All at sea

ONGC needs to take a hard look at all safety protocols

The accident off Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC’s) western offshore platform that has so far caused 26 deaths with over 50 people missing from a barge and a tug vessel that sank under the fury of the Cyclone Tauktae raises yet again questions about the robustness of safety processes that the government-owned exploration major deploys for employees who are working on the front line of operations. The government enquiry of “lapses and gaps” into this latest incident is likely to build on the evidence of gross negligence that has emerged from survivor accounts. But the fact is that this is the third accident resulting in fatalities that ONGC has sustained around this area in the 21st century alone. In 2003, 27 out of 29 people aboard a helicopter chartered from Mesco Airlines died in a crash off the Sagar Kiran rig. In 2005, 11 people died after a fire broke out on the Mumbai High North processing platform when a Shipping Corporation of India ship deployed for medical evacuation collided with the platform. As with the earlier two accidents, this one too involved a third party — the barge P305 was owned by Afcons, a Shapoorji Pallonji group company.

Preliminary survivor accounts suggest serial negligence. First, it transpires that despite a full week’s warning of Cyclone Tauktae’s approach, the captain of the barge P305, who is still missing, appeared to have decided that the trajectory and severity of the cyclone made it safe to remain at sea. Several other ONGC barges and support vessels appeared to make the same judgement and stayed in the area when the cyclone struck — on a different trajectory and at much higher wind-speeds than originally forecast. The question that must be asked is why, whatever the captain’s judgement, ONGC’s management did not follow the path of maximum safety and insist that all its employees on barges (which were used as accommodation for those working on the platforms) and associated support vessels evacuated the area. At least 600 people were still at sea when the cyclone struck. Indeed, the casualty list could have been worse.

Worse, basic safety protocols were not observed in the first place. When the anchors broke under the fury of the cyclone and the barge drifted and collided with an unmanned rig and began to sink, it transpired that 14 of the life rafts had holes in them. This left those on board to jump into the turbulent waters of the Arabian Sea in groups, holding on to lifebuoys and float for 12 hours till rescue crews arrived. Survivors affirm that were it not for the Indian Navy, which managed to rescue 184 of the 273 people on board P305, many more would have died. Afcons must answer for its negligence but equally, the question that demands answers is whether ONGC has a protocol in place for conducting independent safety audits. As with the other two accidents, the enquiry about this one too can be expected to reveal breaches in safety protocols. Whether ONGC will respond to those strictures remains an open question.