Post on 25-Jul-2016
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eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 2 5 / 2 0 1 6
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
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Total Reality Is Here >Searching For Tomorrow’s World Today > And now for something completely different... >
The Show Must Go On >Down to Earth Ladies > Under the Earth Ladies >It’s All In The Bag >
Reality Is Virtually Here >
The Show Must Go OnOn December 1, in one 24 hour period, Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu had 300mm of rain – the wettest day in one hundred years. >
Something different...Careers are a journey – for some the destination and route are determined from day one – for others circumstance, fate and opportunity are sign posts that lead to unusual and unpredictable experiences. >
Change is what Kjell is all about. He heads a team of six seasoned experts, most with experience in the industry within oil majors. >
Total Reality Is HereAnyone looking in through the window of what used to be a garage and storeroom could be forgiven in thinking that Maersk Training in Svendborg had invested in a new gas or oil-fired central heating system. >
Reality Is Virtually HereIn 1998 guests and participants stared in awe at what
was the solution to a major training problem.. >
content
Under the Earth LadiesThe role of women in the Middle East is an emerging and changing one. When put in an oil industry setting it is a particularly challenging one. >
It’s All In The BagIt weighs about 15 kgs and looks like a squared-up hiking backpack, but for someone working in the remoteness of an offshore wind turbine, it could mean the difference between life and death. >
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Down to Earth LadiesIt is probably the most sophisticated simulator on the planet. It prepares a select group of people to zoom round the earth at 27,600 kph. >
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Cover photograph: The Power and the Glory – sunset in a Brazilian oil field by Rodrigo Dias
Searching For Tomorrow’s World Today
3
The first 15 years of the new millennium have
whizzed by – perhaps because they have
been so eventful. On the world stage new
abbreviations immediately create horrific
imagery, 9/11, IS... in the Oil & Gas industry
mention Macondo or a barrel at $147 and
people shudder... in life we said hello to
Wikipedia (2001), You Tube (2005) and the
iPhone (2007) and goodbye to the Pyrenean
Ibex and Concorde (both 2000). Osama bin
Laden and the Space Shuttle (both 2011) and
most recently David Bowie. In politics the US
elected their first Afro-American and Germany
their first woman Presidents.
Looking to the near future, like within four
years, it is expected we’ll have a universal flu
vaccine, a drug to prevent obesity and polio
eradicated. Spying drones will literally be
the size of insects, we have 3D printers in our
homes and the City Circle Line will open in
Copenhagen. Europe gets a missile defensive
shield whilst Africa gets a central bank and
currency. Further down the line Uganda
becomes an oil-producing nation and Nigeria
loses its last piece of rainforest. If that’s not
enough, they expect to do the first head
transplant, fairly soon.
Busy and exciting on a global level, so we
decided to look a little to the future as to
where training and the basic set-up of our
industries might sit in the next 15 years. A
forward-thinking operations manager looks
round the corner to predict how a classroom
will operate and we talk to someone whose job
it is to look into the future.
We also look back a little for the past is the
foundation of the future, no matter what
Henry Ford said. Frank and Sue have shared
20 career moves between them and they are
still a long long way from retirement. One
of the more terrifying global predictions is
that California will have an earthquake of
enormous power, true nature and nothing
to do with man tampering with our precious
environment. India is no stranger to adverse
weather conditions and we see how one
training centre carried on operating for the
last month of 2015 despite the heaviest rain,
and flooding, for a century.
Richard Lightbodyrli039@maersktraining.com
yesterday today tomorrow
Hamburgefintsiv 4
There is an image which we
share here. A phone handset
held aloft by a piece of rope which
is tied to a pipe in the ceiling. It
still hangs in an un-used room
in the cellar of Maersk Training
in Svendborg. Around it, in an
area too clean to gather dust, two
chairs face aftward in what is
tech-equipped as a mini bridge.
In 1998 guests and participants
stared in awe at what was the
solution to a major training
Reality Is Virtually Here
The old phrase, ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ needs the rider, ‘and the grandmother of innovation’ when it comes to the on-going technological challenge of training for the oil & gas, maritime and wind industries.
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problem. Up until then there was
no platform for winch operators
and navigators to do what they
did in real life, cooperate in
anchor-handling situations. The
real life result was that accidents
and damage were all too frequent
on board supply vessels.
WHAT’S IN THE BLACK BOOK?Simulation had been about for
years in terms of relatively simple
manoeuvring, but there was no
way of representing wire-scoping
over the stern and the external
forces it created and how it
affected performance and safety.
The instructors opened a ‘black
book’ into which they logged all
accidents and mishaps in terms
of their dollar significance – by
2006 it ran to many hundreds of
millions.
