Thread: Random offshore pics

^ After welding the joints the pipeline is pushed down the ramp, or stinger as its known. The pipeline could be suspended for a kilometre behind the lay barge before touching down on the seabed, depending on water depth. It therefore has to be kept under huge tension or the weight of the suspended catenary would cause an immediate buckle. Tensioners on the lay barge prevent the pipeline from running down the stinger, although there wouldn't be much length to run down as the new joints are constantly being welded on.

Here is the Acergy Piper on another project in Brazil. You can clearly see the welds (field joints) where the 12 metre sections of pipe have been welded together.



Each section is welded on, then each weld is subjected to a multitude of testing, including Xrays, for integrity. A tin wrap is put around the weld and then the void used to be injected with bitumen, but now more environmentally friendly compounds are used. That is called a field joint.

The ramp doesn't reach the seabed - that would be impossible in deep water, but just extends maybe 100 metres or so to spread the load of the pipeline. It may be longer than that - everything on these barges is at huge scale.

In bad weather a temporary laydown head will be attached and the pipeline laid down on the seabed. The end needs to be sealed as you don't want corrosive salt water to flood the line. Once the weather is OK, the pipeline is recovered and normal operations resumed. When things went well this barge could lay 4 to 5km a day - earning the crew good bonuses.

At the end of a job a laydown head is welded on, as shown here... the end of that Brazil project.



You can see all the guys lining the railings (all in full PPE!) to watch the laydown head go down the stinger. This is the end of the job and they'll be looking forward to going home and spending their hard earned dollars. This was a special case as I think it was the last pipeline the Piper laid - it was laid up in Sicily after this. Special case for me too. At the time there were rumours we were going to follow the Piper around the world supporting pipelay projects, which would have been fantastic. That was in late 2008 - the financial crash in 2009 ended those hopes overnight.

And once a the pipe was laid down, the Piper raised the stinger and departed the work site...



The end of a pipeline is usually connected to a prefabricated spool and riser at a platform by hyperbaric welds carried out by divers. If the water's too deep for divers then ROV-friendly systems have to be designed to connect spools using the underwater vehicles.

The survey vessel I worked on back then, the Polarbjørn. After the downturn in 2009 the charter with a Norwegian shipping company finished which was a shame - I've good memories from the three years I spent working on that vessel.

The Royal Navy later chartered her for Faulklands patrol and she was renamed HMS Protector.



And a random pic from that project in Brazil. The Polar Queen loaded up with flexible pipes. These short lines are often laid infield to connect wellheads with subsea structures, platforms and the like. Or these may have been risers to connect subsea flowlines with an FPSO. The large diameter concrete pipelines are generally used to export the gas or oil from offshore back to land.

^^

Thanks for the info.

Always good to understand the processes throughout the oil and gas exploitation cycle.

Great thread. Brings back memories from the 70's. I was working on a vessel which inearthed pipes laid on the sea bottom. Work was work as safety was not really existing (each to their own). It was an enormous experiment. The idea was good but did not always work out in practise. Great time was head.

Thanks for posting....

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

awesome thread

All those glistening, ripped torsos slathered in oil makes you reach for your hard hat, eh?

Originally Posted by OhOh

Always good to understand the processes throughout the oil and gas exploitation cycle.

It surely will help to think twice when (and before) filling the hungry car tank...

^ Just fill it, I need another 10 years out of this industry!

The industry is trying to become greener, but it's mostly lip service unfortunately. Money rules. Statoil recently changed their name to Equinor to sound green, meanwhile developing their fifth largest ever offshore field designed to export oil and gas around Europe for the next 50 years. Hypocrisy every where.

I worked on one pipeline route project this year designed to pump waste CO2 from shore back offshore into depleted oil/gas reservoirs. A great idea but very expensive and not feasible for most countries. Search on Equinor Northern Lights if it's of interest.

Medip has suggested that i post some photographs of my offshore days which was along time ago i stopped working offshore in 1985 retrenched by ODECO, Because of the downturn in oil exploration they decided to take the rig which was called the ocean digger to Brazil and re crew it with Americans.
Anyway here are some pics pre digital days so quality is not to good.

Digger with derrick down ready for a long tow from fremantle to bass strait.


