Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Our Aberdeen: Creating Beauty to honour victims of Piper Alpha disaster

Post Thumbnail

The Piper Alpha Banner of Condolence by the Australian artist Julie Montgarrett is a beautiful artistic response to the Piper Alpha oil platform disaster of Wednesday 6 July 1988.

It is now one year on from the 30th anniversary of the disaster that shook the city of Aberdeen and sent shockwaves across the world. But there is never a less important time to remember the victims of the tragedy, and the names of the 167 men who died are written on each square of a grid that crosses the surface of the banner.

Presented to Aberdeen City Council by the Victorian Trades Hall Council of Melbourne in 1989, it represents a token of condolence to express the concern of workers in Australia over the accident.

The events of that fateful night in 1988 proved to be a watershed in the offshore oil and gas industry. The huge gas explosions that resulted from a failure in the permit system, in which the oncoming shift workers were not notified of a pressure safety valve being removed, caused unimaginable horror for the crew on board.

The subsequent Cullen Inquiry highlighted many failures in the safety and maintenance procedures and design issues of the platform.

 width=

It led to 106 recommendations and has made the North Sea a much safer place to work. Beyond the changes implemented to increase safety and make sure such a disaster does not happen again, the pain and grief of the victims’ families and friends, and the 61 survivors, is continual.

The textile banner, made of polyester and cotton, depicts a northern seascape with an oil platform on the horizon. A dark sky represents the beginning of the disaster late in the night.

The seabirds that visit offshore sites are also represented as “symbols of companionship and greeting” and themselves victims of the resultant oil leak. The map of Scotland stitched across the centre locates the platform approximately 120 miles north-east of Aberdeen and it is framed by messages from the Victorian Trades Hall Council.

The date recorded on the banner is July 7, the date on which the news of the disaster reached Australia due to the time difference.

For conservation reasons, the banner cannot be exposed to too much light and is not on permanent display.


To mark the anniversary of the disaster, visitors can see the banner this weekend at Aberdeen Maritime Museum.

Piper Alpha Banner of Condolence

Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Shiprow

Friday 5 – Sunday 7 July. Admission free. For opening times go to www.aagm.co.uk


Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums:
  • Aberdeen Art Gallery (reopening autumn 2019)
  • Aberdeen Maritime Museum (open 7 days, admission free)
  • The Tolbooth Museum (open 7 days, admission free)
  • Aberdeen Treasure Hub Museum Centre

For visiting information go to www.aagm.co.uk

Keep up to date with all the latest news from Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums by signing up to our e-newsletter at www.aagm.co.uk/mailinglist

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @AbdnArtMuseums

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.