Dynamic Positioning was added
in 2003, but it was already
becoming clear that technology,
An engine without oil, a pen for
a spanner, an engineer probes
for improved performance.
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Hamburgefintsiv 6
Looking aft on the 360 degree
bridge. Bridge A can be
interconnected with all the
simulators in MOSAIC for a
multi-dimensional ‘real life’
learning experience.
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in terms of screen resolution and
graphics, were racing ahead of
what the cellar-based simulator
could offer.
The decision was taken to
create a new focus in training,
a purpose-built complex with
four bridges simulators, the main
one being a full 360˚experience;
all supplied with the most
current bridge-issue equipment.
Somewhere along the road the
building became known as the
Maersk Offshore Simulation And
Innovation Centre, MOSAIC.
‘We had the offshore support
vessels, but we needed the
“things” they needed to support
to actively interact, so we got a
jack-up rig to tow around and a
semi-sub rig to run anchors from.
We started doing jacking training,
tow mastering and dynamic
positioning in an offshore
environment including deepwater
drilling’ says Operations
Manager, Tonny Møller.
GOING GLOBALTonny Møller has been deeply
involved for almost two decades
in the project which has grown
from a solution in a converted
storeroom to entire purpose-built
complexes in Aberdeen, Houston,
Dubai, Rio de Janeiro and where
it all started, Svendborg in
Denmark.
The project which started in
a cellar chasing technology
was now employing it as its
servant. A second MOSAIC was
commissioned in order to add to
the realism of the scenarios.
‘MOSAIC 2 was actually just
meant to be a drilling simulator
connected to Bridge A in the
original MOSAIC, and it could
easily have been just that.
But then we added the engine
room and the crane because
dynamic positioning is worth
nothing without the engine room
support. Now we are going into
dive support, subsea support
where the crane is putting down
‘Christmas trees’ – here the
cooperation between the crane
driver and the DP operator is
crucial,’ says Tonny.
AND TOMORROW... So where, or what, next? Looking
into the future Tonny sees
technology placing training on
new levels. ‘Virtual reality will be
the big thing,’ says Tonny. ‘BOP for
example, one client had 18 days of
downtime because the BOP failed
and the spare BOP wasn’t in order.
With a virtual reality room they
could go in and rehearse changing
that gasket to totally understand
what was needed, the time saved
from downtime would have paid
for the investment.’
In the meantime the investment
that Maersk Training has
made through invention and
innovation, virtually worldwide,
is becoming reality. ●
"Virtual reality will be the big thing" Hanging on the phone; the old
phone in the old simulator hangs
in the semi darkness, silent. All
the chatter is happening In the
new MOSAIC.
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Anyone looking in through the window of what used to be a garage and storeroom could be forgiven in thinking that Maersk Training in Svendborg had invested in a new gas or oil-fired central heating system. What they are looking at does have an oil and gas connection, but it’s for warming brain cells, not water.
Partially built from
components scrapped from
platforms on the North Sea, the
Primary Process Separator is a
simulator as far removed from
the electronic technology of
the nearby MOSAIC complex as
Donald Trump is from the dole
queue. It’s all metal tanks, metres
of piping and numerous pressure
valves and replicates 90% of what
is to be found on the platforms.
‘The ideal situation would be
to train it on board, on the
platforms,’ explains instructor
Per Larsen, ‘but because of the
risks and costs involved it is not
possible. So we wanted to create
something that was as close as
possible to reality so they can get
the sense of hands on experience.’
The electricians, blacksmiths,
anyone who gets their hands dirty
in the maintenance programme
will now have their awareness
raised through thorough risk
assessment and the planning
process to carry out the identified
task. As with a growing number
of courses, there is also a
human factors element with a
specialist People Skills instructor
monitoring how the participants
work with each other.
The venture is a cooperation
between Maersk Training and
Maersk Oil, who saw the need
for such training and for the
right equipment to do it on. The
simulator is an open facility for all
those in the offshore industry. ●
Total Reality Is Here
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Procedural Training for Oil
Production
Hamburgefintsiv 9
Miles away from oil, but close
to reality, the Primary Process
Separator is the latest addition
to Maersk Training’s fleet of
simulators
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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness...” Charles Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities.
Written 157 years ago it’s
a quote used by Kjell
Evensgaard to describe his
current work situation, well
the first twelve words at least.
Anyone involved in the oil
industry today, from operators to
contractors will recognize that
there have been better days.
Dickens wrote those words in
1859, the same year that Samuel
Downer Jr patented a lamp
oil calling it kerosene and on
August 27, William Smith struck
something black and rather
wonderful, Smith is generally
recognized as the first person
to successfully drill for oil. After
boring just 21 meters into the
earth at Titusville, Pennsylvania,
he changed the world.
