In the early 1960s, Norway's economy was poor, but that changed when they discovered a large oil deposit in the North Sea. To extract the oil, the Norwegian government hired British Petroleum, which subcontracted Dolphin Drilling. The company designed a semi-submersible drilling platform called the Byford Dolphin.
The platform had a team of six divers who performed maintenance and repairs underwater. To avoid decompression sickness, the divers used a technique called saturation diving, where they lived in pressurized capsules for months at a time.
On November 5, 1983, a tragic accident occurred when four divers were returning from a maintenance job on the seafloor. Due to exhaustion and a communication failure, the divers failed to close the access lock between the pressurized bell and the chamber. When the bell was unhooked, an explosive decompression occurred, killing four divers instantly. Their bodies were severely damaged due to the pressure difference, with one diver's organs being expelled from his body through a small opening. The forensic experts described the state of the organs as if they had been dissected cleanly and expelled from the body. The investigators barely found any blood at the accident site.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. The Norwegian government claimed sovereignty of the North Sea against England in 1963.
2. The North Sea was given to the Norwegian government by the English, following several treaties signed after the Second World War.
3. In 1969, a ship called Ocean Viking found oil in the North Sea, which turned out to be one of the largest deposits in the world.
4. The Norwegians began extracting oil from the North Sea, eventually producing 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day.
5. The Norwegian economy grew significantly as a result of the oil discovery.
6. The British Petroleum company was hired to extract natural gas from the North Sea.
7. British Petroleum subcontracted a company called Dolphin Drilling to help with the extraction.
8. The Byford Dolphin was a semi-submersible drilling platform designed to extract gas from the North Sea.
9. The Byford Dolphin was 108 meters long, 67 meters wide, and 36 meters deep.
10. The platform was capable of drilling at depths of up to 6,100 meters and operating at water depths of up to 460 meters.
11. The Byford Dolphin had a crew of 102 people, including six divers.
12. The divers worked in pressurized conditions and used a mixture of gases called trimix to breathe.
13. The divers would often spend 6-8 months or more on the platform without surfacing.
14. The divers earned $1,400 per day, making it one of the highest-paid jobs in the world.
15. The accident on the Byford Dolphin occurred on November 5, 1983.
16. Four divers were killed in the accident, which was caused by a combination of human error and equipment failure.
17. The accident was the result of a sudden decompression of the airlock, causing the divers' bodies to explode.
18. The forensic experts found the remains of the divers, including their organs, which had been expelled from their bodies due to the pressure difference.
19. The accident was described as one of the most brutal and instantaneous deaths in history.
20. The divers who died in the accident had an instantaneous and painless death, according to forensic experts.