I’ll never forget the day we experienced a blowout on the Kraken oil rig in the North Sea. It was September 2018, and we were deep into drilling when things took a turn for the worse.
It started like any other day. The crew was focused, and everything seemed normal. We were about 1,500 feet down when suddenly the pressure indicators went wild. My heart dropped as I realized we were losing control of the well.
I was on the drill floor with a few guys when the alarms blared. Everyone jumped into action, but chaos erupted as gas surged up from the well. It felt like a scene from a disaster movie—pipes shaking, alarms ringing, and people yelling.
We were trained for this, but nothing could fully prepare you for the real thing. We had mere seconds to react. I remember grabbing the emergency shut-off switch while shouting for everyone to evacuate the area. The adrenaline kicked in, and all I could think about was keeping my crew safe.
Within moments, the blowout preventer failed, and the pressure released violently. We were knocked off our feet, and flames shot up from the wellhead. It was terrifying. We scrambled to get to safety, and I could see fear in everyone’s eyes.
Miraculously, we managed to get to the lifeboats and evacuate the rig. As we drifted away, watching our home engulfed in flames was heartbreaking. We lost equipment, but thankfully, everyone made it out alive. After that day, everything changed. We had to undergo extensive safety training and participate in investigations. It was a wake-up call for all of us in the industry, a reminder of how quickly things can go wrong.
Surviving that blowout was a life-altering experience. It bonded us as a crew and taught us to never take safety for granted. Every day on an oil rig is a risk, but that day was a stark reminder of just how high those stakes can be.