I lost my father and Uncle on that night. My father was never found but my Uncle was. I think about my dad every day and wonder if he suffered. My dad would tell my mom how bad the conditions were on the Ocean Ranger. His schedule was 28 days on and 28 days off. He was an electrician and worked in the ballast control room. He was a caring, funny and awesome Dad. I've been to St. John's Newfoundland for the memorial service for the 84 men 3 times. It's held every year on February 15th. I wish we could have gotten closure by bringing my dad home. May they all rip.
So sorry for your personal loss, it must have been hard for you to not have your dad around. We appreciate you taking the time to share a very personal connection to this tragic story. Best wishes to you and your family.
@@BadDayHQ thank you so much. I have 5 brothers and sisters that had to grow up without their dad also along with 6 cousins that lost their father. My mom, rest her soul, lost her husband and her only brother. They were very close and my dad and uncle were best friends. It was a terrible loss on both sides. I appreciate people recognizing that horrible tragedy. There really should be a memorial that the American families could attend who lost loved ones. It's really expensive to travel to St. Johns, Newfoundland.
@@BadDayHQ Oh my goodness, I wouldn't know where to start. I know that Odeco (Ocean Drilling and Exploration) was in New Orleans. I'm not sure if they're still there. That's who we, our mom, sued for wrongful death. That's also where my dad went to school to train for the job. My dad started working on the Ocean Ranger in 1976 when it was off the coast of Alaska in the Bering Sea. He was gone for 3 months when they moved it to the north atlantic. They thought it would fit through the panama canal but it wouldn't so they had to go down around South America (the horn I think they call it) and up to the north atlantic. If you could give me a shove in the right direction, I would love to start the process of a memorial on their behalf. Thank you so much 🙂
Given how cold that water was, I guarantee you that crew members became unconscious in a few seconds after hitting it. Also, none of them jumped in on their own decisions. The wind and waves knocked them into the Ocean.
This was yet another example of those at the top of the company having utter contempt for the safety and well-being of the workers on their dangerously designed rig platform and the same attitude from those bodies trusted with oversight and governance of it. Health and Safety legislation is in effect written in the blood on the broken bodies of the workers whose lives are destroyef by companies whose overriding interest is profit rather than investing money in employee safety measures, equipment, procedures and training. That the scenario which doomed this rig and everyone aboard had not been considered utterly beggars belief.
The sea was too rough for the lifeboats? Let's not forget that they had never successfully launched a lifeboat during the drills. What chance did they have in heavy seas?
A lot of hubris and arrogance from a veteran oil rig crew. The Ocean Ranger and the Crew weathered through severe storms in The Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea. Crew leaders and management fully believed Ocean Ranger could get through another Nor'Easter as it had done several times before.
We've learnt this: if it can float, it can sink. Simple theory really. Poor/no management, untrained workers, unsatisfactory safety gear and lack of weather reporting. Those are the combined factors that let this happen.
I worked for Toolpusher Kent Thompson on the Ocean Patriot...1year or so before. I was in shock when I heard of the tragedy. When I found out he was in charge I was not surprised at all. He was a hard nosed driller...never should have been in charge of any vessel.
Sorry about the last upload friends! You're all totally right the audio was completely wrong, the old masters of that episode are pretty damaged. I'll get it fixed and in the meantime here's next weeks!
I don’t kno why but sometimes I just feel like watching this again. I never got to meet my Grandpa Robert aka Bob Arsenault. I was born 2 years later. My gramma didn’t really care about me or my mother,so makes me extra sad I never got to meet and have a relationship with him. I’m so curious if anyone knew him,and could tell me anything about him. I don’t really kno all that much. Also very curious if anyone knows if any pieces of the wreck were brought out of the water? I hope to travel to NFLD to visit the monument myself some day. Be amazing amazing experience. RIP to all the crew and to my Grandpa. I kno I were an amazing man even tho I didn’t get to meet u. And all My love to all the families who lost their loved ones. To the man who my grandfather covered for,if ur still out there. Life happens. And everything happens for a reason. Much love. Xox Alicia.Katherine.Arsenault
I didn't meet your grandpa but I'm sure he watches over you and loves you and is proud of you, very sorry about your grandmother being a difficult woman, I feel you, my own mother, a mess, my sister, dead and crazy, so much dysfunction, take care of yourself and those you love that you can trust..
I remember hearing about that on the news - I was a teenager. When I heard, some time later, that the company had disregarded O'Brien's recommendations and refused to improve security, it made me so achingly mad... Still, to this day. Corporate greed is one murderous monster.
I had just got off the ranger, 13 days in route to the Alaskan star off Georgia banks, 84 men I broke bread with still haunt me, was on the rig for 2 weeks, and knew the the port side Balest tank was bad the whole time in the north sea was nothing but an erre and destitute feeling, r.i.p. to the brothers lost!°
@@jennsmith5089 I've never heard anything about that. Of course, they never told us about the inferno that caused some of the deaths either. Not all of the men drown in the icy waters.