Change is what Kjell is all about.
He heads a team of six seasoned
experts, most with around 30
years’ experience in the industry
within oil majors. Their job at
Maersk Drilling is to look to the
Searching For Tomorrow’s World Today Maersk Drilling ‘s team with the job
of looking into the future
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Searching For Tomorrow’s World Today Maersk Drilling ‘s team with the job
of looking into the future
"Typically all companies that do well understand what their client wants and they cater to that need – but our industry is really bad at it"
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future – their project is called
Game Change.
FLAWED RULES‘We work in a very conservative
industry,’ says Kjell, ‘since the
days of John D. Rockefeller and
his mates things haven’t really
changed beyond the arrival of
sophisticated downhole tools
and the bigger equipment that
allows you to go somewhere else.
Everything else is basically the
same.’
It’s an industry which has
turned common practice into
fundamental rules, even where
the practice is flawed. For decades
the price of a barrel was enough
to sustain pursuing it relatively
inefficiently. For the oil majors
those days, the best of times, as
we know from today’s petrol
pumps, have gone; maybe not
forever, but for long enough to
create an environment where
change is not seen as a threat, but
as a necessity.
What Kjell and his team have to
search for is not technological
innovation. That may form part
of a solution, but the grail they
are seeking is a whole new way
of looking at how the industry
rewards itself. There are three
parties in the traditional set-
up. The E&P (Exploration and
Production) Company who own
the well licence, the contractors
who provide the hardware and
manpower for rigs and the service
providers.
As a contractor Maersk Drilling
is not unlike a London black taxi
owner/driver. They have invested
in the cab and The Knowledge, the
training process which takes each
cabbie on average 34 months to
pass. The cab is hired by someone,
the E&P company, and then it is
up to multiple factors as to how
much it will cost for the journey –
weather, traffic, route, diversions,
they all play parts in affecting the
end price; the slower the journey
the higher the numbers on the
taximeter.
PAYING PRICE OF EFFICIENCYWith drilling a well, different
circumstances have a similar
contributory factor, dictating
the financial result, the price on
the contractor’s clock. What this
does is to reward misfortune and
seemingly punish efficiency. In the
last eSea we talked about the 62
days the Maersk Discoverer took-
off a well plan and the subsequent
millions saved in the process. In
the short term Maersk Drilling
paid the price for the team’s
ability; in the long term they
might expect reward in terms
of their enhanced reputation
securing more contracts. The
word ‘might’ is the weakness in
this financial equation.
So what Kjell and his team seek
is to de-construct the business
model itself in order to rebuild
it afresh. ‘We are looking for
something that’s linked to value
creation, we have the inside/
out view of our industry because
everyone is typically making
money. You focus on your own
"We work in a very conservative industry"
"We are looking for something that’s linked to value creation"
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little box, but what we need is
an outside/in view on it, what
is value for the client. Typically
all companies that do well
understand what their client
wants and they cater to that need
– but our industry is really bad at
it,’ says Kjell.
Once they have taken the
business model apart and
considered what value there is for
the client then they can formulate
a new approach to rig hire – they
have two years to do it. You can
look at another industry which
totally rebooted its financial DNA,
the airlines. The travelling public
have swallowed the bitter pill
of reduced pampering in favour
of reduced fares. What comes
out of Game Change is presently
unknown, but it is highly unlikely
that it will resemble a sort of Easy
Drill.
IN THE YEAR 2030 What Kjell does know is that
the solution won’t be for all
companies. ‘There’s a limited
amount of clients out there that
will want this, there are a limited
amount of projects that fit this.
You need a different type of client
who is willing to pursue the
dialogue, you need a client with
a project that is most likely to
remain repetitive so you can focus
on the long-term value creation,’
he says without giving too much
away.
The key word that keeps
appearing is value. Technology is
only a plus when it adds value and
is not simply there in the name of
innovation. Looking into a crystal
ball he says, ‘My hope for 2030 is
that we will have a big piece of
our fleet, a growing fleet, working
under the new set-up, we have a
proven track record and the E&P
companies really see us as the
enabler of unique value.’
Back to 1859 – it was a very
productive year. The day after
Smith struck oil, the most
powerful geomagnetic solar
storm ever witnessed lit up
the earth, day and night. They
thought it was the end of the
world. Apparently it wasn’t and
on quieter days the first paper
bags were manufactured and
digging the Suez Canal started.
In Odense a pharmacist, Theodor
Schiøtz did more than dispense
pills. He dispensed pilsner by
opening the Albani Brewery.
Danes have priorities. ●
"What we need is an outside/in view on it, what is value for the client"
"The E&P companies really see us as the enabler of unique value"
Computer programmer to pop star – Elvis Costello.Dishwasher to poet – Allen Ginsberg.Lion cage cleaner to actor/producer – Sylvester Stallone.
