One of up to 100 foreign workers held hostage on four Nigerian oil rigs by striking local workers for the past week has been keeping a diary.

The diary has been distributed by e-mail to relatives. The writer does not want to be identified.

Here are some key extracts.

19 April 2003:

0815: The OIM (rig officer) informed us he had received notice of a strike to commence at 1000.

1000: The well is secure. The drill crew was asking for jobs to do, because they did not agree with the strike.

The situation is very quiet. There are no disturbing PA announcements, the union members have not gone round the rig with the "strike bell". In fact this is the quietest start of the four strikes I have witnessed.

20 April 2003 - Day two

All was quiet and stable onboard until 1600.

The junior union members on the rig received a call that five personnel had been formally released and therefore no longer employed.

According to the OIM the five have been well compensated depending on the years served.

The news of the release created an outburst of protest by the junior union members on the rig.

A meeting was held after which the singing of union songs started while marching through the accommodation to stop at the OIM's office.

The OIM was informed about their grievances and requested to pass the message on to his management to rehire the five union members immediately.

It was also stated by the union members that the five have been harassed by the police.

After the short discussion with OIM the group of about 20 men proceeded their march outside.

Meanwhile the Starboard crane boom was swung over the helideck.

The outside march with the two strike bells ended at the helideck where a 15-minute meeting was held.

1700: All is very quiet again and everybody is enjoying dinner.

The crane boom has been left over the helideck.

2100: A National Nupeng (oil workers' union) chairman contacted the Nupeng representatives and informed them, Nupeng is not supporting the strike and therefore the strike is illegal.

The crews were request to commence their normal duties again and start work.

21 April 2003 - Day three

The night onboard the rig has been very quiet.

2100: All waste has been burned and the Starboard crane is back on the boom rest. The two containers are still on the helideck. The rig is awfully quiet.

One fire axe opposite the camp boss' office went missing.

22 April 2003 - Day four

The night has been very quiet. There is no expression of any aggressive behaviour. There are no PA announcements or singing of union songs, or ringing of the bells.

23 April 2003 - Day five

The night shift crews did not come out. The rig is quietly awaiting the plan from management.

Currently we are still waiting on a helicopter manifest for down manning and we are planning one or two helicopter flights for tomorrow for regular crew change.

The rig is quiet and personnel onboard are unclear of management's intentions.

24 April 2003 - Day six

Discussions about the present situation, crew changes, what will happen when the crews go to town etc, continue through out the day and night.

1545: The news reached the rig that five union members were involved in a tragic car accident.

Most crew-members link the unfortunate incident indirectly to the pressure and stress caused by the suspension of the rig operations and decision to down man.

1615: The medic informed the OIM and DSV that (one of our colleagues) experienced a nervous breakdown due to the current situation.

The medic suggested to medevac the person. The DSV initiated the medevac procedure and the helicopter arrived at 1750.

25 April 2003 - Day seven

Lagos office received a court injunction to evacuate the rig. A meeting was held between the rig managers and district manager how to proceed.

26 April 2003 - Day eight

0615: As per management instructions, copies of the injunction were handed out to union representatives.

Four are bailiffs standing by in Port Harcourt, for each rig.

The bailiffs are supposed to come out to the rig escorted by one armed constable and two armed officers for his protection. The bailiff's job would be handing out original injunctions to each of the 31 Nupeng members onboard.

Than the 31 men should down man the rig and be flown to town in five or six flights.

The bailiff and policemen should to stay onboard until the 31 have left.

The union representatives left the office to discuss the above with the other junior crew members and to make phone calls to lawyers and other rigs.

0715: The OIM received a phone call to attend the meeting downstairs in the junior recreation room. Instead the OIM invited the Nupeng reps to his office for feedback of the meeting.

All 31 members came up to the office. The DSV and Captain attended the meeting as well. The OIM was informed the crew would prevent the bailiff and the police to arrive onboard.

It was mentioned that some governors of states are aware of the present crisis and will inform the President of Nigeria about the situation.

There was shouting. Emotions were vented and some crew members started running around the rig with a fire axe. Reference was made to the fatal car accident, two containers were placed on the helideck and the crane boom was swung over the helideck.

Personnel were summoned to leave their bedrooms. The life boats were shackled down to prevent being launched. The situation was more intense and chaotic than so far onboard during the past eight days. There was a lot of shouting and threats made.

After a while the group moved down again to the junior staff recreation room. Emotional crew members were calmed down.

Demands to be paid the benefits before leaving the rig were repeated.

0830: Life boats shackles were removed and the life boats were left in their normal state.