The Paguro platform
From a relict to a biological protection area
The discovery of rich methane deposits off the coast of Ravenna led to the choice by Enrico Mattei to build in this area a large ENI petrochemical complex. over a few years, several artificial islands appeared on the sea off Ravenna, all destined to underground exploration and hydrocarbon extraction.
Building of the Paguro platform (Fondo Tasselli)
Under american license, Agip was commissioned with the construction of the twin self-elevating mobile platforms Perro Negro and Paguro, this one built in 1962-63 off the shore of Porto Corsini.
Active in 1963, the platform wouldn't last long; in September 1965, it was scheduled to drill the PC7 well, in order to reach a 2900 meters deep deposit.
On the evening of 28 September 1965, when the drill reached the methane deposit, an eruption of highly pressured mud sprung from another unknown deposit underneath caused a panic on the platform.
If the breach was not rapidly sealed up, before the gas in the deposit could leak out, the steel island could ignite.
The explosion
The safety measures were immediately activated, but the well walls soon collapsed and an unstoppable eruption exploded.
Many worker jumped into the sea wearing simple life jacket, and without waiting for the pneumatic lifeboats. Among these there were also three Agip (Arturo Biagini, Pietro Pieri e Bernardo Gervasoni), whose lifeless bodies would be found in the following days.
In the morning of 28 September the platform did catch fire, emanating a glow seen from many tens of kilometers, and it rapidly sank, while the eruption, which lifted pillars of gas mixed with water of almost thirty meters of height, lasted for over three months.
Wreck of the Paguro platform.
The new life of the Paguro
During the nineties several little disused structures have been added above the wreck in order to make it more fascinating.
Many years after the tragic explosion, new life has claimed the Paguro platform.
The wreck has rapidly become an ideal destination for scuba divers, thanks to the incredible variety of lifeforms who managed to thrive in this artificial reef.
Thanks to its rich marine flora and fauna, particularly inside the crater created by the explosion, the wreck area, now an aquatic tourism attraction, has been declared a "biological protection area".
