Ancient apocalypse: The great British tsunami of 6100 BC.

Watching Neil Oliver’s excellent History of Ancient Britain on BBC-4 television, I was reminded of the story of a great tsunami that struck the country 8,000 years ago, which may have been the first major natural disaster suffered by British men and women.

Archaeologists think that in about 6100 BC, huge landslides in Norway triggered great waves which struck the North-east and penetrated 25 miles inland, turning low-lying plains into what is now the North Sea, and cutting us off from the continent.

Before the tsunami, a landbridge from the region around the Wash connected us with the Low Countries. Rising sea levels were already threatening it before the natural disaster finished off the job.

The drowned area was known to archaeologists as Doggerland, and was largely made up of lagoons, marshes and mudflats. It is believed to have been one of the richest hunting grounds in Europe. So many humans would presumably have been caught up in this ancient tsunami. (See also my post of 1 May 2014.)

Offshore oil disasters

Eleven workers are still missing after the explosion on an oil rig off Louisiana on Tuesday. The rig burned for 36 hours and has now sunk. The rest of the 126 on board were rescued, though four were critically injured.

The worst offshore oil accident was the fire on the Piper Alpha production platform in the North Sea on July 6, 1988, which killed 167, including two crew members on a rescue vessel. Only 59 people survived.

The disaster began with an explosion at 2130, and fire engulfed much of the platform. While men were still trying to escape, 27 minutes later a second blast ripped the structure apart. Flames leapt 700 feet in the air, and could be seen 60 miles away.

An inspector’s report decided the explosion was probably caused by gas escaping from a pressure valve that had been removed for maintenance work. The official inquiry was heavily critical of safety standards on the platform, and the UK’s Department of Energy was stripped of its role as the safety regulator for the North Sea industry with the Health and Safety Executive taking over its functions. (see also my blog of April 3, 2009)

Helicopter crashes + spot the difference

It’s now accepted that there’s no hope of finding any survivors from Wednesday’s helicopter accident in the North Sea. Sixteen people were aboard the Super Puma that crashed into the water 14 miles from Peterhead on its journey back from BP’s Miller oil platform.

The whole North Sea oil industry depends on helicopters to ferry personnel back and forth, and more than a hundred people have died in crashes since production began. Only in February another Super Puma came down in the sea in fog. On that occasion, all 18 people aboard were rescued, but 11 men were killed in 1992 when their Super Puma fell into the sea on a 200 yard journey from a production platform to an accommodation barge.

The world’s worst ever civilian helicopter accident happened in the North Sea in 1986 when a Chinook carrying workers home from the Brent field crashed as it was approaching Sumburgh Airport on Shetland. Its rotor blades collided with each other, and the aircraft came down in the sea and sank, killing 45 of the 47 people aboard.

Spot the difference. When Palestine’s democratically elected Hamas government refused to be bound by agreements that earlier Palestinian administrations had made with Israel, US President George W Bush orchestrated an international conspiracy (in which Labour enthusiastically joined) to starve the Palestinians into submission. Now Israel’s new Foreign Minister has repudiated agreements earlier Israeli governments made with the Palestinians. When do you expect President Obama to start trying to starve the Israelis into submission? Safety warning – don’t hold your breath.