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Disaster strikes the Ocean Ranger

Broadcast Date: Feb. 15, 2002

Driving snow howls through St. John's, and 315 kilometres east the Ocean Ranger is pounded by giant waves. A porthole is smashed, swamping the ballast control panels, but hasty repairs appear to return things to normal. Then, shortly after midnight, the Ocean Ranger sends out a distress call. Nearby radio operators hear that the rig is listing badly and the men are heading for the lifeboats. It is the last message the Ocean Ranger ever sends.

At 1:12 a.m. the Ocean Ranger transmits its coordinates — 46°43'33" N, 48°50'13" W — and desperate search and rescue operations begin. This audio montage of radio messages, press conferences and testimony tells the story of the Ocean Ranger's final moments.

Disaster strikes the Ocean Ranger

• Two other oil rigs were at the Hibernia oil field at the time — the Zapata Ugland and the Sedco 706. At 12:52 a.m. a radio operator aboard the Sedco 706, 15 kilometres away from the Ocean Ranger, heard a mayday coming from the Ocean Ranger.
• Before it sank, the Ocean Ranger began listing (tipping over) about ten degrees towards its bow.

• It's unclear why the Ocean Ranger's radio operator did not call for help on normal distress frequencies. Those frequencies are constantly monitored by the Coast Guard, the military and all ships at sea. Instead, he used a frequency used exclusively by oil companies.
• Due to unusual atmospheric conditions, a Dome Petroleum radio operator located in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT overhead the Ocean Ranger's emergency broadcasts.

• The storm that sank the Ocean Ranger also sank the Soviet container ship Mekhanik Tarasov just a few hours later. That ship sank about 120 kilometres east of the Ocean Ranger, with a loss of 33 lives.

Disaster strikes the Ocean Ranger

Medium: Radio

Program: As It Happens

Broadcast Date: Feb. 15, 2002

Duration: 3:59

Last updated:
Jan. 19, 2010