It's been 30 years since an offshore oil rig disaster in Newfoundland. And when the Ocean Ranger sank, the 84 workers on board, drowned with her. We revisit a documentary about the legacy of the Ocean Ranger.

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Part Two of The Current

The Ocean Ranger Disaster : Documentary Repeat

Earlier this summer, Statoil, the Norwegian oil company announced a major strike in Newfoundland's offshore waters. It's called the "Mizzen Prospect" and if developed, would be one of the deepest oil wells ever drilled in Canada - more than a kilometre below the ocean's surface. That prospect concerns environmentalists, but it's good news for a provincial economy that depends heavily on the oil industry.

Newfoundlanders know all too well that that industry can also cost lives, even on some of the biggest and best rigs. One of those was the Ocean Ranger. It was a titan among off shore oil rigs, but all it took was a breach in a porthole to set off a chain of events that eventually killed 84 men. The tragedy still casts a shadow over Newfoundland, three decades later.

CBC producer Marie Wadden revisited the terrible events of February 15, 1982 through the words of two writers. Lisa Moore's novel, February, looks at the disaster's emotional toll on one family. Susan Dodd's non-fiction book, The Ocean Ranger: Remaking the Promise of Oil, examines how the rig workers could have been better protected.

You'll hear Lisa Moore reading from her novel first, followed by Susan Dodd's recollections, in Marie Wadden's documentary, Still Sinking: Remembering the Ocean Ranger Disaster. It first aired on The Current in February.

Last Word - The Rohingya in Burma

Well, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi may be one of the world's most celebrated pro-democracy activists, but she's been the target of rare criticism of late from human rights groups. They say the Burmese opposition leader has been too silent about the plight of the Rohingya people ... a Muslim minority that is said to be one of the most oppressed groups on Earth.

We'll look at the discrimination and violence suffered by the Rohingya in the days ahead, but for now, we're going to leave you with some thoughts from Elaine Pearson, the Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, about the desperate situation of the Rohingya in Burma.

Other segment from today's show:

Julian Assange & Diplomatic Immunity