Now ye're talking - to an off-shore oil rig worker

Boards.ie: Niamh · 14-05-2019 5:20pm #1

Our next guest works on an off-shore oil rig. His commute takes around 14 hours including two aeroplane flights and a helicopter but at least he only does this once every few weeks!
He spends a number of weeks off-shore followed by a number of weeks on-shore at a time.

If you'd like to ask any questions about working on an oil rig, now is your chance!

mistress_gi · 14-05-2019 5:21pm

Wow, I get to start this off

How did you get into the field?

jester77 · 14-05-2019 5:24pm

I've been caught in some rough seas while on a ferry, thrown about and some people ended up with broken bones, not something I would want to experience too often.

How much do the oil rigs move about during storms and what happens when it gets rough out there?

nutjobb · 14-05-2019 5:46pm

Ok here goes..

1. What age are you and how long are you doing it?

2. Do you have kids/are married and if so how much strain does it put on your relationship?

3. How did you get your first opportunity to go offshore?

4. Is it something you plan to do until retirement?

5. Ever seen any serious accidents?

6. Whats your position?

7. any advice for someone to get their foot in the door? Is it worth doing the MIST/Bosiet and other courses without any previous experience/connections?

I have always been fascinated with off shore work so any info you provide will be greatly appreciated and am sure I will be back with more questions!

major bill · 14-05-2019 5:55pm

Is it all work when on the rig? what is there to do with your time off on the rig?

Whats the ratio of Men to female? is it Male dominated?

Hardtochoose · 14-05-2019 6:02pm

Is the money as good as everyone says it is?

Bazzy · 14-05-2019 7:28pm

Are you allowed chill out with a beer at the weekend or in the evenings?

14-05-2019 7:32pm

Are you in drilling/exploration or production?

What kind of rig? Fixed/Jack-up, CT, FPSO, SPAR etc. The engineering fascinates me.

Have you ever experienced the need to evac a station/platform?

Maybe not relevant depending on which field you're at, but is piracy a concern for rig crews generally?

What's the accommodation like?

Are the rigs main workspaces as noisy when in production/drilling as I imagine them to be? (Like sitting mid hull on a commercial airliner, or louder)

How old are you now and when will you pack it in on the rigs?

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 7:57pm

mistress_gi wrote: »

Wow, I get to start this off

How did you get into the field?

How did I get into oil business ? Luck really, an oil service company were looking for offshore fitters, and I just happened to be in the right place at the time.

Rough seas can be a problem but most often than not we just work through them, depends on the type of platform, jacket rigs (planted on seabed) are like tuning forks, they can rock for days after a bad blow. New years eve 2019 we had 24m waves for 3/4 hours.

Money is OK, not the millions people think, but I get a good years wage for working 18 weeks of the year, mind you the shift offshore for 14 days is 170 hours + 15-20 hours overtime, so it's kinda full on.

No beer !!! entertainment is bingo on Saturday night, or a quiz, kinda sad, but really it's just for folk to wind down and have a laugh.

Male dominated, rig I'm on at the minute is about 80/20.

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 8:04pm

nutjobb wrote: »

Ok here goes..

1. What age are you and how long are you doing it?

2. Do you have kids/are married and if so how much strain does it put on your relationship?

3. How did you get your first opportunity to go offshore?

4. Is it something you plan to do until retirement?

5. Ever seen any serious accidents?

6. Whats your position?

7. any advice for someone to get their foot in the door? Is it worth doing the MIST/Bosiet and other courses without any previous experience/connections?

I have always been fascinated with off shore work so any info you provide will be greatly appreciated and am sure I will be back with more questions!

1 Mid 50's
2 Kids are grown, yes at the start it was a big strain, not so much any more.But the divorce rate is pretty high industry wide.
3 Luck
4 Yes, but I retire at 60.
5 Yes. Not very pleasant memories.
6 Construction suprevisor.
7 Trade needed, Boseit...if you get it free, do it (FAS) otherwise, most companies will put you through it anyway. But Norwegian sector is a different course.
Question away !!

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 8:09pm

JayZeus wrote: »

Are you in drilling/exploration or production?

What kind of rig? Fixed/Jack-up, CT, FPSO, SPAR etc. The engineering fascinates me.

Have you ever experienced the need to evac a station/platform?

