Sean O’Rourke | February 24, 2025

The Most Severe Oil Rig Explosions and Disasters

Oil rig workers have one of the more unusual jobs. Similar to positions on ships, their job places them in a location where there’s a need for people to be working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Furthermore, during the little downtime they get, they usually can’t leave the oil rig. There are financial perks to this profession, but it can also be challenging.

One of the challenges is that oil rig workers are in serious danger when accidents occur on the rig. Since they have nowhere to go, they are more likely to suffer catastrophic injuries or death when there is an oil rig explosion. 

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement maintains statistics for all types of offshore incidents, including major explosions. It has been collecting data since 1956. The following are some of the most severe oil rig explosions and disasters since these incidents started being recorded.

Ocean Ranger

The Ocean Ranger was an offshore drilling rig located off the coast of Canada. In 1982, the oil rig was hit by a massive storm that caused waves to reach as high as 65 feet. Unfortunately, the rig was not rugged enough to handle that strong a storm. Water damage to the ballast room caused the oil rig to submerge, drowning all 84 members of the crew.

Deepwater Horizon

The only notable oil rig disaster in U.S. waters was the one at Deepwater Horizon. Compared to other tragedies, the loss of life in this 2010 disaster was relatively mild. Only 11 were killed in the explosions, though many of the remaining 115 workers were injured.

What makes this disaster so severe is that it was environmentally devastating. Over 4 million barrels of oil were spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Oil continued to spill for nearly three months before crews were able to stop it.

Mumbai High North

If 22 people hadn’t died in this 2005 incident, the disaster at the Mumbai High North platform might be an entertaining story. 

It started when a cook on a support vessel for the rig cut off the tips of two of his fingers. Because of an ongoing storm, all helicopters were grounded, and the cook needed to be moved to the rig using a crane. Unfortunately, this required the vessel to get too close to the rig, and a storm swell caused it to crash into the platform.

The devastating crash caused a fire, and 22 people were killed in that fire. Furthermore, the resulting damage to the rig caused massive gas and oil leaks.

Piper Alpha

The most devastating oil rig accident ever occurred in European waters in the North Sea in 1988. There was a gas leak during a shift change. This leak caused several explosions on the platform, killing 167 of the 226 workers aboard the rig. Families of the deceased workers received roughly $200 million in wrongful death claims resulting from this accident.

Oil Rig Disasters Can Be Devastating

While hundreds of oil rigs operate every year without any major accidents, when a serious accident does occur, the odds of severe injuries and death are much higher than in many other industries. Because of the tight quarters and the inability to safely evacuate, an accident on an oil rig can have calamitous results.

Oil rig disasters can be devastating, leaving you with significant medical bills, property damage, lost wages, and more. If you or a loved one were injured in an oil rig explosion, schedule a free consultation to learn about your legal options.

For more information, please get in touch with the Houston personal injury attorneys at Simon & O’Rourke Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers at our nearest location to schedule a free consultation today.

Simon & O’Rourke Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers
440 Louisiana St Suite 2300-A, Houston, TX 77002
(281) 667-4081