In one of the most shocking industrial accidents in North Sea history, a routine diving operation turned into a scene of unimaginable horror, resulting in what experts have since described as some of the most gruesome deaths ever recorded. The tragedy, which unfolded aboard the semi-submersible oil rig Byford Dolphin in November 1983, claimed the lives of five men in an instant, leaving a sole survivor with life-altering injuries.
The Fatal Error on the Byford Dolphin Rig
Operating across the British, Norwegian, and Danish sectors, the Byford Dolphin was a semi-submersible rig engaged in seasonal drilling. On 5 November 1983, a six-man team was undertaking a deep-sea maintenance mission at a depth of 295 feet. The divers—Roy P. Lucas (38), Edwin Arthur Coward (35), Truls Hellevik (34), and Bjørn Giæver Bergersen (29)—were using a technique called saturation diving. This method, which involves living in pressurised chambers for weeks, prevents decompression sickness, or 'the bends', by allowing the body to gradually adjust to pressure changes.
Dive tenders William Crammond (32) and Martin Saunders (30) assisted the operation. The system relied on a diving bell to transport divers between their pressurised living quarters and the worksite. A critical safety procedure required the diving bell to be fully sealed and depressurised before the chamber door could be opened.
The Catastrophic Instant of Decompression
The disaster occurred during a crew change. Divers Hellevik and Bergersen, assisted by Saunders and Crammond, were returning to their living chambers via the diving bell. In a fatal human error, one of the external tenders prematurely unlatched the diving bell clamp before the connecting chamber was fully sealed and depressurised.
This mistake had catastrophic consequences. The pressure in the living chambers, which was equivalent to nine atmospheres (the pressure at 295 feet), violently equalised with the surface pressure of one atmosphere in a split second. The massive, sudden rush of air expelled the diving bell, which struck and killed William Crammond instantly.
Inside the chambers, the rapid decompression proved instantly fatal for three of the divers. The nitrogen dissolved in their bloodstreams bubbled out violently, a process akin to boiling from the inside, which caused catastrophic internal injuries and bodily disintegration.
A Harrowing Autopsy and Sole Survivor
The most horrific fate befell diver Truls Hellevik, who was closest to the partially open chamber door. He was physically sucked through a narrow 60-centimetre gap. The force was so immense that it expelled all his internal organs from his body. The subsequent autopsy report detailed the gruesome scene, noting his scalp was present but the top of his skull and brain were missing, and his facial soft tissue was completely separated from the bone. His remains were collected in four separate bags from around the rig.
Martin Saunders was the only survivor of the six-man team. He sustained life-threatening injuries, including collapsed lungs, a broken neck, and fractures to his back.
Legacy and Safety Failings
The official investigation attributed the disaster to a combination of human error and significant engineering failures. The Byford Dolphin was using an outdated diving system from 1975, which lacked critical safety features such as fail-safe hatches, outboard pressure gauges, and an interlocking mechanism that would have physically prevented the chamber from being opened while under pressure.
Despite this tragedy, the rig continued to operate for decades with upgraded safety systems, changing ownership several times before being decommissioned in 2019 and sold for demolition. The 1983 Byford Dolphin accident remains a stark and sobering case study in the critical importance of rigorous safety protocols and modern engineering in the perilous world of commercial deep-sea diving.
