Word: rigged
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...pump 400,000 bbl. a day from its undersea wells. Unless the terrorists win the release of all political prisoners in Europeplus ?57 millionthey will waste the $400 million platform and set fire to the huge gushers of oil under the so-called Samson rig. The flames, engulfing other oilfields, will burn across the North Sea, destroying the economy of Europe for the rest of the century. As the P.F.L.P. leader crows, "It will be in our power . . . to create a disaster unparalleled in history...
...There was panic everywhere," said Gerry Stigen, 36, a Norwegian oil rig worker who managed to jump into the water and swim to another rig near by, where he was hoisted aboard. "Everything happened so fast, so suddenly." Emergency flares lit up the nighttime skies as British, German and Norwegian helicopters and a flotilla of ships rushed to the scene. Fighting heavy seas and winds, they struggled to rescue those who had clambered into lifeboats, clung desperately to heaving dinghies or plunged into the near freezing...
...grim toll stood at 40 dead, 83 missing and presumed dead, and 89 rescued. Said an incredulous Captain Kjetil Hauge, whose crew had been relieved only hours before the catastrophe: "I was horrified and shocked. I had been convinced that something like this could not happen. Not with that rig...
Norway's Prime Minister Odvar Nordli ordered an official investigation of the accident. The irony was that the rig collapsed only two days before it was due for a complete overhaul. Its designated replacement, the Henrik Ibsen, was recently refitted to accommodate 620 workers; but in light of last week's tragedy, Norwegian authorities withdrew its fitness certificate until a thorough inspection could be completed. The fate of the Alexander Kielland also gave pause to other governments drilling in the area. Calling for a re-examination of offshore oil safety laws, British Energy Secretary David Howell grimly told...
...Radcliffe crew brought its rig home in a solid 5:17.4, a length and a half in front of runner-up MIT and more than 22 seconds ahead of a sluggish Northeastern boat...