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Nigeria workers threaten kill captive coleagues { May 1 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/30/1051381997512.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/30/1051381997512.html
Striking oil rig workers threaten to kill captive colleagues
By Rory Carroll and Owen Bowcott
May 1 2003
Dozens of British and American oil workers are being held hostage on four rigs off Nigeria's coast by local colleagues in a bizarre drama that has until now been kept secret.
Several captives have allegedly been put in containers and dangled by cranes over the sea and others threatened with death in an apparent attempt by striking Nigerian workers to intimidate managers.
At least 35 Britons and 21 Americans are among the 97 expatriates trapped since a labour dispute flared into insurrection on April19. Armed with axes and claiming to have explosives, the strikers have prevented boats docking and placed oil barrels on helipads to block helicopters, in effect turning the rigs into floating jails 40 kilometres from shore.
The strikers use the PA systems to broadcast tribal chants and the repeated percussion of spoons on metal pots. Food and water are running low and in the cramped conditions there is a siege atmosphere, with at least two captives reported to have had nervous breakdowns.
Via email, one worker said his biggest fear was a rescue attempt by the Nigerian Navy ending in a bloodbath: "If they have lost everything, they will make sure we lose everything. And that could mean our lives."
The strikers, who fear they will be dismissed, are protesting at disciplinary action against five colleagues and a decision by managers to transport them in boats rather than helicopters.
The strikers have defied their own union, Nupeng, which called for the crisis to end.
The rigs are operated by Houston-based Transocean Inc, the world's largest offshore drilling company. Its
chief executive officer, Robert Long, has denied threats of violence. The company was "continuing dialogue" with the strikers and the Nigerian authorities and the rigs were calm. The company's motto is: "We're never out of our depth".
The release of about 34 expatriates and Nigerian workers on Tuesday was negotiated by a Dutch drilling supervisor who kept a diary of his ordeal on board one of the four rigs.
His entry for April 26 records what the strikers thought was an attempt by the navy to board the drilling platform. "There was shouting, emotions were vented, some crew members started running around the rig with a fire axe," he wrote.
"Two containers were placed on the helideck and the crane boom was swung over the helideck. [The ship approaching was told] to move away from the rig immediately."
The Guardian
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