Piper Alpha memorial service: What you need to know

Industry, friends and family will gather for a service to remember the 167 men who lost their lives in the Piper Alpha disaster.

The annual service, organised by the Pound for Piper Trust and held by the Oil and Gas Chaplaincy, will mark the 37th anniversary of the North Sea’s most fatal incident.

Speaking ahead of the service, Piper Alpha survivor and chairman of the Pound for Piper Trust, Steve Rae told Energy Voice: “It’s an in-between service, between what people tend to refer to as significant anniversaries.

“For us, and certainly for those directly affected and the bereaved families that have attended year-on-year, every year is significant for them.”

He said that although attention is paid to the disaster more broadly on anniversaries like 2023’s 35th or 40th, which will be held in July 2028, it is important to provide a space for those impacted to get together every year.

© Supplied by Kami Thomson/DC Thom

“I started doing this because I felt it was important that we made a mark that we hadn’t forgotten the tragedy and those who lost their lives, and certainly the families that had been affected by that, and the workers and colleagues,” Rae continued.

He said that every year, there are new faces in attendance as people “who didn’t feel strong enough” or were unable to attend previous services.

When people who have never been to the service attend, “they are really glad they came,” Rae said.

Pound for Piper is a charity dedicated to the upkeep of the North Sea Memorial Gardens in Aberdeen’s Hazelhead Park, which is home to a statue adorned with the names of those who lost their lives during the disaster.

Piper Alpha memorial timings and order of service

The service will be held at 1pm on Sunday, 6 July, the anniversary of the incident.

The prayer and act of remembrance will be held by the UK Oil and Gas Chaplain, Michael Mair, who will be holding the service for the second time after taking up his current role from Gordon Craig last year.

In 2024, a piper, Calum Brown, and a guitarist, Calum McIlroy, played at the service as attendees paid their respects.

McIlroy had composed a song titled Remembering Piper which he played a passage from during the service.

This year, a local operatic singer is set to perform during the memorial service.

© DC Thomson

Rae told: “We decided this year to use Moira Dochery, who I’ve come to know from some of the other services and events that I’ve been to.”

He explained that the Soprano singer is Aberdeen-based, and she will be doing “some operatic singing”.

“We’ve got Moira coming along to do a couple of pieces on the day just to do something a bit different but make it just as meaningful and appropriate,” he added.

Following the service, the cafe in Hazelhead Park will be open to those in attendance and the Chaplaincy’s book of remembrance will be on display.

“The fact that we have that private reception afterwards allows folks who don’t see each other from year-to-year to share a few words and catch up, and I think that is so important because I often talk about [how] grief doesn’t disappear,” Rae said.

“You learn to cope with it and sometimes it consumes you, and I think sharing grief with people who have shared the same experience, in some way or another, is what I would call a coping and healing process.”