Drilling in the browse basin off the north west coast of Australia


Refuel on browse island on the way to rig in the browse basin.
Indo fishermen were in the habit of knocking off drums of aviation kerosene so you were always hoping they left some there. Wouldn't like being stranded there for to long.


Digger anchored of the north end of Rottnest island for ABS inspection


A sight you like to see especially if you are getting on it.


Another refuel island called troughton island of the northern tip of western Australia on the way to the digger in the Timor
sea.

Great, thanks! I detest helicopters whether joining or leaving a vessel. Luckily most of my crew changes are alongside.

the basket freaks me out more than any chopper

pic from 'tinternet

Originally Posted by baldrick

the basket freaks me out more than any chopper

pic from 'tinternet

2 Billy Pughs and 2 frogs every shift in Israel.

As for the frog, they assure us that if it falls to the water it will self-upright.

we assure them if it hits the water with the hook still attached it’s gonna pull us all straight to the bottom upside down.

Originally Posted by Mendip

I detest helicopters whether joining or leaving a vessel.

You wouldn't get in one of them for a joyride, anyone who's spent time in Choppers has stories to tell!. Most of my time has been onshore but there's been periods of a few years here and there offshore. I've done HUET certification 3 times, there won't be a 4th.

I was working in the North Sea in 2013 when all the Super Pumas were having gearbox problems.

a 6am check-in at Bond was a pretty grim affair.

Was fun riding old Billy Pugh down onto the back of this boat (Bohai, China) when we had cleared the decks! Was never a great fan of Choppers due to their limited gliding abilities, but better than sitting on a boat for 12 hours!

Originally Posted by Backspin

Cool thread. Lets see em.

Do you have any pics of your living quarters like a base camp on shore or anything ?

I’m on the COSL Pioneer about 100 miles NE of Aberdeen.



This is a Norwegian Semi-submersible drilling rig. Built and maintained to Norwegian spec, it’s 10 years old and still looks new. We are pretty spoiled on here, single man cabins (bathroom shared between 2), Michelin Chef, large rec room with Darts, a Playstation room, cinema, gym, massage chair, sun bed...

Heres my cabin:







sorry, not sure why they uploaded at 90 deg.

Jacking trial in Singapore with Rndom UFO in the upper right of picture! must have been a Sing airforce jet, they buzz the skies around Jurong most days?



Thrusters waiting to be installed when the rig leaves SY, have to be installed in "deep" water, they have been waiting for so long for someone to take delivery of vessels yard has built scaffold so they can maintain thrusters.

I only ever worked on vessels that went somewhere.

Originally Posted by dirk diggler

I was working in the North Sea in 2013 when all the Super Pumas were having gearbox problems.

a 6am check-in at Bond was a pretty grim affair.

Reminds me off the days when we used to fly Chinooks, they were eventually "banned" after the worst O&G helicopter crash ever off Shetland in 1986.

My dad used to go offshore in chinooks and I remember watching them fly overhead. Red or yellow depending on the airline.

They used to just pile in and smoke all the way to the rigs. Pockets full with pot and oranges injected with vodka.

A guy I went to school with lost his father in the ‘86 accident, must have been the anniversary recently as he made a post about it on Facebook.

There’s an old story keeps coming up whenever I see my Mum’s elderly neighbour.

Sheila: Look Dirk, your Dad could be coming home in that helicopter.

Me: No no Sheila, my dad comes home in a taxi.

Top thread this one. It has brought back memories of my second job after leaving school ( i were 16) when i became a juggy on siesmic oil exploration crews in the gibson, great sandy and stuart deserts in Australia.never made it offshore despite a strong urge to do so. Done that job for several years in various roles but it eventually led to a career in mining. Still think about those siesmic days fondly. They money was awesome and allowed me to travel to exotic locations and get extremely drunk and shag birds like i was some kinda rockstar. Back then my preffered locale of debaucherry was angeles city philippines where i could also meet up with other siemic folk and oilys. Still in touch with a lot of those guys some retired some are still at it.
Keep up the pics guys. I think its an industry you get into when young and a bit mad . Im still a bit mad but not so young. And theres no fucking way i would willing doa Huet.

A bit of siesmic trivia. Juggys were the guys who stomped the geophones in a set pattern along the siesmic line. In the states i do believe they called them doodlebuggers. Offshore siesmic im told they were reffered to as backdeckniggas