Trip out to an Oil Platform (693 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.45 on 28 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by JesterLilt (View user info) at 2008-04-03 16:57:50 EDT
To say I'm not nervous would be lying. I've been through my offshore induction, dunked upside down in a helicopter, dressed up in a survival suit, watched countless videos and completed all dull e-learning requirements. Although I have a good idea of what to expect actually being here is nothing like how they show it in the worn out, decades old training material I've been made to suffer.
Ride in a helicopter
-------------------------
I feel so ill prepared. I'm surrounded in men who spend the better part of their lives at sea. I'm sitting in the heliport waiting to be called. I sit alone amongst dozens of men. They are all cleanly shaven, hair neatly cut, bags packed waiting to check-in onto their respective flights.
I see a squad of workers returning through the arrivals doors and they are the opposite of those sat pensively around me. They are haggard, worn out and weather beaten. Hair tussled, unshaven and unwashed.
My check-in is called and I queue up in an orderly line with my passport and bags in hand. The queue is dealt with quickly. I receive my Vantage card given to all personnel travelling offshore. I thought I would wait sometime whilst they had this prepared but it was in my hand within two minutes.
I moved over to the next point in the process and two members of staff took my bags and searched them as if they were born to search bags.
"Any lighters, mobile phones, electrical equipment or medication?" They asked clinically.
"No." I replied without hesitation.
I decided to forego my hairdryer and hair straighteners as different platforms have different policies on electrical appliances I came to the conclusion that it would be better to suffer messy hair and the rustic, wind swept look than potentially go through the process of having my appliances electrically tested.
After depositing my bags I have to wait again. So I sit patiently reading my magazine laced with celebrities until I'm called for my flight.
Eventually the announcement arrives. In my head I am panicking although I know there is no reason to. Heading for the doors I mentally check myself:
Nothing in my pockets...
What if I need something?
Vantage card in hand...
I reach the departures room where one of the staff puts on yet another safety video. Liken it to the rigmarole air stewardesses go through with the life jacket and seatbelts but on a video. It is nothing to put the mind at ease explaining in great detail about escape routes, lifeboats, survival suits etc.
I slip into my survival suit, which runs more smoothly than it did during my training. I get my life jacket with an emergency breathing kit attached.
'Onwards and upwards...' I think to myself.
We are ushered out to the helicopter. The pilots don't stop the rotors and although I know its safe I can't help but enact in my head the scene when the rotors take my head off splattering those around me. Fortunately this doesn't become a reality.
Flying over the North Sea is spectacular. It is a pristine crystal clear day. The sun sparkles on the water far below. I see birds diving in the water as white tipped waves fold on top of them. I am captivated but those surrounding me fall into restful sleeps to the dull hum of the rotor blades through double ear protection.
After an hour flying we arrive at the platform where I am to spend the next four days. It rises up in front of me a massive metallic man-made structure holding back the waves. Perched on a concrete throne of three legs it stands proud. An empire in the ocean, a match to mother nature.
My stay on an oil platform
--------------------------------
Firstly I am surprised at the standard of the accommodation. Clean towels, flat screen LCD TVs, DVD player, books, DVDs, clean towels, en suite bathroom... I drop my bags off remembering to pack my survival suit neatly into my grab bag. I head downstairs to meet the people who will be working with me during my stay.
I am amazed by the men whose care I've been placed. They are well mannered and polite. Always they go out of their way to make sure I have everything I need. They give me an office, a PC and guides to show me around the places I need to see.
The sense of teamwork is spectacular. In such a harsh environment everybody just gets on with the job remembering to look out for everyone else. Working long twelve hour shifts for two weeks they band together giving everything until their helicopter arrives for them to take them back to normality and their families. Nobody works for themselves, everything is a group effort and it works.
The construction programmes are amazing. What these people achieve is something to admire and appreciate. Maintaining, fixing and painting this monolith because production will not and must not stop. Finely balancing well flow rates, discharges, flaring and process temperatures. This list does not give their jobs justice, they are skilled careful and meticulous workers working seamlessly to achieve a common goal.
I move around the platform in awe. Separators, wellheads, hydrocyclones, deaerator towers, flare stacks... these are just a few of the things I saw. It is all very different to the diagrams strewn across my desk at work.
Four days pass quickly and by the end of it I am exhausted. Outside my usual environment I feel clumsy but always alert. My concentration is sapped and I can barely lift my knees to climb another flight of stairs. These people work two weeks, I am astounded, and I feel like I could happily pass out into deep sleep on my feet.
I have the deepest respect for everyone who does these jobs. They are not easy, it is intensive work and they cannot afford to let their guard down for one second.
