Same shit, different ship

[DrWilly]

[Mendip]

I like to round off a work trip with an 'end of' post...

Wednesday morning I stripped down my bedding before disembarking, as per the unwritten rule to help out the stewards/stewardesses on their busiest day.



I left the small black bag on this boat last November, and as is typical, as soon as you leave a bag on a boat you don't work on it again. I decided to take it home this time to not tempt fate as I like working on this vessel. Seaman's tickets give double baggage allowance which I really should make more use of than just teabags, Babybels and Mr Kipling's Angel Slices.



Norway is blessed with deep water so close to shore, perfect for mooring drilling rigs.



That smudge in the sky towards the top left corner was a helicopter, heading out to some platform or other.



The COSL Prospector is about to embark on a voyage to the Barents Sea to undertake a drilling campaign for Vår Energi, which coincidentally enough is the client for my next trip in mid October. Same contractor for me, but different vessel. Strangely enough, despite having the highest per capita ownership of electric vehicles on the planet, Norway has the bizarre philosophy of energy security, and actively encourage exploration and drilling to avoid Europe having to buy gas from Russia, while there is still so much demand. Listen up, Ed Milliband you complete dipstick.

This rig will currently set you back approaching half a million US a day, give or take,.



An accommodation rig that seems to live at the CCB base... I believe it is caught up in some kind of legal dispute.



Always a nice view, even after a short four week trip.



It was good to be back working on this vessel, to be honest. They do become a second home when you become established on a vessel. I've spent 2 or 3 years of my life on this boat.



My flights home were as good as they get, apart from the wooden cutlery on KLM. BGO - AMS - BKK with 1hr 15m connection at Schiphol. That can be a bit tight at immigration, post Brexit, but as it happened the BKK flight was delayed by 30 minutes so I had time to leisurely buy duty free and as is the norm when flying KLM, sandwiches.

Along with a few treats for the flight...



On the way up the hill to Korat I picked up these for the daughter, but ate them. I have no idea what they're called but they were very nice indeed.



I also started to feel a bit guilty about only getting the wife a couple of packs of Pastrami and a work fleece for her Birthday, so got the taxi to pull over around Pak Chong at one of the roadside sellers...



I still had a few guilt pangs so later on we pulled over again... as they say, a wife ain't just for Christmas, you've gotta look after them.

[hallelujah]

What does a Joe cost you from Bangkok to Korat?

[Mendip]

^ Actual rate or official rate on my expenses?

[hallelujah]

^ Actual rate or official rate on my expenses?

Either

[Mendip]

2500 Baht, and I pay any tolls.

[hallelujah]

2500 Baht, and I pay any tolls.

That's not bad at all.

It's not some brass's "brother" that you met on one of your passport runs, is it?

[Mendip]

Evert day I get these photo notifications from One Drive, showing pictures from this day from 1 year ago, 2 years ago, 5 years ago, etc. Today it included these pictures from this day, 20 years ago. I seem to remember that we were supporting the Stena Apache during a pipe lay and one of the guys on the Apache sent over these pictures.



Coincidentally, I was working for the same contractor as I'm working for today and the Edda Fonn was also operated by the same shipping company as the boat I'm on today. All a bit depressing, to be honest.

I had my last drink offshore on the Edda Fonn on New Years Eve 2006 at the Aasgard Field, Norway. I remember I shared a small bottle of whisky in the cabin of the same guy who I meet up with at Fitzgerald's on Soi 4, 20 years later. Another coincidence.

I was young and daft back then... no way would I risk the job for a shot of whisky these days.

Anyway, regarding the Edda Fonn in the post above that I was crew changing by helicopter on 20 years ago...

A few years ago it was refitted in Denmark...



And is now called the HMNZS Manawanui and was commissioned into the New Zealand navy in 2019.

Commissioning of HMNZS Manawanui - Ostensjo

A shame really as it was a really nice vessel to work on.

A little bump of my own thread after seeing the news this morning...

The bloody Kiwi navy has managed to sink my favourite boat I've ever worked on, off Samoa. This sort of thing just doesn't happen...




HMNZS Manawanui sinks this morning after running aground on Samoan reef last night - NZ Herald

[david44]

Sad, I trust crew safe? will it be worth salvaging somewhere so remote?

[DrWilly]

From the link.

Most of the personnel were evacuated from the life rafts onto rescuing ships. But one small boat capsized on the reef, so the personnel walked to land.
“Evacuating a ship at night is an incredibly complicated and difficult task,” Golding said.
Two people sought hospital treatment – one with a dislocated shoulder and one had a hurt back. Another 12-15 people have minor cuts and abrasions.
Golding praised the leadership of the experienced Gray, saying she made the right call to order the evacuation and would have “saved lives”.


iy also says the ship could be in water as deep as 2km, so that might make it a no go for salvage.

[Mendip]

^ It seems strange to praise the 'leadership of the experience', when that same leadership is presumably responisible for running aground a state of the art hydrographic survey vessel, the one type of vessel that should never run aground.

I guess it will all come out in the wash, but how on earth did they manage this? These things just don't happen these days.

[DrWilly]

That’s what I was wondering. Praise for the evacuation in the middle of the night but who was responsible for running it into a reef in the middle of the night in the first place.

[david44]

responsible for running it into a reef

A reefer?

I doubt NZ was doing a surprise raid so you'd imagine a survey vessel is being paid to ... survey as we have teh Borat of Khorat available I will bow my limited tachting and naval gazing to the experts, of course could be DD and Mendy are on a job creation scheme for the colleagyes who'll survey the wreck. My wife is an expert but only this wreck here.

