that the Ocean Ranger's design was advertised as being "unsinkable"?

[@timgiraud7591]

Oil rig work is tough, physically demanding… oil platforms on the ocean are… well there is a reason those guys get tip top wages, as well they should. To a man they all know the dangers and risks

[@paul_mumford]

Please do the Piper Alpha disaster, Simon.

[@seiyuokamihimura5082]

My brain said: oh, Sean. And now I want to scoop it out with an ice cream scoop.

[@rodchallis8031]

The history of Newfoundland is punctuated by gut wrenching disasters. The Sealing disaster of 1914. The loss of nearly an entire regiment at Beaumont Hamel just two years later. And all along men who went out to the Grand Banks to fish and never returned. A history that could make a people bitter and insular, perhaps. But not Newfoundland as plane loads of Americans found out on 9/11. Newfoundland didn't join Canada until 1949. Because of that late addition and the quirky slang, language and customs, they were the butt of jokes. But, their stories became our stories. The jokes have, I think, mostly stopped. While there's sniping between Canada's various regions, not so much aimed at "Newfies" anymore. Us in the Rest of Canada have come to maybe realize they are the Canadians we'd like to be.

[@redsloane9905]

Never met an unfriendly Newfie!🧡 I've even had the privilege of being "Screeched In" years back!!

[@tkskagen]

All come down to "Poor Practice & Training". Though CORPORITE GREED, surely had some effect to this HAINUS DISASTER...

[@huibjanniessink4134]

I worked for Dutch Wijsmuller to do some work on the place of this drama.

[@disgruntledwookie369]

Simon, if you start any more channels youtube is gonna have to give you some equity in the company

[@cyrusmaldonado6868]

Upbeat music for an epic disaster

[@twocvbloke]

I don't envy those who work on rigs, knowing that one disaster could be the end of them, as has tragically happened to many oil and gas rigs over the years...

[@Adam91687]

MV Tricolor...... Do one on this I think it would be a good video... Shipwreck in 2002 collides with another ship, sinks, then they cut it into 9 piece to salvage it

[@kramer00999]

You missed the song by Murray McLauchlan song "Ten Thousand Miles From Shore"

[@SilageCutter769]

I was gonna go work on the Odyssy, but I blew my knee out on the Conquest in 86, Lucky me

[@christophermcghee1663]

Could the team cover Piper Alpha? I’ve seen a couple of docs on it Simon and his chained writers could do a good job.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

Yep, I'm never going in a submarine or work on a oil rig and will instead play subnautica

[@shyspectre3649]

Can a video be done on piper alpha?

[@luToursAndRecoveries]

Didnt "Brick immortar" do a story on this like a couple of months ago? Great video nevertheless

[@michaeldavidfigures9842]

Talking about drilling rig disasters. How 'bout the Glomar Java Sea. 81 perished in South China Sea. 1983.

[@drcthru7672]

Gunwale, the upper edge of the side of a boat or ship is pronounced "gunnei",

[@weiner127]

Thank you Simon for this, as a kid in Nova Scotia I remember it well...keep educating us!! FYI...pronounce it New-Fund-Land...and say it quickly :)

[@amcneil0909]

it's newfin-land (not lind how simon says it), not fundland ,i live there...and am from there.

[@zandemen]

The cause seems a mystery after watching your video. There are other videos on KZbin about this sinking, and it seems they attribute the sinking to a rather simple scenario; the control room was located below decks, where it was at risk of flooding. Protective coverings over portholes in this control room were not activated, portholes were smashed in by large waves, flooded control circuits and disabled all electronic control and sensor equipment. This may have been survivable as automatic systems were intentionally disabled to stop the random filling/emptying of ballast tanks, but later repairs inadvertently started filling tanks to an extent that caused the total loss. is that wrong?

[@tomatoisnotafruit5670]

Yep, the crew caused their own demise pretty much from start to finish, they messed something up and by trying to fix it they made it worse, and they kept doing this over and over until the worst damage was done, and even then they probably would survive had they stayed on the rig and waited for the help, they left the rig prematurely, when the rescue ship came the rig was still standing,

[@shahinkeller2340]

I had no idea these things were a floating mass. This seems really dumb.

[@PitboyHarmony1]

IDEA FOR A NEW CHANNEL ArtOgraphics ... or Art-i-graphics ... I'll leave that to you. A Simon channel focused on the arts; music, paintings, installations, shows, histories, pieces, art galleries, churches important art is in ... its a massive subject, full of so many things that just wouldn't fit within the existing channels. Content for years. Would it get views? I honestly dont know ... but it might.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:30 - Chapter 1 - Background 3:10 - Chapter 2 - The storm 7:40 - Chapter 3 - Salvage & relocation 8:40 - Chapter 4 - Inquiries & investigations 10:55 - Chapter 5 - Ocean Ranger legacy