Actually a lot of people don't know about the Ocean Ranger. The offshore disasters people remember are Piper Alpha and Deep Horizon, maybe because there are pictures of burning oil platforms. I think Ocean Ranger is somewhat forgotten
I remember all of them, although OR is a bit vague as I was only 6 in February 1982... I clearly remember John Lennon and the Toxteth and Brixton riots. I think if this had happened a year later (when I heard about Titanic) it would have been more out there for me... Bloody horrific how a porthole can take down a whole rig...
Using the storm prediction as an excuse, is not valid. All other drilling rigs were evacuated prior to the storm, so they had all the required information. On offshore platforms, ballast hands are a very important part of the operation and well trained. The Ocean Ranger management didn’t believe this was all that important, that’s why the ballast hand on board had only rig hand experience. With the electronics out of commission, due to the water intrusion, they could only operate the controls with rods, stored in the corner, that when inserted, could operate the valves pneumatic controllers. When the divers went down, these rods were all still in the storage location, identifying that they were never used. There were more people, than just Newfoundland, that this affected!
You'd think by now that people would've learned not to think of things as unsinkable. As soon as that description comes up, you know it won't end well.
I got News for you...I was on the Sedco 706 right around the corner from the Ranger...A Wayy older Rig...As Well as a even OLDER Junk pile..a Norwegian Anchor jobby....Both survived the storm OK!! Odeco had More Than their Share of Inexperienced People Running The Rig..The Reason Why I left....NOT to Mention a personnel Problem....I always had to stay..Because many times i had NO RELIEF!!
Grand Banks are no joke in any month really. The Andrea Gail went down probably close to where the Ocean Ranger went down, don't think the wreckage was ever found. Bad area of water.
My Dads best friend was one of the unfortunate souls who went to the Lord that dreadful night, he's the guy that was pictured at the beginning, RIP, Bob Arsenault, we all will never forget you and the family you left behind, they are all great folks. 😆✊👍👷
When it comes to things like oil rigs, planes, ships, etc., you should never assume it’s impossible to sink/crash/etc. Complacency wrt to safety is an easy for things to go from bad to worse
More like, what idiot didn't want to spend some extra money for the electronic sensors so there wouldn't be a stupid porthole right next to the electronics in the first place?
Plain and simple it wasn't below the waterline. But the deadlight should have been kept closed and there should have been a backup system of some description
Remember, this is a semisubmersible, and doesn't have a fixed waterline. The height of the station above the water is going to change with how submerged the rig is. At this time, they were running deeper than usual to put the pontoons below the wave action, in fact close to the maximum draught. There was a very nasty sea state that night, and still nothing was mentioned about waves reaching the porthole on the regular. Very likely there was a rogue wave.
Corporate culture HATES whistle blowers. But often whistle blowers are saying "I TOLD YOU" post disaster. Also, the fact it's nickname was Ocean Danger would of told ME to get a transfer PRONTO! Also, nothing is unsinkable. It's just bad karma to label something as such....because Murphy's Law is just that.....LAW!
Not all companies are like that. We had some bad managers at our company. When I escalated the issue to our executives, they took action and rectified the situation. But yea, if that's not happening then about all you can do is quit and find another job, which can be tough.
BAD DAY...you should play the recording of the radio Chatter THAT Night!! All of us huddled around the radio room.....WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!! THE SCREAMS!!
It's unsinkable. So was the Titanic. And the Bismarck. And the Yamato. And the Edmund Fitzgerald. If it's called unsinkable it's gonna sink. To say that is hubris embodied.
I never found evidence that the Edmund Fitzgerald was ever called "unsinkable". And neither Harland and Wolff Shipyards (builders) nor White Star (owners and operators) ever claimed the Titanic was unsinkable. A shipbuilding trade magazine said she was "practically unsinkable" The press eliminated the word "practically" and claimed she was unsinkable.
THATS RIGHT , YOUR HEADING DOWN TO THE WATER AND BUDDY, SAY'S ( SHE'S UNSINKABLE ) YOU TURN AROUND AND HEAD BACK HOME!!!! MAN'S BIGGEST FLAW, THINKING WE CAN CONQUER ANYTHING?
, on Saturday, a guy who worked on the Ocean Ranger gives a party for the birth to his last child. My group was invited as well as his team on the platform. The ocean ranger was listed by 6 degrees. All of us in the industry were worried, but we had to work hard. Monday morning, the radio revealed that the platform sank. I was looking for my two technicians who had to do work there. Fortunately the storm had blocked them in New Brunswick. One of my colleagues comes and says to me: the guys at the Saturday party are all dead.