Careers are a journey – for
some the destination and
route are determined from day
one – for others circumstance,
fate and opportunity are sign-
posts that lead to unusual and
unpredictable experiences. Some
people freeze at the very concept
of uncertainty; others thrive on
not knowing what is round the
corner. Here we meet two people
who would never have dreamed
where they would end up, or have
they finished dreaming?
Sue Matthews for instance, today
a Business Support Admini stra-
tor, many yesterday’s ago an RAF
driver, prison warder, sail ship
watch-keeper.
And Frank Lamberg Nielsen,
who recently at 54 qualified as
a psychologist, 35 years after
thinking he’d like to be a marine
biologist. His personal career
navigation reflects considerable
change, but is he unique in today’s
world?
His story reflects today’s need for
change and adaptation. We will
have to work longer, but not, as
with our grandparents, with a
gold watch to mark the end of 40
years of dedication, loyalty and...
and maybe, monotony. Jobs are
no longer for life; careers are not
even for life.
And now for
something completely different...
Is work today more interesting or uncertain because most are not locked into a specific job?
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If you are on a course with
Maersk Training in Newcastle
there’s every chance that your
name and career background,
travel and lodging, course
material and certification will
have passed under the gaze of Sue
Matthews. Sue reflects how her
latest role as Business Support
Administrator brings together
so many of the skills acquired
in diverse three decades. What
is particularly diverse with Sue
is that each career change was
triggered by a different set of
circumstances.
‘I’m an outdoor doing things kind
of person,’ she says. Her first
ambition as a school leaver was
to join the Royal Air Force, her
father and grandfather had both
served. As the personal driver to
the commandant, rather like Sam
in the TV drama Foyle’s War, she
ferried him all around London
and southern England. At that
time the RAF didn’t have married
female personnel – so a change in
personal status meant goodbye to
the job she loved, but not farewell
to driving.
From staff car to lorry – Sue
drove a HGV truck delivering
the UK’s favourite tissues and
toilet paper. Then the next in a
number of unconnected career
jumps, ‘because I thought I should
get myself a proper job.’ Sue
became a medical underwriter
for an insurance group assessing
people’s viability for policies and
based on their health records
what their lifespan was likely to
be. She was part of the merger
team when the company joined
another major insurance group in
Sue’s Story
Sue in number one uniform the
Royal Air Force Reserve
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1996, but didn’t want to relocate
from Bristol so took voluntary
redundancy.
SUE GOES TO JAILCareer change number four did
eventually mean relocation.
Joining the prison service,
initially in the control room
with the day-to-day running of
the prison and then as a fully-
fledged prison officer. ‘I loved this
job, strangely it was easier to
be in a men’s prison rather than
in a women’s,’ she recalls, ‘the
men have nothing to prove and
actually gave you some respect.’
She says this with considerable
and unfortunate personal
evidence.
One day Sue found herself isolated
and alone trying to quell a fight
and she ended up, broken boned
and bleeding. ‘It wasn’t aimed at
me but when you are in the middle
of a room with 42 female inmates
the chances are you are not going
to come off too well. I was so
badly battered and concussed I
was listed as injured on duty and
medically retired,’ she says.
What next? Sue decided she
needed to sharpen her computer
skills. So off to college – only she
ended up working there.
TALL TALESAnd now for something
completely different. A newspaper
ad hinted at adventure. Sue had
done some sailing when in the
forces so she signed on Pelican
of London, a Class A Tall Ship,
and headed to the Caribbean.
‘Perhaps due to my age, I was
made a watch-leader,’ she says.
Sue was keeping watch off the
"I was listed as injured on duty and medically retired"
And a few years on, dressed
down, but ready for climbing the
master on the tall ship Pelican
Canary Islands when she spotted
a boatload of refugees in trouble.
‘I know it is topical today, but this
was back in 2007. We were at the
centre of the rescue operation,
exciting times.’
Home to the UK and another
change; planning the logistics
for a coach company. It ceased
to trade. Then, helping out a
friend who wanted her to teach
computer skills, she somehow
ended at a party in Newcastle
where romance caused her to
stay even after the Government
sponsored courses where hit by
cutbacks.
Working as a temp at reception
with Maersk Training developed
into career number 10, Business
Support Administrator. ‘What is
great is that my new role draws
things from every chapter of my
past, nothing has been a waste of
time.’