Could it be ne wanchors?

[bsnub]

but who was responsible for running it into a reef in the middle of the night in the first place.

Ultimately it is the captain of the vessel that should be held accountable. The praise was more than a bit odd.

[Reg Dingle]

I guess it will all come out in the wash

Like your bedsheets on these vessels, I very much doubt it, even on a 90 wash!

how on earth did they manage this? These things just don't happen these days.

No doubt this is what happens, when a crew spends most of its time at sea with the curtains drawn, enjoying an unhealthy amount of "me time", ignores protocol, bullshits about being in the gym and gives away work wear with important safety logos emblazoned on them?

[Edmond]

The radiation from Mendy's leftover towel bag played havoc with the instrumentation?

[david44]

gives away work wear with important safety logos emblazoned on them?

You know , when you've been DINGLED

[Joe 90]

Insurance job?

[Looper]

iy also says the ship could be in water as deep as 2km, so that might make it a no go for salvage.

Seems strange that she could go from running aground on a reef and pictured lying sideways on the reef to being under 2km of water

[Looper]

at 7.52pm Commander Yvonne Gray decided to evacuate the ship

woman driver...

Gray is an English-born teacher, who moved to New Zealand in 2012 after falling in love with the country on a campervan tour

...maybe on a DEI fast-track if she only washed up 12 years ago and switched from teaching

Defence Minister Judith Collins.... Holding back the tears

Groan

[david44]

All a cunning plan, Lord Lucan riding Shergar were stashed for years in 'Mendy's locker' until they could get expert Thai Captain Nop Nemo to arrange a controlled list as a newt.

In 2012, Commander Gray and her wife Sharon moved to New Zeala
“The most obvious thing to do was join the Royal New Zealand Navy,” she said.nd after falling in love with the country during a campervan holiday.

as you do

[Joe 90]

^

[Looper]

In 2012, Commander Gray and her wife Sharon moved to New Zealand

Not just a woman but a lesbian woman.

And not just a lesbian but a 'married' lesbian

An irresistible promotion fast-track target for HMNZ Navy

Welcome aboard the DEI rocket-ship to the moon! (or the bottom of the pacific in this case)

[Mendip]

^ I think that if there is seabed mapping to do, these tin-pot woke navies should just leave it to the civilian specialist contractors. We are highly regulated and constantly undergo testing and re-certification, something that maybe the government run navies aren't?

I saw an interview on one of the NZ press links where the clueless NZ defense minister was starting to cast aspersions on the vessel itself, mentioning it's 20 year age and the possibility of a power outage, with obvious innuendo. She clearly had no idea what she was talking about, calling the vessel previously

'a tender for oil rigs'.

She didn't seem to realise that if there was a 'power outage' on such a state of the art vessel, then it would be due to extremely poor routines and maintenance, so only one place to apportion blame.

There's plenty about the Edda Fonn's refit for the NZ navy here... permenaent dive, ROV and hydrographic mapping systems were added.

News - Page 5 of 19 - Ostensjo

A nice quote from Østensjø Rederi (the Edda Fonn's previous owner) here, as they handed her over. He obviously made a few assumptions...

Edda Fonn was Østensjø Rederi’s first purpose-built vessel for the offshore market. She has performed eminently for fifteen years. She will now continue to serve the New Zealand Ministry of Defence for at least another fifteen years, perhaps even longer.

Anyway, I have done a bit or reminiscing this morning and looked back through a few old photos... as I said, the Edda Fonn was probably my favourite vessel to have worked on, not only because of the vessel itself but also due to the crew at the time. Things just gelled. I worked on a her on a regular rotation between 2003 and 2006.

My office was around three decks up at the aft of the accommodation block, starboard side. The doorway from just outside of my office opened up at the stairway down to the back deck.



Or if you prefer the HMNZS Manawanui view... I have marked roughly where my office doorway was.



Here we were in early 2006 during the Bluestream pipeline inspection job, routed across the Black Sea between Samsun in Turkey and Beregovaya in southern Russia. We were just off the Russian coast here.



A lot less than 1 Nautical Mile from shore, yet miraculously we didn't run aground. Could it be that people were actually watching the echosounders (of which there was extensive redundancy) on this high tech, DP Class 2 vessel?



The Stealth ROV, a pioneering vehicle in high-speed ROV pipeline inspection and seabed mapping.



Some Norwegian project...



Supporting the lay barge LB200 during the Langeled South pipeline lay, the southern leg of the 42in diameter gas pipeline from Nyhamna in Norway that supplies around 30% of the UK's gas requirements from the Ormen Lange field.



And my office on the Fonn from around 20 years ago. Digital video was just coming in so pipeline inspection video was still being recorded to SVHS. You will notice that the video cassettes are in groups of three... one each for the port, centre and starboard camera (both sides and top of pipe). It was a nighmare to keep these synched together. Also a lot of paperwork around... it's all digital now of course. Life was a lot easier back then.



My cabin on the Edda Fonn... she had these strange cabins with two inner bunk areas and an outer 'living' area, for two people. This is all underwater now, of course.



And yours truly, hard at work on the Edda Fonn. No gut and no grey hair two decades ago. After looking at this I'm seriously considering having a go with the wife's hair dye. I looked a lot younger with brown hair.



And even back in the 'Noughties', nice to see that I had impeccable taste in footwear.

You can't beat a decent pair of sandals.



RIP, Edda Fonn.

[DrWilly]

I spot the good old prickly powder. that tin hasn't changed in two decades.