Services mark anniversary of oil disaster

perished in the Piper Alpha disaster a year ago.

The disaster put oil industry pay and conditions under the spotlight,

and in the past few weeks the grievances of the offshore contract

workers have finally bubbled over, causing a series of indefinite

strikes on most installations.

The strikes are set to continue, for a few days at least, but union

leaders want today's action simply to remember the victims of Piper

Alpha and others who have died to bring oil and gas ashore. An all-out

stoppage has been called, with essential personnel who must continue

working for safety reasons asked to wear black armbands.

Most oil companies are making arrangments for their employees to mark

the occasion with prayers and a period of silence.

The anniversary will be marked at sea and on shore, and following a

special Memorial Book dedication at a service in Aberdeen this morning,

the families of the 30 men whose bodies have never been recovered will

make a sad sea journey to say their final farewells.

The ferry St Sunniva will sail to the scene of the tragedy where now

only a marker buoy bobs on the surface where the 34,000-tonne platform

once stood.

Early this evening the Rev. Andrew Wylie, chaplain to the oil

industry, will conduct a short service before the floral tributes

brought offshore are scattered on the waves.

Last night a poignant cremation service involving the same families

was held in Aberdeen for the unidentified remains recovered from the

seabed debris of Piper Alpha.

The next 24 hours are expected to be the hardest to bear for the

bereaved families and the survivors since the inferno late on a fine

summer evening last July.

People have travelled to Aberdeen from all over Europe for the

anniversary service, and some are expected to arrive from America and

Canada. The Piper Outreach Team of Grampian social work department,

which has helped those affected recover from the tragedy, booked a

function room in a city hotel for last night to allow the families to

share their grief, memories and experiences over the past year.

As the final preparations were being made for today's events, oil

started flowing again from BP's Forties field, which could signal an

early end to the indefinite strikes offshore.

Union leaders claim they were close to an agreement to end a series of

one-day rolling strikes when BP imported ''scab'' workers to Forties to

get the field back into production following a summer shutdown for

maintenance.

BP's action, described as ''provocative,'' led to a highly successful

call for an all-out strike by contract workers.

Yesterday union officials suggested that when the imported workers

left Forties it might be possible to return to the previous position.

Negotiations with Shell had resulted in a likely acceptance of the

package on offer, and the rest of the industry was expected to follow.

The 24-hour stoppages are set to continue until an industry-wide

agreement is reached.