Same shit, different ship

[ootai]

I find corruption quite an interesting topic, tbh.

Now we know why Mendip lives here in Thailand.
Glad to hear you got back safely. Does the body run better after a grease up and oil change?

I was actually in Bangkok Friday but didn't see you, you must have been hiding from me.
Why was I there you ask, time to renew the passport but I don't make a thread about it.

[Mendip]

Oh wow. How interesting, thank you for that explanation. But I’d imagine that there 100,000s of kilometres more that do not have an induced current from overhead power lines. How do they power them?

I'm no expert on this qnd should really brush up on mynotes, but my understanding is that the offshore pipeline systems are passive, or galvanic, and have no induced current (platforms often do).

The sacrificial metal of the less stable anode donates it's electrons to the pipeline steel as it oxidises, thus creating a current and protecting the steel. The seawater acts as the electolyte. In effect a battery is created.

[Mendip]

Why was I there you ask, time to renew the passport but I don't make a thread about it.

And we are poorer for it, Ootai.

[BLD]

And we are poorer for it, Ootai.

Theres already a thread about lolitas anyway ootai, i think i might of started it by claiming i thought lolitas is well classy coz my slippers dont stick to the carpet, yep they run a tight ship

[Mendip]

I should really have named this thread 'Same shit, same ship' but that didn't sound right. If this boat wasn't so comfy I should get a job on a different boat just to make the thread title make sense... but bollocks to that.

But however nice a boat is... this is never a nice feeling.



We boarded at Kristiansund on the west cost of Norway and immediately transited south to the Gullfaks Field, approximately 180km NW of Bergen. After waiting on weather for a few hours this work stint kicked off with some survey work at Gullfaks C, which lies in 217m of water with the structure being taller than the Eiffel Tower.



That row of lights along the horizon to the right of the platform is a bank of wind turbines that power the Gullfaks and Statfjord Fields, renewable energy powering the extraction of fossil fuels. The turbines are on floating platforms that are tethered to the seabed.



I'm midway through my second shift 12-12 (midnight to midday) and now that I've settled in am very much looking forward to starting up in the gym tonight, before the next shift. No more bad backs for me.

[Edmond]

Top stuff Mendo.

I imagine the 4-6 weeks will fly by.


They say time goes faster in the tropics because there aren't seasonal markers such as sunny summers and then snowy winters to mark the passing of time, so it just flows right by. I imagine doing 12-12 shifts everyday is a case of an hour could seem like a day, but you blink and 3 weeks have gone by.

Though of course I could be talking out of me arse.

[baldrick]

I find that once you get into a routine of sleep , eat , work , sleep on 12 hour shifts , after about 7 day it starts to go faster and you zone on

[Edmond]

I find that once you get into a routine of sleep , eat , work , sleep on 12 hour shifts , after about 7 day it starts to go faster and you zone on

Sounds preferable to shift work on land.

Before buggering off, a mate of mine started doing shift work of something like 3 x days, 3 off, 3 x nights, 3 off. Switching between 12 hour day shifts and 12 hour night shifts every week or 2 must a be killer for natural sleep and yer immune system.

Bloke was 25 years old and got a 35 year mortgage on a one bedroom apartment near the place.

Was working shift work to buy the place.
Bought the place so to be able to do shift work.

There's something not quite right there.

[Mendip]

Though of course I could be talking out of me arse.

Not at all...

I find that once you get into a routine of sleep , eat , work , sleep on 12 hour shifts , after about 7 day it starts to go faster and you zone on

The first couple of shifts tend to drag a bit, but then you get into it and the time flies. This is a four week trip that I may try to turn in six weeks, depending on how things go. Six would be good because then I'd arrive home a week or so before Christmas. It helps that this is a nice boat with nice people and there's a few guys on here that I've known for 20 plus years, so catching up is good as well. I just have to remember how to have conversations with human adults again after spending the last few months in Isaan.

I also caught up with Rawlins briefly before he exited down the gangway and headed back East.

Since my last trip on this boat, it now gets internet via Starlink and the Wifi is as good as at home, if not better. I downloaded a few Netflix series to cover the trip but now streaming is no problem. Changing times offshore.

[helge]

But however nice a boat is... this is never a nice feeling.

Bread and butter.......and food for the dogs.

Alternative ?

I'm not sure you are of the 7-15 daily routine kind.

I reckon you are lucky and.....

Overpaid



(I think of you each time filling up the car)

[Edmond]

I also caught up with Rawlins briefly before he exited down the gangway and headed back East.

Good to know he's (presumably) okay. Was a prolific and interesting poster on here a 15 years ago, then unfortunately went through a bad and serious mental patch, his father was either on the forum or came out to Thailand to try to help.

[Mendip]

^^ To be honest Helge, I may be a lot of things but 'overpaid' is certainly not one of them.

I earnt a similar day rate in working off West Africa around 10 years ago, and I reckon in real terms, I was earning more in the 1990s without thirty years experience. This is one reason I lose sympathy with the doctors in the UK asking for a 35% pay rise to 'cover past depreciation'. Everyone has had depreciation of wages over the past decade or so.

