Another lockdown… another commute

[Shutree]

On top of everything else, now my mum won't be getting a Christmas present.

That's a shame. She probably goes to sleep dreaming of a new circular saw.

[Edmond]

On top of everything else, now my mum won't be getting a Christmas present.

My mum doesn't live in the UK and wouldn't mind a Multi-Sander FMS200....

[cyrille]

So, what I see in wiki is not longer true?


Electricity sector in Norway - Wikipedia

And in my old memory I have had a knowledge that Norway has plenty geothermal power plants, however, the wiki does not say.

Neither of those quotes suggest Mendip’s statement is false. Your English just isn’t good enough to understand.

[aging one]

So, what I see in wiki is not longer true?

however, the wiki does not say.

Then why dont you go in and change it? Wikipedia is open source anyone can access the information and change it to how they like. This is why it is not a viable academic source.

[Mendip]

That's a shame. She probably goes to sleep dreaming of a new circular saw.

My mum doesn't live in the UK and wouldn't mind a Multi-Sander FMS200....

Actually I was planning on getting her those fancy secateurs and scissors... that would have left 8000 points to get a nice thermos flask for meself.

I was doubly pissed off.

[Klondyke]

Neither of those quotes suggest Mendip’s statement is false. Your English just isn’t good enough to understand.

Then why dont you go in and change it? Wikipedia is open source anyone can access the information and change it to how they like. This is why it is not a viable academic source.

I am really flattered by your attention. Why not to let Mendip to see my remark without your kind advice. He surely will be too flattered by your care.

Anyway, I am happy to enable you to spit on me - as usually - hope that it made your day, whatever with your perfect English comprehension you concluded from my remark...

[aging one]

Sorry Mendy mate,

[helge]

Norway has plenty geothermal power plants,

Iceland has a lot

Btw: I think that Norway gets a lot of the surplus watts from the danish wind turbines.

For free

Because danes are lovely people.

Just ask Lom

[Mendip]

^^^ Sorry Klondyke, I only know what I was told after chatting to a Norwegian... anything else I would have to look up using Google, same as anyone else. I'm certainly no expert on this.


Yesterday we finished our work oop north at Åsgard and are now transiting down to the Gullfaks field, one of my favourites. It's a 30 hour transit and we're due on location at midnight... which is a bit of a pisser because that's also when my shift starts so I'll have a busy start setting up some equipment.



Calm seas... perfect conditions for a transit.



I couldn't help noticing that we seemed to be heading directly towards a fishing boat...



Fingers crossed the skipper is alert up on the bridge!



This is a small taster for our voyage from Haugesund to Istanbul which should start around the end of next week.



And this is where I sit to type this nonsense... in one of the day rooms. Being the only person on the vessel foolish enough to work a midnight to midday shift, I sit alone.



The transit to Istanbul should take round two weeks, but first we have to finish up our work at the Gullfaks, Visund and Grane fields and then make a port call in Haugesund to demobilise this project and mobilise for the Black Sea. We should be alongside in Haugesund for two or three days.

And... the big news is... I will have something else to do in Haugesund... after several days of emails back and forth and a couple of painful phone calls on bad lines to Norwegian health officials, I received this email today...



Mr. Mendip.

We will be able to offer you an appointment for vaccine on Thursday the 23rd og September
You will receive a message from our coordinator telling you the exact appointment-time.

Med hilsen

Chief Vaccinator Person



This is excellent news... it will be a Moderna by all accounts and means I should be able to get my second jab in the UK in November/December and therefore return to Thailand fully vaccinated. Who knows, maybe I won't even have to quarantine...

[cyrille]

Yeah, that looks like some sweet timing.

Great pics!

[bsnub]

Is that a wood deck Mendy?

[Mendip]

Everything structural is metal including the back deck but they line the metal deck with wooden planks. I guess the wood is better for grip for people and any loads and will deaden the sound of any works going on... like a wooden work bench at home compared to a metal bench.

You can see the green metal decking showing through... this is so that any loads, containers, etc can be welded down for sea fastening.

[malmomike77]

This is excellent news... it will be a Moderna by all accounts and means I should be able to get my second jab in the UK in November/December and therefore return to Thailand fully vaccinated. Who knows, maybe I won't even have to quarantine...

Great news. Are you still planning on a visit to Mum? The UK is looking likely to reduce the current restrictions for those double jabbed. They are also suggesting they are going to press ahead with boosters also.

[cyrille]

...and in other news, nicki minaj does not have a relative in Trinidad with swollen testicles caused by COVID vaccines.

[Mendip]

^^ My current plan is to visit my mum in Somerset after the Black Sea work... when I hope to get my second vaccine. I won't be fully vaccinated on arrival to the UK but there are dispensations for seafarers. I would have been denied entry to Norway if I wasn't joining a vessel.

Everything is subject to change of course but I need to spend some time with my mum having missed a visit last year due to Covid and she's spent an awful lot of time in isolation... a real shame I can't take my daughter back as well. I'll need a bit of time in the UK to arrange the CoE and maybe ASQ... or whatever the rules will be at the end of the year...

Edit: Mike, my mum has her booster jab (third Pfizer) already booked in for next Monday.

[Topper]

but they line the metal deck with wooden planks

It might be because it's easier to repair the deck if something "scratches" it as well and tons easier to patch than the non-skid used on aircraft carriers.

[helge]

it will be a Moderna by all accounts and means I should be able to get my second jab in the UK in November/December and therefore return to Thailand fully vaccinated. Who knows, maybe I won't even have to quarantine...

Get a Sinovac as a booster, when you get home to Korat.

