Pipeline: Left To Die podcast probes scuba scandal

The shocking case of the four professional divers who were sucked into a 75cm-bore oil pipeline off the Caribbean island of Trinidad in early 2022, and the continuing fall-out from that event, is the subject of a podcast released this week, entitled Pipeline: Left To Die.

Now available are episode 1, which outlines the events and introduces relatives of the men, and episode 2, based around a graphic first interview with Christopher Boodram, the diver who survived the tragedy, and a GoPro audio recording of his trapped colleagues. 

Episode 3 of what is described as a real-time investigation drops on 29 May and starts to delve into the murky politics behind the failure to rescue the divers, including an interview with Trinidad & Tobago’s former attorney-general Anand Ramlogan, who is representing Boodram.

National outrage

The fatal incident occurred on 25 February 2022, and the news story it generated, as well as a follow-up two years later concerning the relatives’ fight for justice, remain among the most visited pages on Divernet.

As podcast maker DMG Media points out, however, international coverage of what many on Trinidad have come to regard as a national outrage has remained muted. DMG contrasts the incident with underwater stories such as that of the flooded Thai cave and the Titan submersible, which sparked highly publicised and costly international rescue attempts.

The team of underwater welders had used scuba to reach a 5m-deep underwater habitat to carry out repairs on the pipeline when a safety plug opened too suddenly, causing a powerful vacuum effect.

The divers were sucked inside the pipe and some might have survived for more than 30 hours in their cramped, oily environment, unsure even which way they were facing.

Divers among their relatives attempted their own rescue, but with the help of air tanks Boodram managed to make his way to safety, having promised the others that he would get help. This, he would be shocked to find after leaving intensive care, had never materialised. 

‘Rescue blocked’

In the podcast, investigative journalist Isabelle Stanley explores why attempts to get the men out appear to have been actively blocked by interested parties on the oil-dependent Caribbean island.

The divers worked for service company LMCS, run by the father of one of the fatalities and contracted for the pipeline task by the state-owned oil company Paria Fuel Trading – which subsequently refused to accept liability for their deaths.

In 2024 Trinidad & Tobago’s Commission of Enquiry concluded that “little or no attempt to rescue” the divers had been made and that Paria’s handling of the incident had been criminally negligent, suggesting that the company should face a charge of corporate manslaughter. 

The Pipeline podcast “exposes the truth behind this catastrophic event – a story that has barely been covered in international news until now”, says DMG Media. “Rescue attempts were actively prevented by the state-owned oil company, with armed officers sent to the scene to stand down would-be rescuers.”

DMG adds that the evidence it has accumulated points to “corporate negligence, political interference and an ongoing cover-up”. Following the story “has led us to lucrative contracts, failing safety standards and secretive political relationships – and to a question: why were those divers left to die?”

Pipeline: Left To Die is available here and can be found on all podcast platforms.

Also out next week (27 May) is a TV documentary about the doomed Titan submersible, Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster. It will be aired on BBC Two and available on BBC iPlayer.

Also on Divernet: 4 divers die after being sucked into pipe, Diver pipeline deaths blamed on oil company’s ’criminal negligence’, Diver sucked into dam-pipe: operator settles