Maybe not relevant depending on which field you're at, but is piracy a concern for rig crews generally?

What's the accommodation like?

Are the rigs main workspaces as noisy when in production/drilling as I imagine them to be? (Like sitting mid hull on a commercial airliner, or louder)

How old are you now and when will you pack it in on the rigs?

Currently on rig construction, living on a floatel, connected to fixed rig and also we have a jack up for drilling and accomodation. Yeah they are noisy feckers, only piracy I ever experienced was some git stealing me packet of smokes !
Rooms are fine, bed,toilet,shower,locker, TV, phone about the size of your average hatchback car, but clean, tidy and private (when not hot-bedding)

Atlantic Dawn · 14-05-2019 8:09pm

1. Do you have good broadband?
2. Do you have Sky Sports and other channels to watch tv?
3. Do you have your own private cabin with toilet and shower or have to share?
4. How many hours off per day do you have?
5. Is the food good?
6. Is there a shop on the rig or a method of getting day to day things outside food that you would need?
7. Any tax breaks for working on the rig?

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 8:21pm

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

1. Do you have good broadband?
2. Do you have Sky Sports and other channels to watch tv?
3. Do you have your own private cabin with toilet and shower or have to share?
4. How many hours off per day do you have?
5. Is the food good?
6. Is there a shop on the rig or a method of getting day to day things outside food that you would need?
7. Any tax breaks for working on the rig?

1..average, depends on "atmospheric conditions"..we are about 150km from land, in Norwegian Sea.
2. sometimes
3 only share if you are hot bedding in Norwegian sector pretty civilised up here:)
4 start at 6am..finish usually 8pm
5 excellent, 4 star.
6 yeah but pretty basic..sweets,razors ,etc, smokes opens 3 times a day for an hour.
7 No, but all expenses are paid, flights, hotel, food.If I work outside Norwegian territory I only pay 10% tax, but that don't happen too often.

SlowBlowin · 14-05-2019 8:22pm

Hi there

Can I ask how concerned workers are with the SuperPuma helicopters ? Every time one goes down there is lots of talk in the media about inherent gearbox issues, I don't even know if they are still flying..

Have you ever witness someone going "cabin crazy" ?

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 8:30pm

Pumas don't fly here, only as medi-evac and rescue, something to do with their "hover capabilities". Was a lot of bother last year about them coming back, but Unions stopped that.

Guy I worked with a few years back was medi-evac'd (depression!) helicopter got to 2000m and he pushed out the window and jumped. Really sad, was a nice guy, marriage problems, which you hear a lot of.

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 8:36pm

day.jpg

night.jpg

give you some idea of the scale. 640 people 150km from land, 1hr by helicopter, rescue ship nearby, crew change out 88 people every weekday (6 helicopters).

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 8:39pm

Fra ml dc.jpg

that's us in a storm a while back, Floatel Superior.

Tikki Wang Wang · 14-05-2019 8:42pm

nlrkjos wrote: »

Fra ml dc.jpg

that's us in a storm a while back, Floatel Superior.

F me!

Whereisgalway · 14-05-2019 8:48pm

Have you ever hugged a tree?

SlowBlowin · 14-05-2019 8:55pm

Hey there again,

Does anyone fish off the platform/rig, if yes have there been any notable catches ?

Ever been genuinely sh!t scared in a storm, if so which one and what was the sea like ?

Ever seen a freak wave ?

As a construction supervisor I assume you have to "Jerry rig" or "MacGyver" something together when needs must, if so what bush fix are you most proud of ?

Monaghan4Sam · 14-05-2019 9:00pm

Any electricians on the rig? What hours do they do and do they get paid weeks off at home? Cheers

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 9:05pm

No fishing off our rig, but some you can. I saw a guy catching a 30 kg cod off the Troll A, they vacuum pack them there or eat on board !
Never really been scared, if I can't control it, then just wait n' see !!! no freak waves, but 24/25 m is freak enough for me!
McGyver stuff, not really acceptable offshore (Norwegian) too much can go wrong, and when it go's wrong out there it can go really wrong. Ive seen production slowed or stopped for the want of a bolt.