Just to be on the safe side

[Mendip]

^ I've got a bottle of Ivermectin in the fridge at home that I inject the dogs with to protect against ticks, fleas and heartworm... I reckon I'd be better trying that.

^^ I think you're right Topper...protection for the metal deck.


We started the work scope at Gullfaks in the early hours.

Gullfaks A... 35 years old and still with another 20 years of production to go.



The whole family... Gullfaks A on the right, Gullfaks B on the left and away in the distance, Gullfaks C in the middle.



And if you're wondering what's down on the seabed in these areas...





I though my quest for a Covid vaccination in Norway was over... but I received this email today...



Hi,

We can not promise you comirnaty vaccine (BioNTech/Pfizer), but a Western approved one, maybe spikevax (Moderna).

The Spikevax is said to give a better protction against the Delta variants of the SARS-Cov-19 virus.
We have reserved an appointment for you September the 24th, at 9.20 AM.
Just tell the Red Cross personel at your arrival that you have an appointment.

Best regards
The Vaccine Centre in Haugesund



This is all great and I'm very thankful to the Norwegians, but I was hoping for an appointment on Thursday 23rd as we may well be sailing around midnight next Thursday, making a Friday appointment of little use. I've been back in touch and there are no available slots for the Thursday, but they said to just drop by as there are usually people who don't turn up. This is what I'll do... despite being a bit odd these Scandinavians are nice people and I'm sure if I make the effort to turn up, they will vaccinate me.

[baldrick]

I guess the wood is better

as these work vessels crane a lot of steel around in a not so stable environment , the wood lessens impacts to damage equipment and minimises any chance of a spark causing ignition

and in my opinion the moderna is the best vax

[ootai]

Mendip
Just stop procrastinating about which vaccine you get and get whatever you can.
If what I have read on the net each vaccine provides protection from the more severe effects of covid and in my opinion that is the best you can hope for.
I believe that everyone will eventually be infected by this virus so all we can do is mitigate the risk of dying from its effects.

Me personally I have had what the Thai government provided and that is Sinavac followed by Astra Zenica, would I have preferred Pfizer or Moderna yes of course but after having a minor side effect from the Astra Zenica (2nd dose) I would hate to have the full on virus. I had a fever and felt like I had been run over by a truck but it only lasted a day thankfully.

At this stage and because there is still no confirmation that the Aussie Govt will recognise the Sinavac vaccine I will try and get another jab in a few months so then they would consider me fully vaccinated and that might assist in gaining entry back into the country one day.

Good luck and I hope you can get a vaccine you are happy with.


That area you are in looks bloody busy with a lot of activity in the area. Who lays claim to all the oil wells there?
I take it all those little rectangular gold bars in the picture are producing wells, is that correct?

[PAG]

That area you are in looks bloody busy with a lot of activity in the area. Who lays claim to all the oil wells there?
I take it all those little rectangular gold bars in the picture are producing wells, is that correct?

These are satellite subsea developments, remotely controlled and operated via flowlines by the platforms/installations they are tied back to.

[Mendip]

Mendip
Just stop procrastinating about which vaccine you get and get whatever you can.

Umm... Ootai, I'm not procrastinating about which vaccine I get... I'm stuck on a boat and my problem is actually getting an appointment in a country I'm not resident in. I'll take whatever they offer... but thankfully Sinovac won't be one of those options in Norway.

[ootai]

Umm... Ootai, I'm not procrastinating about which vaccine I get... I'm stuck on a boat and my problem is actually getting an appointment in a country I'm not resident in. I'll take whatever they offer... but thankfully Sinovac won't be one of those options in Norway.

OK I might concede a little on what I said but I just don't understand why people are so against getting Sinovac as a vaccine.
As you have said previously you had the opportunity to get that in Korat. So instead you wait until you are on a boat trying to organise a vaccine in a country that doesn't want you now because of your mate Boris.
That in my mind is either procrastinating or just stubborn so maybe I just used the wrong word.


What exactly is procrastination?

Procrastination is the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline. Some researchers define procrastination as a "form of self-regulation failure characterized by the irrational delay of tasks despite potentially negative consequences."

[ootai]

These are satellite subsea developments, remotely controlled and operated via flowlines by the platforms/installations they are tied back to.

Pag
What is meant by "subsea developments" are they producing wells/holes that are capped with an arrangement that allows them to be remotely controlled?
Is the location of the Cap/control station dictated by where the holes were originally drilled from?
As I understand it when they drill they drill from a central location and can then directionally drill to where they suspect there to be hydrocarbons i.e. oil/gas.

[Mendip]

^ Ootai, each wellhead is connected to flowlines that transport oil/gas back to the platform they have been tied in to, and from there the products will either be sent to shore via export pipelines or stored and then transferred to a tanker. Each wellhead is connected to the main platform by electrical/hydraulic umbilicals so that flow and a host of other parameters can be controlled. These wellheads may be many kilometres from the platforms.

Some wellheads will be for water or gas injection... water may be injected into a well to maintain pressure... as may be gas. The gas may be extracted from one well, and injected into an oil well to maintain pressure and extract the oil, after which the gas will then also be extracted.

As for Sinovac... I guess it all depends on your personal circumstances. I regularly travel to Europe for work and I didn't fancy having four vaccinations, which would have been necessary if I had taken two shots of Sinovac in Korat, as Sinovac isn't approved in the West. Had I had the Sinovac a couple of months ago I'd still be in exactly the same situation... chasing proper vaccines while here in Norway.

If I stayed permanently in Isaan I would have most probably taken the Sinovac. And as for not wanting me... Norway are a lot more welcoming than Thailand has ever been.