Drone Attack Near Accommodation
A Shetland man working in Iraq narrowly escaped harm after a drone landed approximately 100 meters (328 feet) from his accommodation at an oil field but failed to detonate.
Ross Slater, a 44-year-old married father of three, was evacuated alongside hundreds of other workers from the oil field near Basra following attacks by Iranian drones.
After the evacuation, Ross spent three days traveling through Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Amsterdam before finally returning to Scotland.
Iran has been conducting strikes across the Middle East in retaliation for ongoing attacks by the US and Israel.
Details of the Incident
Ross was midway through a four-week shift when the drone struck at 04:00.
"Thankfully when it flew in it didn't manage to explode. It kind of ricocheted, so the detonation device didn't go off.
That came into where all our accommodation is.
The following day we had evacuated about half the camp, but we still had more folk to leave.
A second (drone) came in and again through good luck it didn't explode."
The second drone landed about 100 meters from his accommodation.
"It was very close. I don't know the blast radius of these drones are, but I wouldn't want to think it would be too promising."
Ross expressed surprise at the attacks, as prior information indicated that Iraqi oil fields were not targeted.
"That was absolutely true in that first five days, where other countries and other cities were being hit.
So we were continuing to do our job.
When it did start to come in it became very surreal, because you're looking around at the what-ifs and what could have happened."
He noted that no alarm sounded following the initial drone strike.
"I came out and everybody was walking about wearing bulletproof vests and their helmets to go around the camp.
Everybody was quite quiet and sombre at what had gone on."
Working Environment and Impact
Ross has been working in Iraq for three years at one of the major oil fields in the south of the country.
He described the oil field as covering an area comparable to the distance from Aberdeen to Dundee.
He characterized the site as a "big busy operation" with extensive road infrastructure and thousands of workers.
However, following the outbreak of war, most production has been suspended.
"The field I work in is almost shut down and it actually produces more than the entire UK oil sector," he said.
"It is a huge impact on a country that is basically a 90% oil-based economy."
Evacuation and Travel
Ross highlighted that the primary exit route for oil workers was by air to destinations such as Doha or Dubai.
He described the regional airport in Saudi Arabia as small, similar in size to Sumburgh Airport, with large aircraft waiting on the runway for evacuation.
He also noted that in Kuwait, hotel and government buildings were struck just two streets away from the hotel housing many of the workers, underscoring the proximity of the conflict.
Uncertain Future and Safety Concerns
Ross expressed uncertainty about the immediate future for workers returning to Iraq.
"Every company is looking at it. Nobody knows what is going to happen next because it's almost like World War III breaking out.
So before anybody is able to return to these fields and camps, they're going to need to get assurances it's safe."
He emphasized that the camps were constructed before the prevalence of drone threats.
"So it means everything is designed around stopping vehicles and people trying to get into a camp, it's not designed for things that fly in from the air.
So it's going to be quite complicated to determine what a safe set of circumstances is for people to start working locally again."
In the meantime, Ross is relieved to be back in Scotland despite the local weather conditions.
"I'm glad to be back, even with all the wind and rain."