Her journey so far through
travel and logistics, roaming the
world and keeping people in one
secure place, are all part of Sue’s
extensive learning curve and
perhaps unwittingly valuable
tools in her latest vital position. ●
Sue’s Career• RAF – driver
• HGV – driver
• Insurance Group – medical
underwriter
• Prison Officer
• IT – college
• College – IT consultant
• Tall Ship Pelican – watch-leader
• Coach Company – logistics
officer
• Maersk Training – temp in
reception
• Maersk Training – Business
Support Administrator
The career path of Frank Lam-
berg Nielsen has twisted and
turned, with most of the turns
triggered by Frank himself as
he interpreted changes in the
employment marketplace; usually
just before the circumstances
happened. In his time he has
been an unable-bodied sailor,
a navigating officer, skipper
of a Viking-style ship full of
juvenile delinquents and on
shore controlled the shipping at
Øresund as they built the bridge
between Denmark and Sweden.
Today he’s a qualified
psychologist helping and
assessing tomorrow’s officers as
they move up the career ladder.
Increasingly his past experience
is recognised as a valuable part of
his new qualification making him
a fairly unique asset to have when
crews are in crisis.
As an 18 year-old he wanted to
be a marine biologist. Following
school he travelled and then
found himself in the military as
a reserve officer for two years.
After that he failed to get on to
the course stream he wanted and
ended on a type of course that was
very loose and unstructured. It
wasn’t for him and he left after
two semesters.
‘I thought I needed to do
something with water,’ Frank
recalls and instead of looking into
the sea for a career he decided
to float on it. He went to the
seafarers’ school in Sønderborg
and then onto training ship
Danmark as a Maersk cadet and
eventually to navigation school.
OUT OF THE BLUEWhen ready to go to sea as a
navigator in a big pale blue ship,
Frank had one of his last-minute
path changes, said no to the
posting and found himself in a
ship-full of juvenile delinquents
– they sailed on a voyage of hope
Frank’s Story
"We were at the centre of the rescue operation"
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looking for ever-lasting change.
It was potential change that
Frank described as ‘uncertain at
best’ and back home the paying
public agreed and put an end to
the practice; but not until Frank
had been on two other boats,
one, a Viking-like craft, which he
skippered.
More small coastal ships followed
and then a stint on shore monito-
ring maritime traffic as it passed
the Øresund Bridge as it was
being built. The bridge was to play
another part in changing Frank’s
career.
He was back at sea on a ferry in
the Baltic when the opportunity
came up for a new exciting type
of Ro-Ro, so large it was like
a floating bridge. For it Frank
needed a pilot’s licence, a German
speaking post. He got a tutor
in Sweden, learnt little and to
this day does not know how he
passed the test. This is where the
bridge comes back into Frank’s
career path, the CEO of the ferry
company jumped from it and the
giant Ro-Ro was cancelled.
WRONG PROMOTIONSA keen observer of people Frank
noticed how many people
felt uncomfortable with his
company’s policy on promotion.
‘What it did was to take people
who liked doing one job, say a
chief mate, and putting them in
a role which they didn’t want or
enjoy,’ says Frank. ‘There was a
career structure up through the
ranks and I didn’t think it was
very good – if you feel comfortable
as a mate why should you be
pressurised into promotion to
do paperwork. It also meant
that those who wanted career
advancement were frustrated
because the post they wanted
was filled by someone purely on
seniority.’
By now in his forties, Frank
was facing the most trying
time of his professional life. The
financial downturn of 2007-2008
had led to cutbacks. He feared
his new role as an instructor
would be threatened by reduced
investment in training so he went
back to sea on supply vessels.
However technically much had
changed so he needed to step
down several levels ‘I just couldn’t
do it, I wasn’t the Frank of old.
On an anchor handling vessel in
the North Sea we had so much
downtime I thought I could use it.’
He decided to study philosophy
whilst working offshore and with
a library of books and podcasts it
was possible, turning up when on
home leave for lectures. However,
as Frank pointed out, ‘not many
companies need a philosopher.’
He opted for psychology. ‘I was
the only person in the class about
to celebrate a 50th – I could have
been a father to most of them. It
was strange to sit in group work,
you could feel the enormous gap
in experience.’
Today Frank is back at Maersk
Training in Svendborg, as part of
the People Skills department he
takes courses and uses his new
qualifications on occasions to
assess the career development
and hopes of others. ●
Frank’s Career• Military – 1st Lieutenant
• Seafarer cadet
• Government Programme
– Crew and skipper on boats for
juvenile delinquents
• Knud I. Larsen shipping
– 1st Mate and Chief Officer
• Vessel Traffic Service, Dragør
– operations
• Ro-Ro ferries Baltic – Chief Mate
• Maersk Training
– maritime instructor
• Maersk Supply Service
– 1st Mate
• University of Southern
Denmark – Master in Science of
Psychology
• Maersk Training
– People Skills, Safety, Security
Instructor – Psychologist
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AQUA PLANESThe runways at the international
airport were 1,250mm under
water; roads were canals and
rivers, lakes. The participants’
hotels were running low on food
and had rationed guests to one
meal a day, rice or lentils.
