HL Deb 07 July 1988 vol 499 cc398-402

3.37 p.m.

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, with the leave of the House I shall repeat a Statement being made in another place by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Energy on the Piper Alpha explosion:

"With permission, Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a Statement on the explosion and fire on the Piper Alpha platform last night.

"At about ten o'clock last night a serious explosion occurred at the platform. The Coastguard service was informed and an emergency control centre was established. All emergency services were immediately alerted. Royal Navy, RAF and Coastguard helicopters and surface vessels in the area, including a NATO detachment, were committed to the search for survivors. Occidental, who are the operators of the platform, activated their emergency centre to control the fire and oil and gas flows.

"The explosion appears to have been so violent that the platform was effectively destroyed. My right honourable friend, the Minister of State, went early this morning to Aberdeen. He has kept me in continuous touch with developments. My latest information is that there were 229 people on the platform at the time of the explosion of whom 65 are known to have survived. There were three people in a small boat involved in the rescue of whom one is known to have survived. Sixteen are known to be dead and 150 at present unaccounted for.

"Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to convey to all those concerned her heartfelt sympathy for the injured and bereaved and her admiration for the gallant efforts of the firefighting, rescue and medical services in preventing even greater loss of life. I am sure the whole House will wish to join in expressing our sympathies and in paying tribute to the efforts of the emergency services.

"Oil and gas production in the hostile environment of the North Sea demands the greatest attention to safety. Safety is the first priority of the Government and of the operators. We apply the highest safety standards to all phases of development; design, construction and operation. We have also established procedures to be followed in the event of an emergency. These are regularly rehearsed.

"The Government are determined to establish urgently the cause of the explosion and the lessons to be learnt. Nearly 30,000 people work in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea. They and their families have the right to expect the fullest possible investigation. The Government will therefore be setting up a full public inquiry as soon as possible".

My Lords, that concludes the Statement.

Lord Williams of Elvel

My Lords, the House will be grateful to the noble Viscount for repeating the Statement made in another place. We on these Benches should like to join with him in extending our sympathy to those families who have been bereaved by this tragic accident. We also wish to join with him in a tribute to the emergency services for the work they have done.

We extend our sympathy too to Aberdeen. Any city suffers when something of this kind happens: Aberdeen today must be a city full of sorrow. We forget sometimes that offshore exploration and production is a dangerous business. We should never forget. Only in the past week there have been three explosions—a fire on board the Shell-Esso Brent Alpha platform on Tuesday, an explosion in the gas processing area at Sullom Voe at the end of last week and then last night's incident. And of course, eight years ago, the Alexander Keilland capsized in the Ekofisk oilfield and 137 people lost their lives.

We welcome the Government's intention to set up a full public inquiry. There will be questions to be asked; but this is not the time or the occasion to ask them. However, they must be asked because the health and safety of the 30,000 people who work offshore has to be our primary concern and because tragedies such as Piper Alpha are only tolerable if we learn all the lessons and try to ensure that, so far as is humanly possible such tragedies, do not recur.

We owe that to those who have died, and we owe it to those who have been bereaved. To do anything less would be a betrayal of them and we should not countenance it.

Lord Ezra

My Lords, I wish to join in expressing appreciation for the early deliverance to us of' the Statement on this very serious affair. We too wish to express our sympathy to all those affected and our appreciation of the selfless service rendered by those involved in the rescue operation. Those who toil in the North Sea not only contribute great wealth to this country; they are all the time taking risks. It is a very difficult environment. Theirs is a service we have come to respect and must safeguard in every possible way. That is why we too welcome the fact that the Government are very quickly to set up a full-ranging inquiry into the causes of this tragedy.

If I may, I wish to draw on my experiences in the coal industry where from time to time—not too frequently, I am glad to say—there were disasters. We had to take the same kind of measures as those taken in this case. Obviously, the rescue operation was paramount and immediate and an inquiry always took place. But there was one further action we took. I wonder whether it would be appropriate in this case.

Inquiries, however urgent, take some time. In the meantime experts can appraise all the possible reasons for what occurred and ensure that similar installations immediately put in hand whatever additional measures of safety protection may be necessary. I wish to ask whether that is being done in this case.

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, I shall answer the two noble Lords who have spoken from the Front Benches. I am grateful to them for their reception of the Statement. I do not wish to add very much. The noble Lord, Lord Williams of Elvel, mentioned previous recent incidents. I can assure him that, so far as we know, there is no possible connection between those recent incidents and this disastrous explosion. I should also tell the House that the safety inspectorate at the Department of Energy conducts regular safety inspections of oil platforms. The last inspection on the Piper Alpha took place on 28th June this year and revealed nothing seriously amiss.

Viscount Hanworth

My Lords, I wish to add from these Benches our sympathy for all those concerned, and our congratulations to those who dealt with the emergency. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Ezra. Before the inquiry we should see whether there is any lesson that can be learnt straight away. Of course, such accidents occur. They sometimes occur because people have become used to the conditions they are working under and have not been as careful as perhaps they should have been. Or it may be that there is something which people had not realised was a possible danger. Both those aspects should be looked at. I hope however that before the inquiry no steps will be taken as panic measures. We want to look at this kind of thing quietly and do our best to ensure that it never recurs.

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, I think that perhaps the best answer I can give to the noble Lord, Lord Ezra, and the noble Viscount, Lord Hanworth, is that I shall certainly convey their comments to my right honourable friend.

Lord Campbell of Croy

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that those of us who are involved in the offshore oil industry, though not in the Piper field, will wish to be associated with the expressions of sympathy for the relatives and of admiration for the rescue services? Besides the full inquiry which of course is necessary, will the Government consider informing those concerned of any interim precautions which might appear to be advisable in the short-term in order to make sure that everything is done to try to prevent a recurrence?

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, I am most grateful to my noble friend. I shall also ensure that his comments are conveyed to my right honourable friend.

Lord Kirkhill

My Lords, I intervene because, as some Members of your Lordships' House will know, I am a former Lord Provost of Aberdeen. I associate myself, of course, with the remarks which have been made by those who have spoken in the past few minutes. I continue to live in Aberdeen and I know something about the local scene. Therefore, I wish to direct the attention of the Minister to one particular and possible problem—a problem which I hope is not current at the moment and which I hope will not develop. I refer to the fact that there are severe constrictions on the time when Aberdeen airport is permitted to be open. That is perfectly proper under planning procedures, given the location of the airport. I can however assure the Minister that in the quite recent past there have been difficulties at time of emergency because of complicated interworking arrangements between the various sectors who keep the airport open.

I know that the airport was kept open last night, but I want the Minister to give very serious consideration to the fact that it must be kept open for many days to come at irregular and unsocial hours for all the reasons which will flow from this quite dreadful disaster.

Viscount Davidson

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Kirkhill. I do not think that he would expect me to give him an answer now, but I shall certainly take very serious note of what he said.

The Lord Bishop of London

My Lords, may I on behalf of these Benches express our deep sorrow at this tragic disaster and assure all those who have suffered in any way of our sympathy and our prayers. I wish also to express our very great appreciation of those who responded through the emergency services and our admiration of their great courage and skill.