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 9:20pm

Monaghan4Sam wrote: »

Any electricians on the rig? What hours do they do and do they get paid weeks off at home? Cheers

yeah electro guys/gals, they are in big demand, especially if they can do instruments.You work for 170 hours a shift (+OT), plus extra hours are paid to make up 6 weeks @ 37.5 hrs per week. so in a nutshell you get 6 weeks pay for your shift, the benefit is the time off. E.G a pipefitter after tax would come home with 5/6 grand for his shift (monthly pay) but you have 28 days free time...lot of folk I know work for some of the time off.

mickmac76 · 14-05-2019 9:21pm

Do you have to work nights as well. Are you working every day when you're on the rig. Do you have medical staff for out there or would you have to be evacuated if you were ill.

pocketse · 14-05-2019 9:22pm

Interesting profession !!

What nationalities do you work with ?
Worked on a couple of cruise ships before and full of filipino workers who were working for a fraction of western wage and 11 month on one off. Anything like that on rigs?
Do they fly you back to Ireland each break ?

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 9:23pm

Whereisgalway wrote: »

Have you ever hugged a tree?

Not really....but lets just say hugs at homecomings can be "interesting";);)

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 9:26pm

pocketse wrote: »

Interesting profession !!

What nationalities do you work with ?
Worked on a couple of cruise ships before and full of filipino workers who were working for a fraction of western wage and 11 month on one off. Anything like that on rigs?
Do they fly you back to Ireland each break ?

mostly Scandanavian, no slave labor in Norwegian sector. Yeah, flights and hotel, (I have to stay one night on the beach) are all paid for.

alchemist33 · 14-05-2019 9:27pm

Have you read any of Paul Carter's books? If so, is it really like that or is he bullsh*tting?

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 9:31pm

mickmac76 wrote: »

Do you have to work nights as well. Are you working every day when you're on the rig. Do you have medical staff for out there or would you have to be evacuated if you were ill.

Night shift, I don't do, but normal routine is 75/25 day/night...14 12 hour nights can be punishing, medics on board with very good "hospital" facilities 1 first aider to every 25 personnel also. Medics can fix you up until med-evac heli come, medics are trained same as ambulance paramedics, maybe more so.

Monaghan4Sam · 14-05-2019 9:33pm

nlrkjos wrote: »

yeah electro guys/gals, they are in big demand, especially if they can do instruments.You work for 170 hours a shift (+OT), plus extra hours are paid to make up 6 weeks @ 37.5 hrs per week. so in a nutshell you get 6 weeks pay for your shift, the benefit is the time off. E.G a pipefitter after tax would come home with 5/6 grand for his shift (monthly pay) but you have 28 days free time...lot of folk I know work for some of the time off.

Okay so you would work the 170-190 in 2 weeks then have four weeks off? Thanks for taking the time to answer everyone's questions!

endacl · 14-05-2019 9:34pm

Two questions.

What’s the shortest time you’d need to retrain to fly a space shuttle and blow up an asteroid?

Do you like Aerosmith?

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 9:37pm

alchemist33 wrote: »

Have you read any of Paul Carter's books? If so, is it really like that or is he bullsh*tting?

Never heard of him! but probably bull... its a job like any other, only at sea! can be exciting,interesting, boring..excitement and adventure, first time out, maybe ! helicopter is same as Luas, gets you there. When I was asked to answer Q's on my job I honestly thought "who the fck would want to know!!!!!"

alchemist33 · 14-05-2019 9:40pm

nlrkjos wrote: »

Never heard of him! but probably bull... its a job like any other, only at sea! can be exciting,interesting, boring..excitement and adventure, first time out, maybe ! helicopter is same as Luas, gets you there. When I was asked to answer Q's on my job I honestly thought "who the fck would want to know!!!!!"

Thanks. It's such an alien life to most of us; it's just fascinating.

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 9:41pm

endacl wrote: »

Two questions.

What’s the shortest time you’d need to retrain to fly a space shuttle and blow up an asteroid?

Do you like Aerosmith?

Not too sure, why don't you ask your shrink when he calls to give you your meds before bed time.

Cushtie · 14-05-2019 9:50pm

Great thread. Thanks for doing the AMA.

Is it all North Sea or do you go all over the world?

Whereisgalway · 14-05-2019 9:53pm

Have you ever stood on the edge of the platform and peed into the ocean?

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 9:54pm

Cushtie wrote: »

Great thread. Thanks for doing the AMA.

Is it all North Sea or do you go all over the world?

Just North, Norwegian and Barents Sea's, ten years back, all over the world and various other places

14-05-2019 10:17pm

Interesting AMA

1. What attracts you about this type of work as opposed to working on land at more “sociable” hours.

2. How do you spend all that time off?

3. Do fights occur much between staff? (Cabin fever stuff)

4. Is there much demand for jobs in this sector or do you always find it easy to get the next generation to sign up for such work?

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 10:28pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Interesting AMA

1. What attracts you about this type of work as opposed to working on land at more “sociable” hours.

2. How do you spend all that time off?

3. Do fights occur much between staff? (Cabin fever stuff)

4. Is there much demand for jobs in this sector or do you always find it easy to get the next generation to sign up for such work?

€80,000 + for working 18 weeks a year, that's kinda attractive

Chilling out ! few pints...motorbike...dog...garden...wife, not necessarily in that order !

No not really, people just have to get along and most just accept that.

NO, this generation just don't want it, smart phones banned, and it is a fairly tough job, no way to start out a relationship especially in these days of high demands on relationships.

Degag · 14-05-2019 10:37pm

Great stuff!

How do you spend the little free time you have on board? Read, Watch TV or just fall into bed?

How many meals do you get a day and how much time do you get for them?

You said the food is 4* i think? What would be a typical offering for breakfast, lunch, dinner etc?

Interesting how you said no beer.... is this just a policy of the particular company you work for or is it industry wide?

Apart from bingo on the Saturday night are there any other social events?

Thanks!

cefh17 · 14-05-2019 10:43pm

nlrkjos wrote: »

€80,000 + for working 18 weeks a year, that's kinda attractive

Chilling out ! few pints...motorbike...dog...garden...wife, not necessarily in that order !

No not really, people just have to get along and most just accept that.

NO, this generation just don't want it, smart phones banned, and it is a fairly tough job, no way to start out a relationship especially in these days of high demands on relationships.

Why are they banned? Completely?

14-05-2019 10:45pm

Great AMA - thanks a lot!

Do the rigs sway at lot - and if so - guess you're used to it or is it negligible?
Do you get agoraphobia on open dry land at all?
Do you surf?

Does the gender imbalance get odd at all (I'm a woman working in an almost entirely male dominated environment, and every now and then I get fed up and tell them so. They're always cool about it and know to humour me and let it pass

) but must be colder male on male? Or is the atmosphere more professional / military like?
Do your colleagues tend to just bunker down and sleep during off hours or are there mess halls/are they all secretly writing novels etc?
Do you have any exercise facilities? (guessing no space for treadmills/weight machines) :pac:

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 11:00pm

cefh17 wrote: »

Why are they banned? Completely?

No mobile phones allowed offshore...remember you are working on a bomb,gas comes up at enormous pressures, leaks occur, one spark in the wrong place and lots of folk can be incinerated, some platforms under construction might allow them for duration of construction, but when they become "live", leave them in the heli-port lockers.

should have mentioned...gas we bring up has no mercapton to give it a "smell", so its odourless and flammable.

bfa1509 · 14-05-2019 11:01pm

Looks like there's no wifi connection on the oil rig. All those questions shall remain unanswered forever...

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 11:12pm

Degag wrote: »

Great stuff!

How do you spend the little free time you have on board? Read, Watch TV or just fall into bed?

How many meals do you get a day and how much time do you get for them?

You said the food is 4* i think? What would be a typical offering for breakfast, lunch, dinner etc?

Interesting how you said no beer.... is this just a policy of the particular company you work for or is it industry wide?

Apart from bingo on the Saturday night are there any other social events?

Thanks!

socialise in common rooms, smoking or non, cinema (40 seater) but mostly sleep, it can be a long day.

5.30am Breakfast is choice..fry,cereal, fruit.
9am snack 1/2 hr
12 lunch 1 hr..3 choices +salad
3pm 1/2 hr snack
7pm dinner...3 choices +salad
same for night shift.
like a hotel carvery really.

E.G..my last dinner was choice of roast beef, fish n' chips or sweet and sour chicken or salad. Fresh bread always there. good food to keep the troops happy.
all platforms have a no alcohol policy.

apart from bingo, Quiz night we have a cinema, big sport events are shown here and also some of the latest movies and series.