Gotta remember these early offshore platforms, and the technology behind the building of them were kind of in their infancy, even for the engineering principles used for building them,but by the same token, they knew how brutal the North Atlantic is, and that's never been a question!
That wasn't an early design and certainly not a platform - it was semi-submersible. Sure it had some innovative features, but semis had been around for years. The SEDCO series was one of the most solid, stable, heavy-duty, dependable, and proven rig designs that I worked on.
@@johngreydanus2033 That's why the porthole always got to me. Even back then there must have been a better way than leaving such an obvious vulnerability. Of course if they'd raised the rig sooner it might have helped.
The view of St. John's (the oldest city in N. America) at the end, is from Signal Hill, atop of which Marconi sent the first trans Atlantic wireless signal! My biological father was to be part of the next crew! I have two sample bottles he brought back from the Ranger, one of sediment and one of oil!
JaseCJay: Not sure if it's actually the oldest but Newfoundland was Britain's first colony, founded in the early 16th century, about 1504 I think. I imagine that some of the Mexican cities are older than St John's but not by much. Cheers mate, Dave, a Brit in Vancouver, one of the newest cities in Canada.
@@GiordanDiodato Yes mate, I'm aware of that but many people aren't. Canada, as such is certainly the oldest colony albeit originally Viking, than anywhere in North or South America. Cheers!
In A storm..Procedure is Men Posted in Starboard an Port Pontoon Ballast/ pump Room's with back up Com..(Phones down there) PHYSICALLY Verifying The opening and Closing Of Valves..For trim and transference of ballast. In the ranger..looking at the ballast board..Watching lights Flicker..and Just Guessing Valves were opened/ Closed, IS WHAT happened
@@HEDGE1011 exactly! My mother was given a choice between mitsubishi and Odeco to sue for wrongful death. She sued Odeco. The families in Newfoundland whom chose attorneys there were done a huge injustice. The american attorneys that represented some Newfoundlanders and the american families mopped the floor with the Odeco corporation for wrongful death.
I was a.good friend of.the acting dive supervisor on the ocean ranger who finished his tour just weeks before it sank and had visited the control room where the ballist control were , and noticed a port open right near it and advised the operator to close it and the guy brushed it off and the water flooded the controls and the result was it capsized ! The glass DID NOT BREAK ! It was left open !
This, as they say; was the proverbial "accident waiting to happen". What the hell were they thinking? So water that blew in through a cheap glass window sank this rig. How about that! The young valentines day guy was right to feel guilty about it. The older desk job guy was foolish not to see the danger. They all were. Wake up dangerous job pay seekers! The Company is not worth dying for!
Sorry to disagree. However, the younger dude had absolutely nothing to do with the sinking. You are correct to a point about companies not giving a damn about its own employees overall. Not all companies are that way however. Furthermore, yes dangerous jobs exist. It is very unfortunate. At this point in time somebody has to do them. ✌
. Life rules (2 ea): *) Never allow the Institution to be embarrassed *) Never allow your paycheck to be threatened Broken fiberglass boats during drills do not threaten the Institution nor cause embarrassment. Ppl with certain paychecks threaten other paychecks is the definition of "threat." O'Brien's paycheck does not fall on that list. Breaking life boats during an emergency threaten & embarrass therefore the Institution will kill to protect itself. This is why O'brian's complaint fell on deaf [money.]
There's no such thing as unsinkable. And to claim something is amounts to challenging Karma. She will always win when challenged so foolishly! Man is often a very foolish creature.
I was on a rig in which the ballast control room had been moved from the leg to one deck below the port sponson only to be flooded not by seawater but by potable (fresh drinking) water from a badly fractured pipe in the space above which just goes to show that shit really does happen. Fortunately the water drained out very quickly but the electric gear was still shagged. We just had to operate the valves in local control instead of remote, all of the pumps were down in the pontoons so we were ok. I wonder why the Ocean Ranger crew didn't think to ensure the correct valves had been operated by visually checking them.
