The oil industry’s worst nightmare came true on July 6, 1988. The Piper Alpha oil platform suffered a catastrophic explosion, leaving most workers trapped in an inferno at sea.

In July 1988, a fire breaks out on a vast oil rig in the North Sea, trapping Joe Meanen.

Flames and smoke still leap from the oil platform Piper Alpha off northeast Scotland, Thursday, July 7, 1988, after the rig ...