Iain Maloney

THE world is alive with discussions of appropriation and authenticity so when it was first suggested that I should turn my background in Aberdeen and interest in the Piper Alpha disaster into a novel, I refused. That isn’t my story, at least not directly, and the fear of offending, of being disrespectful to the memory of the 167, to the survivors, and to the families, stayed my hand.

ON July 6, 1988, 120 miles off the coast of Aberdeen, the Piper Alpha oil platform caught fire. Some 165 men out of a crew of 226 died in the blaze. Two men from the Sandhaven rescue vessel also perished, giving their lives while saving others. A series of errors and accidents catalogued in the ensuing Cullen Inquiry led to what is still the most fatal offshore accident in history and in part bequeathed us the health and safety culture and legislation we have today.