Anton I don't work in the offshore drilling industry but I am an engineer of sorts, mostly electrical and electronic but will pinch hit into other areas so I can read and understand engineering documents quite well. Just out of interest many years ago I read the government report on the Ocean Ranger and was shocked at how many design errors and oversights were made in the ballast control system of that vessel and how untrained the ballast control operators were in in its use. Before responding to your comment I located and reviewed the section of the report dealing with the ballast control system. See: publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/bcp-pco/Z1-1982-1-1-2-eng.pdf Three things scream out to me as problems: 1/ The location of the ballast control room making it subject to sea water incursion and the lack of waterproofing of the ballast control panel. (Fresh water is bad for electrical stuff as you found out, but salt water is MUCH worse!) 2/ The half assed emergency manual control system for ballast control that was invented "ad hoc" during construction of the rig by the owner's resident electrician. It was quite usable, but NOT documented. How to use it was (sometimes) passed on by word of mouth during "on the job" training of ballast operators and somewhere along the line the "sense" of operation was reversed. In other words, when using the manual control system (after seawater shorted out the control panel) the operator was opening valves when he wanted to close them and vice versa. See page 20 and 21 of the report mentioned above. 3/ The two pump rooms for the ballast system were located at the extreme stern ends of the pontoons. The pontoons were about 407 feet long. I just calculated using grade school trigonometry that it would only take a list of about 4.5 degrees down at the bow before the tank at the bow end would be 33 feet below the pumps at the stern end. This means that once that angle was reached the pumps could not be used to empty the bow ballast tanks effectively because they would start cavitating due to no net positive suction head. In my opinion the bottom line is that the ballast system on the Ocean Ranger was poorly designed, poorly constructed, and poorly documented - and being run by poorly trained people. It was an accident waiting to happen... If the manual control system had been properly documented and the operators properly trained the accident would likely not have happened. Failing that, once the operators realized that their manual actions were having the opposite of the intended effect, if the pumps had been located amidships or distributed among the tanks so that there was net positive suction head regardless of the rig's attitude (within reason) then they probably could have dug their way out of the hole they had gotten themselves into. Instead, they went ass over teakettle... I hope this sheds some light... Vince
Vincent Sullivan There has also been a history of nepotism in the offshore industry, not so much now but it did exist. Quite often the guy who was promoted was not necessarily the best or most experienced hand but merely the 'toolpushers favourite' and this led to situations in which that person relies heavily on those ranked below him for advice. Unlike the Merchant marine or merchant navy in which members are all highly trained for their various roles and must demonstrate a high level of efficiency the offshore industry was run along the lines of 'if the cap fits wear it'. Obviously the rig electrician must be a certified electrician but sometimes his previous work experience had little to do with an offshore environment and the same goes for mechanics, a typical greenhand mech may have worked and gained his accreditation in an auto shop which is obviously a far cry from a drill floor or pump room. I have experienced and benefitted from this myself having went offshore from the merchant navy as a motorman and soon being given the opportunity to rise to rig mechanic without any formal training for that role, although I must say that I was quite capable of carrying those duties out.
@@johngreydanus2033 The 'Port Reval' an ex driller converted to accommodation and yes of course I knew where the ballast valves were. Earlier rigs like the above mentioned had ladders down the legs to the p/p rms and pontoons which were a pain in the arse but that's just tough shit, we were always up and down the bloody things and so going down to check the correct operation of a ballast valve is not a life changing event. Pain in the arse? Yep! An extraordinary event? Nope.
I would liked if the family's sued the crap out of the oil comp & every one who anything to do with the rig & sink them because they have no money left.🤬😡😠🤬😡😠💀💀💀💀💀😩😩🤬😡😠😩
A structure that never produced a drop of oil...my suspicious mind can't help but think about insurance. How much was the company paid after the disaster? 🤔
With the 40th anniversary here and now. Wanted to repay respects to those who lost their lives that day. ~ RIP ~ May the memories of your lives never fade and the lessons from that horrible day are never forgotten.
I think Mr O'Brian talks a few Porkie pies. Just happens to make a call about the lifeboat just before it's needed and is told shut up and ignored . Sorry but every disaster has this one person who just knew it's going happen and tries to call notice to it etc.
Oil companies do not care. The owners only care about making their money. I do hope the families were compensated though. The one guy did try to get better safety regulations and was denied. RIP all who died that day.
In August 1983, the wreck of Ocean Ranger was refloated and sunk in deeper waters by the Dutch firm Wijsmuller Salvage. Three salvage divers were killed during the operation.
@@diyr791 The Ocean Ranger was just thirty feet under the water where it had sunk upside down. It was believed to be a threat to shipping lanes which is why it was re-floated and sunk in deeper waters.
@@1984alicat There were some items recovered from the ocean like a smashed lifeboat but nothing was ever recovered from the Ranger itself as far as I know.
Two supposedly unsinkable structures The Titanic and The Ocean Ranger sunk to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Newfoundland...It still amazes me how some people continue to believe that you can fight mother nature...no matter how prepared we think we are..we can never really predict the the outcome..I remember The Ocean Ranger tragedy like it was yesterday...A day of great mourning for our province...An epic tragedy
A welder on the borgsten dolphin, stepped on a fitting in one of the pontoons that opened a flood valve, which resulted in the rig almost capsizing? Sooo the welders was off the rig next day, but guess what/who else lost their jobs? Thats right nobody!!! So much for safety off shore
This is hard to believe. Waters in those will kill hypothermically in high summer. Like all management just seemed to forget that storms, like shit, happen.