‘Sometimes the networks would
work and we could sneak in an
occasional call reminding the
course participants not to move
out of their hotel location,’ says
Satya.
‘On the second day, in the
afternoon the water stopped
rising, we moved out and we took
a high SUV – sports utility vehicle
– our business development
manager has a very high SUV and
went to see the participants and
told them we’d run the course
from the next day.’ This they did
in the hotels and then ferrying the
participants to the training centre
for simulator sessions.
PROUD TO BE INDIANIndia from a Governmental
administrative point of view can
sometimes be accused of failing
to respond to the challenges
of nature, but Satya was full of
praise and admiration for his
fellow Indians, ‘I have never seen
anything like this weather before,
never seen so much destruction,
but at the same time I haven’t
witnessed so much physical
work, compassion, social work,
volunteering in my life. There
were people there cooking
for others, going door-to-door
collecting clothes, delivering
clothes and helping in rescuing
people. I was very happy that a
whole community could look after
themselves.’
And his team looked after the
participants on the Well Control
and Danish Maritime Law/§16
courses. On completion they got
them home via a 350km journey
to Bangalore from where they
could catch a plane to Bangkok
and other parts of India. ●
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It is probably the most sophisticated simulator on the planet, yet its whole role is to give you an out-of-this-world experience. It prepares a select group of people to live up in the sky for prolonged periods, zooming round the earth at 27,600 kph – that’s Copenhagen to New York in thirteen and a half minutes.
The International Space
Station – ISS – isn’t built for
speed, it is built for study. Those
on board are part of programmes
aimed at better understanding
the earth below, the sky beyond
and how best to get there and
back.
The normal crew of six are an
ever-changing international
blend of scientists, technicians
and within minutes of blast off,
astronauts. Back on mother
earth they leave thousands of
support staff behind that until
last November included Evelyn
Baldwin and Michele Marie
Blanton.
Their role took them into
that very special simulator
at Johnson Space Center in
Houston where, surrounded by
space age technology in a mock-
up of the ISS, they got to the
hub of all effective teamwork,
good communication. The size
of ISS is considerable, up there,
passing over us fifteen times a
day, is something like twelve 40’
containers.
TREADING SOFTLY SOFTLYIt’s a very different world to life
on a drillship or rig, or is it? A
common bond in technology,
isolation and metal in an
environment that is alien. Evelyn
and Michele see many similarities
and many similar challenges. Soft
skills are an easy target for people
who either don’t understand or
value them; Evelyn and Michele’s
task is to create a respect so that
a hard-nosed driller or astronaut,
and their teams, can benefit from
20/20 communication.
Looking at her new role, Evelyn
says, ‘These people are highly
experienced, they’ve been
Down to Earth LadiesEvelyn and Michele find common ground in training drill crews and astronauts
22
Hamburgefintsiv 24
"When dealing with international crews it is important to learn the differences between cultures and realize one way isn’t necessarily
better than another"
24
out drilling for 15, 30 years
sometimes, so who am I to come
in and tell them communication
is important, people already
seem to listen to them, so those
same struggles exist. But it’s the
same as NASA, the more you
can get them into the simulator
with smartly scripted cases
and scenarios, showing them
that the communications and
the teamwork and situation
awareness are important, the
more they start to get the buy
in, start to listen on how to be
stronger on those skills.’
‘When dealing with international
crews it is important to learn
the differences between cultures
and realize one way isn’t
necessarily better than another,’
says Michele. ‘If a person learns
what the characteristics of a
culture are it will help them to
better manage communication,
teamwork and lead their people.
For example, if a society is used
to being told or ordered what
to do and not to disagree, those
people in the workforce will just
follow direction whether they
agree or not. They may or may not
know how to perform the task
they were told to do, but they will
either try or pretend to do it.’
DREAM TICKETThe ISS crew of six is
international; Americans
and Russians are usually
accompanied by some Europeans,
so soft skills need to include
different cultures and how
they respond to instruction
and communication. Michele
in her first few months has
noted a difference,’ It’s kinda
difficult coming to the oil and gas
industry, they don’t use the same
terminology or the protocol’s,
it’s been a culture shock. The
maritime industry uses a lot more
because they have adopted the
military protocols, largely from
the navy.
It’ll be a slow process to improve
upon, especially with the
different nationalities, different
vocabulary, accents and stuff that
people have.’
She sees coming up with
a universal oil and gas
communications protocol as
the right direction to go in the
drive to cut down on errors
and misunderstandings – but
she doesn’t see it happening
overnight, ’there’s a long way to
go.’
