AN investigation was under way yesterday into the first North Sea oil
or gas diving death for 11 years.
Mr Bradley Westell died during cable laying work from the diving
support vessel Stena Orelia on Shell's Barque extension project.
A spokesman for his employers, Coflexip Stena Offshore, said Mr
Westell became detached from his life-support umbilical near the Clipper
complex, 60 miles off Norfolk, shortly after midnight yesterday.
An immediate rescue attempt involving the stand-by diver was made but
Mr Westell could not be located. The fast rescue craft from the Stena
Orelia was launched and his body was found on the surface.
Mr Westell lived in Portlethen, near Aberdeen, with his partner, Ms
Pauline Matthews, and her five-year-old daughter, Jennifer. It is
understood they hoped to marry soon.
Two inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive flew to the scene
yesterday to investigate the incident.
A spokesman for Stena said this was the first diving death in the
history of the company.
''We take this matter very seriously and thorough investigations will
be held by the Health and Safety Executive, police, our client, and
ourselves to discover the exact cause of the incident and what steps, if
any, can be taken to avoid a recurrence of this accident,'' said Mr
Steve Roberts, offshore resources manager.
After numerous diving deaths in the North Sea oil and gas industry
during the early days of oil production in the 1970s, the safety record
dramatically improved.
A Health and Safety Executive spokesman said their records showed
three deaths prior to 1973. The subsequent totals were 1973 -- one, 1974
-- three, 1975 -- three, 1976 -- six, 1977 -- two, 1978 -- two, 1979 --
three, and 1984 -- one.
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