Offshore day rates in my part of the industry aren't significantly greater than in the 1980s, sadly before I started working. So what's that... in real terms now maybe worth about a third? Back then, guys set themselves up for life after 10 years offshore but certainly not these days. I'd like to say that it doesn't bother me... but it pisses me off, to be honest.


^ I know nothing about that but he's fine now, they don't let just anyone go offshore. I had a road trip up to Savannakhet with Rawlins a few years ago while he was getting a Non O. He said I should join TD and that he would start posting again... although he didn't keep up his part of the bargain!

[helge]

I earnt a similar day rate in working off West Africa around 10 years ago, and I reckon in real terms, I was earning more in the 1990s without thirty years experience.

I'll argue that you were highy overpaid back then, then

Nah, I wouldn't mind your few months away from home and then being fulltime "Hausfrau" for the rest of the year

Everyone has had depreciation of wages over the past decade or so.

Past decade ?

Try with 'since early seventies' !

We have voted for the wrong pigs, mate

[armstrong]

Not at all...




The first couple of shifts tend to drag a bit, but then you get into it and the time flies. This is a four week trip that I may try to turn in six weeks, depending on how things go. Six would be good because then I'd arrive home a week or so before Christmas. It helps that this is a nice boat with nice people and there's a few guys on here that I've known for 20 plus years, so catching up is good as well. I just have to remember how to have conversations with human adults again after spending the last few months in Isaan.

I also caught up with Rawlins briefly before he exited down the gangway and headed back East.

Since my last trip on this boat, it now gets internet via Starlink and the Wifi is as good as at home, if not better. I downloaded a few Netflix series to cover the trip but now streaming is no problem. Changing times offshore.

Back when I was a kid there would be one static filled phone that you had to queue for (or nip into the bosses office while he was out).

Well at least thats what my dad said

[PAG]

Back when I was a kid there would be one static filled phone that you had to queue for (or nip into the bosses office while he was out).

Well at least thats what my dad said

Indeed. When I first started working offshore, personal phone calls had to be made via Stonehaven radio, hence they had to be really important to be made and completely not private.

[cyrille]

Make the most of it before AI takes over.

[Mendip]

Indeed. When I first started working offshore, personal phone calls had to be made via Stonehaven radio, hence they had to be really important to be made and completely not private.

There was a phone system when I started, and you were allowed one phone call a week from a phone up on the bridge. You had to shout to be heard above the crackling... with the entire bridge crew listening in. No privacy whatsoever.

For news we relied on guys bringing out newspapers at crew changes. I used to enjoy the end of year news round-ups on the TV as I'd discover major news stories that had occurred during the year, that I'd completely missed.

[Mendip]

Gullfaks B with Gullfaks A behind. An 8am crew change happening at Gullfaks B...



I absolutely hate helicopters but I guess on the plus side, theoretically you could finish a nightshift, eat some breakfast and be having a pint at Bergen airport by 10am.



I think I'd still rather wait until the boat goes alongside for my crew change.



The offshore windfarm that powers the Gullfaks and Statfjord fields, amongst others I would think. The Visund field is also nearby. Equinor are currently in the midst of electrifying their platforms which can apparently reduce the platforms' carbon footprint by around 50%. This is usually achieved by laying electric power cables from shore which is my preferred method as it creates a lot of survey work. I don't know of any other offshore mini windfarms that power platforms but I do know that there were a lot of problems with these. The turbines are on floating platforms and apparently in strong winds they lean over a lot, thus reducing efficiency. I'm sure that these teething problems will be ironed out, however.



And another innovation that I've never seen before... magnetic frames that hold notices up on the bulkheads. I may try and get one for my fridge at home.



But nothing is fool-proof, of course!

[malmomike77]

Since my last trip on this boat, it now gets internet via Starlink and the Wifi is as good as at home, if not better. I downloaded a few Netflix series to cover the trip but now streaming is no problem. Changing times offshore.

you can download all the porn flicks and the family will be none the wiser

[david44]

Gullfaks B

May yer rod laver,

[Mendip]

I guess you can't expect nice weather in the northern North Sea in November and this will be as good as it gets.





The weather is due to come up so we need to get all the close to platform work completed before that happens.

[OhOh]

Glad you are back in the saddle again.

You mention it's survey work, will it be a standard 6 months/annual .... survey , or are you surveying for an unusual event issue?

I ask as a recent issue on a pipeline was possibly due to a ships anchor dragging, causing damage.

[malmomike77]

I ask as a recent issue on a pipeline was possibly due to a ships anchor dragging, causing damage.

sent through the chinkie de-propagandiser

I ask as a recent Russian submarine was identified as being responsible for damaging a pipeline, is there a way to avoid detection?.

ah so that was the real question

[armstrong]

How do you get on that if you arrive by boat?

[PAG]

How do you get on that if you arrive by boat?

Typical method is by 'Billy Pugh', essentially a rope basket with a floating ring that's suspended from an installation crane. People hold onto the rope basket from the outside (never the inside), and are lifted onto a suitable landing area on the installation (normally the helideck). Obviously this can only take place within certain weather parameters (wind speed, wave height etc), but is quite common. Here's a stock photo: