Offshore Life
This is my 400th post... Wow... But anyway....
First and foremost, to be able to go offshore, you have to apply for a PSL. Personal Safety Logbook. Then, one has endure a course called BOSIET. That's an acronym for Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training. It involves dipping you in a helicopter module into a pool six times. Also basic offshore survival, fire fighting and survival in the sea. A three days course and it depends, some find it fun, some find it tough and scary. And this course emphasise on one thing all the time. SAFETY. After the course, you would have to validate your PSL. And also, you would have to be certified fit to be in the course itself. The procedure is quite complicated, there are so many pre-requisites. This is because once you validate it, your personal details will be put into a system (LOGOS) and this system logs your whereabouts. So in a way, it is not very easy to go offshore. There are a lot of safety pre-requisite for it. But there is a free pass if you want to visit, but you'd have to be a minister or a VVIP for that. Your training is valid for three years. After that, you'd have to go for a day refresher's course called FOSET (Further Offshore Safety and Emergency Training) before your expiry date. Otherwise you'd have to do the BOSIET course all over again.
Flight booking will be done via departmental focal points. They have access to LOGOS and could book your flight or boat to offshore platforms. Offshore platforms are divided into two major assets, namely EAST Asset, WEST Asset and DARAT Asset. East Asset are the Champion, Iron duke, Bugan, Magpie and Mampak (latest) field and most can be seen from Jerudong Beach. West Assets are the Ampa, Fairley, Baram and Egret field and can be seen quite near from Belait Beach. DARAT Asset is just Tali and Seria North Flank field, you can see them if you are nearby Lumut or Anduki Beach. I am based in the East. The Champion field. Most of the time, to get to EAST, you'd have to fly via chopper. And for WEST and DARAT, their normal mode of transport will be by boat.
Offshore life. Before your board your flight, it is absolutely compulsory for you to watch a safety video, every single time you fly. When you arrive, you have to check your names into the LOGOS system with you PSL at the Administration counter. If you're new to the facility, you will be prompt to watch a safety video. You will have to do this again, if you have not been to the facility more than three months. You also have to book for your bed offshore, prior to your flight, because beds are scarce here. I mean, it's not a holiday spot here. You'd have to justify your reason if you need a bed here. It's very complicated. Unless if you're a resident, you'd be booked accordingly by the Offshore Senior Administrator.
Food is served every 3 hours starting from 6a.m till 9p.m, and after 9p.m, there will be instant noodles available for you if you feel peckish in the middle of the night. And if you're working in the night shift, food is also available at night. Basically, the kitchen staff works around the clock every day.
Almost everyone wakes up at 5a.m as the working hours are 6a.m to 6p.m. Everyone is unique in their own way here, some work in the fields at unmanned platforms and some even have to camp out there. Of course, no bonfires are allowed, we are producing hydrocarbons after all. Food will be sent by area boats to those staying on unmanned platforms. For me, I don't usually have breakfast, as it's too early to introduce food into my digestive system, so I usually have the morning tea break at 9a.m, skipped lunch, but I take the 3p.m afternoon tea break and 6p.m dinner and skip the rest. Seriously, I don't know if you could handle food every three hours. But believe me if you could, you'd be obese in not time at all. LOL.
After dinner, I usually stay in my room and watch some TV. Or I'd go outside for a breeze as my body starts to digest my food. Usually accompanied with an iPod. Just looking out, staring out into the sea and enjoying the breeze. Then at 9p.m, I'd go to the gym to work out. Why so late you may wonder, it's because I don't want to run with a full stomach and recently one of the treadmill is not functioning well, so I wanted to avoid waiting for others to finish their run or jog or walk. I finish about 11p.m, showered and ready for bed, some other times, I'd join the guys playing snooker or just chit-chatting with in the mess room... Okay, I'm lying, in the smoking room... And when Aiedee is around, we probably cooked ourselves some instant noodles. Then, back to the room and enjoying the very slow internet connection and bed, the next day, it's the same thing all over. And there are no weekends here.
We would know if it is a Sunday, because every Sunday, there will be a 2-3 hours of Safety and Information Sharing. The crew (operators) share their knowledge and decimate all important events or work related issues to everybody. And usually, the fire drill or exercise will be done on a Sunday.
As for the others vary, from playing snooker, playing darts or spending their time in the smoking room joking and chatting, some chit chatting or watched TV in the mess room, and depending on each crew, some crew love to do karaoke at the mustering station area, some played Playstation3 in the conference room, some just like being cooped up in their rooms watching TV or enjoying the slow internet connection and they are mostly downloading games or other media via torrents. And usually by the end of each shift, the guys who knows how to play music instrument form up a band. Most of the time, they never finish any song... they just jam along with whatever they like. I will try to get some pictures of the night life of these guys.
Personally, I find it a little boring. Work is just a few meters away from where I live, I'm surrounded by sea (although can be a blessing), I don't have much friends here, my friends are usually my subordinates i.e. contractors. But it all depends with the crew at that time. Some operators are very friendly and some are not. See, I'm not a permanent resident here, even I've stayed longer than those who permanently work here, this platform is not 'home' to us. We're guests. And so, we're treated like overstayed guests, sometimes. But we're not here to have fun or live off anybody, we're here to do work. But it all depends. I have more fun with the other crew (Crew A). They're much lively and friendly and they don't 'treat' us like guests at all, they are a few that do. So that's it, I guess, pretty much routine around here. So that is why sometimes, I have nothing to write as things go pretty much in the norm.
I guess pictures can say a thousand words. And maybe if I have the chance I will take pictures. Wow, so much have been said. So I'll just live it to that, don't hesitate to ask or comment if you don't understand anything I wrote here. I would be more than welcome to answer your question. Until then, take good care of yourself and Ciao!
Comments