Also, I was visiting for environmental reasons and these are some of the most environmentally friendly, efficient process facilities on the planet. All emissions are cut back to a minimum. They really do not deserve the bad press they get. So tightly legislated and always in the public eye these people work tirelessly and one even said to me, "This is my children's planet and I do not want to pollute it. We all care and can't stand to see things go wrong. We all work hard to make sure this is a clean operation."
But you never hear the good stuff, you only ever hear the bad...
User Reviews
Submitted by I_R_Suspect (user info) at 2008-07-23 08:07:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
wubbish.
Submitted by LittleMonster (user info) at 2008-04-19 14:45:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
That was harsh hidden.
Interesting post. I look forward to pics.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2008-04-04 23:10:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2008-04-04 20:52:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by hidden101 (user info) at 2008-04-04 15:58:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I am amazed by the men whose care I've been placed. They are well mannered and polite. Always they go out of their way to make sure I have everything I need. They give me an office, a PC and guides to show me around the places I need to see.
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that's because you're the only piece of pussy on that rig and it doesn't even matter than you are fat and ugly! it's the same way with ugly army girls in warzones. it's the only time men treat them with respect, except the men are pretending. hahahahahahahahaha
BOOSH! NEGATIVE TWO!!!
Submitted by MyTeeOne (user info) at 2008-04-04 14:22:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You're job is so much cooler than mine. Do you need an assistant?
Submitted by sideshow (user info) at 2008-04-04 13:14:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've never been to an offshore rig, but it sounds amazing! The oil and gas industry as a whole gets a lot of bads press and bad reputations, but we work very hard at following very stringent guidelines with the goal of zero spills, zero accidents, and zero injuries. Almost all accidents are preventable. Most people don't know how clean the oil and gas industry actually is, and if they really think oil is so evil, they would find ways to use less of it.
What an eye opener to actually get out and see the real thing!
I hear that the training (where you are put in a helicopter, flipped upside down, and submerged in a pool of water) is pretty intense, and many people after they do the safety courses and work on the off-shore platforms never return when tehir safety training is up for renewal.
It was nice to read about your experiences!
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2008-04-04 09:33:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2008-04-04 09:21:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Environmentally friendly as they may be, it still doesn't exempt the fact that our planet is far too dependent on oil as a fuel source and that our consumption rate exceeds the regeneration rate.
Interesting read.
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2008-04-04 09:04:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
looking forward to pictures.
you fly out to oil rigs in the North Sea?
for work?
and I'm stuck here in my office looking out a window.
**sigh**
**weeps**
**pulls revolver from drawer and starts loading**
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2008-04-04 06:41:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Yes yes, all well and good. Isnt the Oil industry our friend blah blah blah. A friend of mine is a corrosion engineer and one of his recent reccomendations to his company to prevent bacterial damage to underwater pipelines was to smear the pipes in toxic chemicals, very environmentally sound.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-04-04 04:56:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Great post. Good luck in the comp. :)
Submitted by Banjo (user info) at 2008-04-04 03:41:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Quit smoking? That depends when you ask me.
Submitted by JoeyG (user info) at 2008-04-04 02:59:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
yar
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2008-04-03 22:53:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Note to everyone: Re-read the last two paragraphs.
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2008-04-03 20:46:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Huh. I thought rigs were crewed by very rough men, not gents. Informative.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-04-03 20:37:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Have you quit smoking then?
Submitted by DonovanMD (user info) at 2008-04-03 20:14:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Interesting post. Needed a good picture to cap it off though.
Submitted by DeathJester (user info) at 2008-04-03 19:14:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
My old Geology teacher used to work in rigs. He never, ever god angry.
Even when we wrapped up the annoying kid in our lesson in gaffer tape.
Submitted by whiskey_jack (user info) at 2008-04-03 18:15:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Very good post but I feel I should warn you about red. He's very very English, so be on your guard.
Submitted by Banjo (user info) at 2008-04-03 17:23:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, lots of them. I'll post them in another post. 'The Environmental Findings on an Oil Platform'.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2008-04-03 17:17:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Different, and enjoyable. Pictures?
Submitted by redskieslookfake (user info) at 2008-04-03 17:15:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/m/82637
Submitted by Banjo (user info) at 2008-04-03 17:08:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I just like to cause trouble. Nothing like a hot debate.
Submitted by redskieslookfake (user info) at 2008-04-03 17:04:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
you're still a bit of a bonk eyed spacker mind.
Submitted by Banjo (user info) at 2008-04-03 17:02:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I thought I'd better make up for the fiasco I caused in my previous post... :)
Submitted by redskieslookfake (user info) at 2008-04-03 17:00:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
ok then
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2008-04-03 17:00:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
plus the $24bn in profit helps too
great post.