The movie Deepwater Horizon tells, in graphic detail, the story of the real-life 2010 oil-rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, when an explosion left 11 crewmen dead and caused the worst oil spill to date in US waters.
It is uncomfortable viewing for everyone – but for the many thousands of workers in the UAE whose jobs take them offshore to remote oil platforms, it is particularly disconcerting.
However, given that Hollywood often plays hard and loose with the facts when adapting real-life events, how accurate is the film’s portrayal of the oil industry and offshore life? We decided to ask the experts.
In the movie, chief engineer Mike Williams, played by Mark Wahlburg, is seen kissing his wife goodbye and, with some trepidation, returning to duty on the rig, about 100 kilometres off the coast of Louisiana.
Omar Al Farah, 29, from Jordan is a subsea operations engineer for CCC (Underwater Engineering). He lives in Abu Dhabi but has worked offshore for the past five years and knows all too well that feeling of returning to life at sea.
“I felt the offshore spirit was in the film, especially when they’re joining for their rotation,” he says. “You have this feeling every time you’re boarding a ship or offshore rig, of joining the unknown. You always feel that there’s a small risk of an accident.”
Working on a rig is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, says Andy Smith, 42, a British operations manager for Welltec, a company specialising in robotics for oil wells.
“Because of the amount of machinery that moves around, a lot of people get injured,” he says, adding that despite hammering home the ever-present dangers of offshore life, the movie didn’t scare him.
“I’ve had a few close calls on a helicopter – you never really want to get back on one but it’s your job so you go and do it,” he says.
David Evans, a British health and safety manager for CCC, says that the technical side of Deepwater Horizon is "very accurate" – but not perfect.
“There were a couple of silly things,” he says. “Like when the workers flying to the rig were chatting, which you can’t do because helicopters are too noisy. They also stood talking right next to the chopper when it landed on the rig’s helideck, but passengers aren’t allowed to mingle on a helideck.”
The movie, directed by Peter Berg, points the finger of blame for the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe squarely at BP, the oil company that contracted the Deepwater Horizon to drill.
In the film, John Malkovich plays Donald Vidrine, a BP employee who urges the platform’s employees to drill on despite their safety concerns. Evans, a former BP employee, feels the movie unfairly demonised the British company.
“The movie made the BP men look like they should have had horns and a pitchfork,” he says. “The OIM [offshore instillation manager, played by Kurt Russell] wouldn’t speak to the man paying them the way he does in the film. He didn’t prevent the disaster from happening, so he wasn’t completely faultless himself.”
Farah says that seeing Wahlberg keeping a cool head as the rig explodes around him reinforced the point that not panicking can save lives.
“Keeping your nerves at bay is the best thing,” he says. “It made me aware of the importance of following safety precautions.”
As the credits rolled, Farah’s wife asked her husband to look for a safer job.
“The movie definitely scared her,” says Farah, 29. “But once you’re in, it’s hard to get out of this line of work.”
Smith’s wife, Dee, from Manchester, says the movie was her first glimpse into the mysterious world of offshore life.
“Andy would call me from the rig and I’d carry on with my day afterwards, never really picturing what it was like for him on there,” she says. “It never really made sense to me before watching this film.”
Evans thinks the disaster is has made people more conscious of the risks.
“People have seen BP getting absolutely crucified financially and I think there is now a little less emphasis on production over safety in the oil industry,” he says. “Hopefully, the film will make people more aware.”
artslife@thenational.ae
