The Daily Mail’s gripping podcast Pipeline is now the top series in the US Apple Podcast charts, and second in Australia.
The bombshell documentary, which tells the story of a group of divers left to die in an undersea oil pipe, has topped the all-genres charts less than four weeks after the first episode aired.
It has fought off competition from heavyweight podcast producers including Sony, ABC News and even Apple itself.
Pipeline tells the story of five professional divers who were tasked with repairing an undersea oil pipe off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago in February 2022.
Due to unexpected air pressure within the 30in-wide pipe, all five men were sucked hundreds of feet into it as they were putting the finishing touches to their work.
One of the divers managed to escape but the other four were left to die, with an autopsy later revealing one may have been alive for up to 39 hours.
Pipeline’s international success has been down to its incredible story that taps into everyone’s worst nightmare, according to the Mail’s head of podcasts Jamie East.
‘I just couldn’t believe that more hadn’t been made of this story,’ he said of his thoughts after the idea was pitched to him by reporter Isabelle Stanley, who hosts the show.
‘The fact that it turned into this huge, disgraceful cover-up, and that the divers could have been saved, is just unbelievable.
‘It has been really pleasing to give a voice to the victims’ families, who have been trying to get justice and compensation for their loved ones for years. We hope that this will spur them on to do that.’
One of the divers, Christopher Boodram, 39, managed to escape after an unimaginable three-hour ordeal.
But after dragging his injured body through the filthy, flooded, pitch-dark depths of the narrow pipe, he was dashed to hospital where he later discovered to his horror that rescue missions for his trapped colleagues had been repeatedly blocked.
In fact, Paria Fuel Trading Company, the Trinidadian state-owned oil firm that controlled the pipeline, was actively preventing rescuers from going into the pipe.
Pipeline tells a riveting story of human survival, betrayal and lies, and probes the one horrifying question refuses to go away: why were four men left to die under the sea?
It uncovers evidence of failing safety standards, lucrative contracts and secretive political relationships, confronts some of Trinidad’s most powerful men and confronts its then-prime minister.
The dogged enquiries may even have triggered an early election on the island, as politicians sought to protect themselves from bad publicity over the deaths of Fyzal Kurban, 57, Rishi Nagassar, 48, Kazim Ali Jr, 37, and Yusuf Henry, 31.
The team that travelled to Trinidad and Tobago to carry out the investigation for the show also included producer Bella Soames and journalist Andy Jehring.
‘I’m really pleased that Pipeline has been so successful around the world. It’s thanks to a lot of hard work from Bella and Isabelle, they worked incredibly hard for months.
‘They’ve lived this story, and it shows – if you immerse yourself in the story and give it the credit it deserves, then it makes a real difference, and listeners obviously agree.’
He added Apple was very supportive and contacted him this morning to tell him Pipeline had become the number one series in the US.
A second investigation series is already in production, looking at the devastating impact of a bizarre ritual on thousands of US families.
To listen to the chart-topping podcast series, search for Pipeline now, wherever you get your podcasts.
