You have the training – now get your act together

Published in Blowout  February 1992
Leroy McGregor

CLANGING metal, shouted orders, indescribable filth and regular accidents … to outsiders, a drill-floor operation seems like a scene from Armageddon. It is sad to reflect that of those who hire, supervise, fire and harass drill crews, many have never swung a tong with feeling.
Being part of a five-man team who can move one-ton lengths of steel with precision, skill and grace, can be a spiritually uplifting experience. By working together and covering each other’s weaknesses you gain respect for the rest of the crew and a unique insight into the fundamentals of “making hole”.
The job you learn on the drill floor would be a great apprenticeship for further responsibilities with a service company, in the office or as an oil company representative. If people with practical drill-floor experience were given wider responsibility in their industry they could avert many accidents and eliminate much dubious expenditure.
In the real world, the drilling hand must keep his mouth shut or quit. To quit in favour of a company which knows how to treat a skilled man is a time-honoured tradition. Unfortunately this tradition relates to an industry where there is genuine competition from contractors to employ the “good hands”.
To quit the drilling industry altogether is a popular career decision which keeps many office boys and girls in regular work. This choice will leave you feeling frustrated and defeated.
To stay in the kitchen and keep your mouth shut requires a great deal of self-control and I have every respect for those who can do it. Unfortunately, human psychology can take only so much pressure and the frustrations you bottle up on the job have to come out, often on the beach. Often with catastrophic results for your marriage and your life.
Our employers, the drilling contractors and their employers the oil companies, act collectively on matters which affect them collectively. This is strictly against oil industry traditions concerning free competition.
Having tried to look at every possibility for recovering the loss of prestige which my trade suffered in 1986, I would be glad to read about anyone else’s suggestions. If you have any ideas about how we can influence the powers that be in our industry, write to Blowout.

As a member of a drill crew you have been trained to act collectively. We have a duty to act collectively and take no more shit.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jebsen's Aladdin

Image
An ex-Aladdinaut and former merchant seaman once said of Jebsen's “the offshore side was real good”. I wouldn’t quite go that far but I stuck it out longer on Jebsen’s Aladdin than I did anywhere else. She must have had something going for her. One factor in the Aladdin story was Atle Jebsen. The maximo honcho of Jebsen’s Shipping was also on the Board of B.P. Norway. In 1982 B.P. Norway was looking for a semi-submersible drilling rig to work in Norwegian waters. The Norwegian Government did not operate a protected economy at that time, (or so they said). They would allow a token foreign flag rig or supply boat to operate in Norwegian waters; from time to time. These vessels were usually old and technically inferior (on paper). Their license to operate could easily be withdrawn by requiring some of the bells and whistles that were being fitted to Norwegian new-build rigs and boats. This was not done to protect the jobs of Norwegians; it was a matter of “safety”. Th
Read more

Harvey Schnee and the Bow Valley III

Image
Copyright © Reader’s Digest Association Far East Ltd The artwork by Reader's Digest is based on a photograph of an Aker semi-submersible-drilling-rig. You can read the name Maersk Vinlander, just below the port-side crane. I worked on the Vinlander in 1995. The first unusual item that catches your eye are the 'barber-poles' at bow and stern of the rig. It was soon explained to new arrivals that these flexible fibreglass poles were designed to keep the lifeboats away from the rig's hull while they were being launched. This was not another case of spending money on delusions-of-safety. Off Canada's east-coast sea-ice can build up around the rig's legs and interfere with the lifeboat's journey to open water. This particular Aker-rig had been built in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. She had originally been called the Bow Valley III. I soon found another Canadian link on the drill-floor. In a shack at one side there was a large and carefully-designed t
Read more

Ocean Rambler

Image
I began my offshore career on the Ocean Kokuei. It was the summer of 1975 and the older guy who was with me in Aberdeen Buroo assured me ‘Roughpainters’ would be a job painting trawlers in the harbour. The very small office in Tullos was a hive of activity. I filled in a clearly American application-form and waited to be called into the inner office for my interview. I was nineteen and the first question was a tough one: “What size boots do you take?” The Kokuei was drilling for Burmah when I joined her but she went on to drill for Chevron ; when Burmah went bust. I’d like to tell you more about that story but the material facts are obscured by a sea-mist of bull-droppings. Jim Sillars once spoke about Scotland being the only country in history to find oil and become poorer. Burmah in 1974 found the Ninian Field and went on to become insolvent. Odeco had four rigs in Scottish waters at the time. The Ocean Victory had a steady crew with a slow turnover of personnel. The Kokuei a
Read more