DoctorEdgeWild · 14-05-2019 11:16pm

What an interesting AMA, thanks for doing it and best of luck to you, enjoy!

nlrkjos · 14-05-2019 11:21pm

Cali_girl wrote: »

Great AMA - thanks a lot!

Do the rigs sway at lot - and if so - guess you're used to it or is it negligible?
Do you get agoraphobia on open dry land at all?
Do you surf?
Does the gender imbalance get odd at all (I'm a woman working in an almost entirely male dominated environment, and every now and then I get fed up and tell them so. They're always cool about it and know to humour me and let it pass ) but must be colder male on male? Or is the atmosphere more professional / military like?
Do your colleagues tend to just bunker down and sleep during off hours or are there mess halls/are they all secretly writing novels etc?
Do you have any exercise facilities? (guessing no space for treadmills/weight machines) :pac:

you get used to it. it can be a wee bit frustrating when back home for the first day or two...all you've done for 14 days is work and talk about work...so when somebody starts on about local goings on..you're like WTF is this about, and yes open space can be disconcerting for a few hours.
we do have a gym...spinning, rowing, walking, but also there's whats called a hobby room, I do a lot of painting here, a girl holds yoga classes on her shift, some play guitar, but you kinda have to book your time there as it is a popular room. Atmosphere is professional, women offshore do the same jobs as the lads, not being condescending here but no "girly stuff" if I can do it...so can you!!

nlrkjos · 15-05-2019 12:18am

Typical day for me...

5.15 am..breakfast, weetabix and an egg. coffee and a smoke.
5.45..handover from night shift supervisor.
6.00..safety brief with OIM and other supers +foremen
6.30..safety brief with working crew,task designation.
7.00 platform "walkabout" all areas, all jobs, meet crane deck crew for lift operations schedule.plan extra tasks.
9.00 snack..usually a few bics,coffee and a smoke.
9.30 office, daily reports,crew change outs, update job status.
11.00 meeting with supervisors,safety reps,OIM to update all info.
12. lunch for me coffee smoke and maybe call home (don't eat lunch)
1pm. walkabout, chat to the lads/lasses listen to their concerns, after all they do the job!!!!
3.00 snack, usually sandwich coffee + smoke
3.30. update tasks and send report to land office.
5.00 walkabout with safety guy and logistics, try to plan for tomorrow.
7.00 dinner, pot luck, but my hope is always pasta dish (twice a week)
8.00 walkabout with night shift foreman.
9.00 clean up days issues and plan tomorrow,(can take an hour!!!)
10.00 chill out in smoking room, maybe have a game of scrabble...monopoly !!!!
11/11.30 bed.

Only real difference is Saturday and Sunday... Sat is finish at 8pm and go to bingo or quiz.
Sunday, finish at 8, then we have an evacuation/fire drill for an hour, sometimes internal muster, sometimes outside lifeboats, I can also be sent in to living quarters with a rescue team to find a "missing person", not very nice wearing a survival suit, air bottle and carrying a stretcher (only happens once or twice a year)..

So it's pretty mundane really, routine is everything offshore, so we stick to that, it works. Don't rush, don't stress, after all the oil/gas has been down there for a 100 million years, it's not going to go anywhere in a hurry!

jochenstacker · 15-05-2019 5:10am

Absolutely fascinating stuff!
Just one more question on phone/internet, you said there is broadband, so I presume you are allowed a laptop or similar? Or do they have internet cafés on board?

Gangu · 15-05-2019 5:30am

Curious that they won’t allow mobiles because of the fire hazard but you can smoke.

What’s the strangest thing that you have seen in terms of natural phenomena?

eurokev · 15-05-2019 5:57am

One of the best AMA's yet.

I qualified in E&I last year. I work for a large chemical company who kept me on. I was made up to an engineer on finishing my apprenticeship, because I'm older over 30 and have a cert and degree in the instrument area too.
TBH I miss the tools and have always been interested in off shore.
I think the working enviorment would really suit me.

How would I go about getting a job on a rig??
It's it unionised?
How demanding is the actual work, is there much work actually going on or is it fairly relaxed?
Is there perks, bonuses, shares, health insurance etc??
Are you actually aware you are on a rig? Or is it like being on a cruise ship, where it only hits you that you are on a ship when you go up on deck?

Now ye're talking - to an off-shore oil rig worker

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