Working in NASA may seem
like the dream ticket, even if
you don’t get to fly, but Michele
explained she was looking for
something new to do and thought
the opportunities in oil and gas
for human skills had potential.
However she soon found out that
few outside of Maersk Training
recognised this. Her last job at
NASA was on the Orion project,
the bid to get man further into
space than ever before. Exciting,
but the project was still in the
build phase with consequently a
reduced demand for training.
When they said they didn’t get to
fly, they did the next best thing.
Evelyn explained, ‘I got to fly it
several times, if you are good at
video games you can probably fly
the Space Shuttle, but I’m no good
at games and I actually got to land
it upside down and then you hear
the ambulance alarms going off . . ‘
PROFILEEvelyn and Michele were
Communication and Tracking
Instructors, teaching technical
communication equipment
and Space Flight Resource
Management, the human factors
items – taught lessons, evaluated
flight controllers, astronauts on
human factors skills. Processes
and skills they are today
transferring to the oil and gas
industry.
SPOT THE ISSIf the sky’s clear you can log on
and look up.
http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ ●
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Hamburgefintsiv 26
The role of women in the
Middle East is an emerging
and changing one. When put
in an oil industry setting it is a
particularly challenging one.
Neela Pratap from ENSCO Dubai
recognised that and looked
around her at a growing number
of female colleagues. A chat with
Robert Thomas, Sales Manager
at Maersk Training in Dubai
opened a door and Neela and nine
colleagues walked through it.
Maersk Training has long held
Introduction To Drilling courses,
where people whose only contact
with the oil industry had been
Under the Earth LadiesDubai women opening the door to a whole new world
There are an awful lot of people who don’t really understand what the company they are working for is aiming to achieve or what the industry the company is in, is about. Understanding the playing surface is a major part in fitting in and contributing to the full, but it is a knowledge level that in certain parts of the world is aggravated by culture.
26
Hamburgefintsiv 27
at the petrol pump, learnt the
various and complex roles of
those on rigs and platforms and
were shown the types of difficulty
they had to overcome. It’s a short
sharp lesson, but one which helps
tremendously in building up a
respect between off and on shore.
It is a respect that globally
is hampered by traditional
viewpoints with regard to gender.
Pretty well everywhere, oil is
a man’s game, in the Middle
Eastern business, oil is men’s
work. Recognizing this, Neela,
as a Middle East Representative
for Enspire, Ensco’s Women’s
Network, had an initiative to get
female staff more involved in the
industry.
Maersk Training ran an
introductory course, but Robert
sees it as a key course, one that
opens minds and doors. ‘We’d
like other companies to pick
up on ENSCO’s initiative, but in
truth regardless of gender or
cultural background, knowledge
of the industry you are in is vital
to enhance performance,’ he
commented. ●
Under the Earth Ladies
27
It’s something the offshore technicians are expected to take with them into the turbines, but something they hope they will never need.
It weighs about 15 kgs and
looks like a squared-up hiking
backpack, but for someone
working in the remoteness of an
offshore wind turbine, it could
mean the difference between life
and death – but only if your work
buddy knows what is inside and
how to use it.
The packs are the idea of Maersk
Training in Newcastle and in the
bespoke bags technicians will
find an advanced First Aid kit
which includes an AED heart-
starter, splints, collar supports
and gases like oxygen and nitrous
oxide, most commonly known as
‘laughing gas.’
Maersk Training’s Sales Manager
in Newcastle, Paul Parry
explained that the nitrous oxide
was a major difference between
the pack they had created than
the few already on the market.
The inclusion of something to take
the pain away is not universal,
largely because of fears of
something like morphine being
open to mis-use.
‘I hope they are never used’
The packs were designed
exclusively for MHI Vestas and
in January instructors began
conducting three-day courses
in Belgium, Holland and the UK,
introducing technicians to what’s
in the bag and how to use them.
The instruction is carried out at
onshore locations close to the
wind farms and will continue
until all technicians know how to
use what is inside.
‘It's funny to say this but I hope
these packs are never used, but
if they are and they save even
one life then it has been
worthwhile and we will have
made a significant contribution
to our industry,’ says Paul.
The inspiration for the bags came
from those used in soccer games
where the trainer rushes on with
everything needed for immediate
First Aid. ‘We noticed that they
were red and blue and for the sake
of uniformity we kept ours the
same,’ said Paul.
Colour was an easy decision, but
the bags took a while to design,
with weight, size and carrying
power being factors which had
to compete against each other. In
the end the bag was tested by two
technicians, one much bigger than
the other.
