# Offshore



## david freeman

In the current stand off with chopper pilots for the UKCS on strike? Any of you old timers got advice on how to get to and fro for leave patterns to an offshore insatllation when you have done your stint?


----------



## Nick Balls

Well of course the typical supply vessel always had accommodation for passengers( up to 12) The problem with using a supply boat these days is. 1) Basket transfers (Inherently dangerous) are not only discouraged but require a huge amount of H&S paperwork to even contemplate .(Last time I did one of these was in 2007). 2) Time taken to reach many Northern platforms by supply vessel is well over 24 hours in some cases which can increase up to 3 days in extreme weather conditions.
Southern North sea a different situation and in fact vessels are now used for special operations as floatels. DP and heave compensated gangways make this a possibility but again only in good conditions.
At the end of the day its not a very sensible idea and a bit of an old chestnut in that each time guys offshore panic over getting off they fondly imagine that this is a simple matter of asking a passing supply vessel to get them home............ For the very small crew of the supply boat of course its a total pain . You only get one cook on a small vessel and having another twelve people on board is a bit much. No best answer is to sort out the pilots and get back to normal.


----------



## Don Matheson

Just grin and bear it Dave, not really much you can do. The choppers will come when the strike is over and with luck your name will still be near the top of the list.
If however, you are not part of a regular crew, perhaps the company will look at taking you off by boat. Dont think they are so keen on that these days.
Have you seen all the movies, then there is always the news or do as most guys do get your head down in case you are on shift tonight.

Don


----------



## gdynia

Dave only other way is if your a good swimmer
got stuck alot myself in past not nice feeling


----------



## Treborvfr

david freeman said:


> In the current stand off with chopper pilots for the UKCS on strike? Any of you old timers got advice on how to get to and fro for leave patterns to an offshore insatllation when you have done your stint?


Is this just in Aberdeen? I've not heard anything about strikes down here in the East Irish Sea, as far as I know ours are still flying.

Bob


----------



## Nick Balls

A little off thread but this is interesting

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=81579


----------



## Ron Dean

Nick Balls said:


> Well of course the typical supply vessel always had accommodation for passengers( up to 12) The problem with using a supply boat these days is. 1) Basket transfers (Inherently dangerous) are not only discouraged but require a huge amount of H&S paperwork to even contemplate .(Last time I did one of these was in 2007). 2) Time taken to reach many Northern platforms by supply vessel is well over 24 hours in some cases which can increase up to 3 days in extreme weather conditions.
> Southern North sea a different situation and in fact vessels are now used for special operations as floatels. DP and heave compensated gangways make this a possibility but again only in good conditions.
> At the end of the day its not a very sensible idea and a bit of an old chestnut in that each time guys offshore panic over getting off they fondly imagine that this is a simple matter of asking a passing supply vessel to get them home............ For the very small crew of the supply boat of course its a total pain . You only get one cook on a small vessel and having another twelve people on board is a bit much. No best answer is to sort out the pilots and get back to normal.


I remember in the early 1980's in the Southern sector, using the supply vessels to get back to Great Yarmouth (only a 3 or 4 hour trip), usually when the fog came down and the sea was pretty calm.From memory the contraption that was used was something like a 8 foot diameter wooden ring with 6 inch? planks, suspended by (maybe) 6 ropes from the platform crane hook. You stood on the ring and held on to the ropes.
It was often a quick decision to go ashore this way, so I'm sure there was no H&S paperwork or risk assessment.
I never knew what the cradle contraption was called, but it did seem purpose made to do the job.


----------



## tugboat

We always called it a 'personnel basket' but some people call it a 'Billy Pugh' for some reason.


----------



## joebuckham

tugboat said:


> We always called it a 'personnel basket' but some people call it a 'Billy Pugh' for some reason.


google billy pugh(Thumb)


----------



## Ron Stringer

As an occasional user in the 1960s/'70s, it always seemed to me that the priorities were wrong in that your bags and test equipment went inside the basket and you were made to hang onto the outside!

Not my favourite mode of travel.


----------



## gordy

Ah the good old days.
If we got stuck on for more than 3 days, (usually fog), we stayed on and did 2 weeks, (we were week on/off). 2nd week was double time, so the trip was called a golden fortnight, then we got 2 weeks off(Pint)


----------



## RayJordandpo

"Billy Pugh Company" (bpc) is the name of the company that make personnel baskets. They have come a long way since the sixties, the one we have on board our vessel is a recent design, rigid grab lines and you stand inside the ring and not on the outside perimeter like the old ones. Then there is the "frog" where you sit down strapped in, never did like those contraptions, always felt completely helpless.


----------



## Blackal

Personnel transports are usually considered to be the last resort, with the final say being left to the personnel being transported (after the OIM)

Statistics for fatalities when using a Personnel Basket in the developed world - against that of helicopter travel???

Maybe not so dangerous after all?

Al


----------



## Ray Mac

Paid off twice offshore Angola by basket bloody glad was wearing dark trousers(Pint)(Pint) needed a few of them when arrived at shoreside.

Ray(egg)


----------



## Ron Stringer

Blackal said:


> Statistics for fatalities when using a Personnel Basket in the developed world - against that of helicopter travel???
> 
> Maybe not so dangerous after all?
> 
> Al


Well I didn't like either but given the choice in typical North Sea winter weather, between helicopters and a basket transfer onto a standby or supply vessel (followed by a very uncomfortable trip of several hours in lumpy seas), I always took the first option if it was available.

Never considered the statistics on those occasions.


----------



## johnjames06

*Personnel and baggage nets*

Ron Stringer, No the priorities were spo(@)t on, equipment is expendable you are not. Can you begin to imagine what it would be like inside the net , full of north sea tigers if the rope broke?. Does'nt bear thinking about does it. John. Regarding getting ashore I once got a lift from a crew changing standby boat but I dont think they have them anymore, John.


----------

