oilfieldbasura

"Wot’s all this then? Wot’s all this?” said Frank. I kept a perfectly straight face and said: “It’s the Sabbath”. It was 5 o’clock in the morning and we were both in the galley for breakfast. What was animating my supervisor was that I was dressed in a dark wool suit, a white shirt and a tartan tie. Frank and the rest of our crew were more casually dressed. My choice of attire had been inspired by a talented story-teller from Arbroath. He had been the life and soul of the coffee-shop on another rig. One tale was of a ship crewed by hard-drinking blasphemers from the western isles. For six days and nights they would drink and swear with skill and enthusiasm. Then, on the sabbath, they would dress up in good quality suits and, Bible in hand, would reveal a hitherto unseen side of their character. After breakfast we assembled in a Mechanic’s Workshop prior to going out on deck. It was here that I began my ministry, Bible in hand. The guys were still sleepy and no-one doubted my s...

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 Their license to operate could easily be withdrawn by requiring some of the bells and whistles that were being fitted to Norwegian new-build rigs and boats.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...