The bags are now part of the
essential kit the teams carry on
each job, winching them up and
down to their workplace. ●
It’s All In The BagWhat happens if you are 60 metres up in an isolated offshore wind turbine and you have an accident or take ill?
28
Hamburgefintsiv 29
It could mean the difference between life and death
As the first responder, how do
you think you’d cope with a
situation like this?
29
Hamburgefintsiv 30
What do you think is
the most solitary of
positions on board a passenger
ship – the person with the most
responsibility resting just on
their shoulders? I know because
I stumbled across him the other
day when visiting a vessel and
it wasn’t the purser, the chief
engineer or even the captain; he
was a guy who works alone deep
in the bowels of the ship and upon
whom just about everyone on
board unthinkingly relies every
day. He was the ship’s baker.
Somewhere on Deck 3 in an area
no larger than an average house’s
dining room, he pours kilo upon
kilo of flour into something the
size of a cement mixer, presses
the on and then off button and
then lifts it out by hand, to form
into rolls, sticks, loaves and
pastries. Each day starts the
same, whilst 95% of those on
board are in mid-sleep, he goes
through a routine that gives them
their daily bread, ending with his
most tiresome task, 1,000 Danish
pastries.
He is just about the only person on
board who can’t delegate down,
or refer up – if he gets it wrong, it
stays wrong. He is also the only
person on board who dictates
the end of his working
day – once baked,
its back to bed.
Well there’s not
much more you
can do on the
Copenhagen to
Oslo run.
Full of
admiration, I was
thinking about this
when this huge bird
landed in the orchard outside
my office window. I picked up my
camera, put a long lens on and
focused, on nothing. The bird had
flown.
BYE BYE BIG BIRDBy way of compensation for
taking the camera out, I did get
a blackbird. Somehow I don’t
think the BBC’s fabulous wildlife
department will come knocking
at my door. But it was those guys I
was thinking about; the men who
spend huge chunks of their lives
in thermal underwear,
left hand on the
tripod, right hand
on the camera
release button.
The opposite
end to the
baker’s work
schedule and
expectations,
they too hold sole
responsibility, but
unlike the baker they
have an easy get out. Since nature
doesn’t perform to a script they
can go back to the office after six
months in a hide, with a longer
beard and fatter bank balance and
simply say, ‘sorry guv, Mrs. Panda
had another headache. We’ll try
again next year.’
I remain however full of
admiration for the remarkable
shots they capture and how they
develop them into a story. There is
no other aspect of the media that
makes so much out of so little, so
beautifully. Like the baker they
are master craftsmen.
When you come to think about it
there is a huge spectrum in jobs
and subsequent responsibility.
There’s also an equally huge
spectrum of satisfaction and a
third spectrum of permanence.
If you form them into a triangle
and put a point along a line
depending on how close or far
you are from each of the corners
of personal responsibility,
personal satisfaction and project
permanence, you end up with a
second triangle which is your job
profile. Try it.
The baker, the blackbird and the buzzard30
31
WHAT IS YOUR PROFILE?An architect for instance,
becau se he usually goes through
com mit tees, would be high to
mode rate on sole responsibility,
high on job satisfaction and, one
would hope, high on permanen ce.
A drill er would be high on respon-
sibility, variable on satisfaction
and low on permanence. A teacher
looks back of decades of nurturing
with pride, whilst a clergyman,
if he believes what he preaches,
would be low on responsibility,
satisfaction would depend on his
congregation and with regard to
permanence, well he’s the only one
who gets to meet the boss for an
appraisal after he finally signs off.
Back in the orchard was the bird
of prey. He’s a bit like the baker,
each day starting afresh; in his
case, stomach, not oven, empty.
This time I managed to get a shot
of him, beak to camera, looking
at me. He then flew off leaving
me with some blurred images of
wing tips and feathers. However
the first image was enough to
establish him as a member of
the Accipitridae family, which is
not a widespread name around
Svendborg. Hawks and eagles are
Accipitridaen and this boy turned
out to be a Common Buzzard.
It’s funny how the naming of
something colours it forever.
There’s something majestic about
the golden eagle, but his cousin
the common buzzard, who looks
as different to me as a Toyota
to a Nissan, seems somewhat
downmarket. I suspect I ruffled a
few feathers by suggesting that
the baker is the most singularly
responsible person on board a
cruise ferry, the person you would
most want to have in your lifeboat.
It’s an observation supported by
history; when the Titanic went
down, so too did the captain – the
baker survived, but then he had
been at the cooking brandy. ●
The baker, the blackbird and the buzzard31
Hamburgefintsiv 32
ContactEditorial issues and suggestions:Richard Lightbody - esea@maersktraining.com
Names and emails of those able and eager to help with specific enquiries arising out of this issue
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