World's OFFSHORE VESSELS

[ombugge]

Here is a few pictures I have received by E-mail from the burning and sinking of the MODU Deepwater Horizon:















Looking at pics #2 the rig was working in DP Mode, not moored by anchors.
(Yes, it is possible to do that in 5000 ft. water depth)

They had already completed drilling the well and was in completing and plugging the well for future development as a producer.
The BOP was still on the seabed so the flow of well fluid would have been shut in when the rig sunk, thus limiting the oil pollution.
Diesel Oil is far less of a problem in the warm waters of the Gulf, even if all 2.600 Cbm of it should leak out. (Assuming the figures in the press is right)

This is likely to renew the resistance against offshore drilling in US waters, I should think. Invest in Windmills, Solar and Nuclear.

[pilotdane]

Wow! Look at the hole burned in the helicopter pad.

[ombugge]

Wow! Look at the hole burned in the helicopter pad.

We had a discussion about Aluminum Helidecks earlier in this thread.
This looks like is one such deck, but did it melt or actually ignite??
There appears to be no fire below or around the Helideck, so here is a question; why the hole in the Helideck????

[pilotdane]

It appears scorched and there appears to be steam rising from the structure below and around the pad so I assume the fire has recently been controlled on that part of the rig. I'm betting there was a hot fire underneath that melted it. In either case (melt or ignite) I think there was sufficient fire in the area that it does not matter. The pad was rendered useless by the fire in either case.

I've read some articles about the fires in the World Trade Center after the two airplanes crashed into it. Initially they thought the aluminum of the aircraft might have ignited, increasing the temperature of the flames and speeding the collapse of the structure. All that I read agree that a hydrocarbon (oil, diesel, jet fuel) fire burning in air cannot get hot enough to cause aluminum to ignite. It can melt but not actually ignite. The diffuse flame of an uncontrolled fire does not produce the hottest possible flame. The dense black cloud of smoke indicates the fire was fuel rich and does not have sufficient oxygen to obtain peak temperatures.

[Clipper]

I've read some articles about the fires in the World Trade Center after the two airplanes crashed into it. Initially they thought the aluminum of the aircraft might have ignited, increasing the temperature of the flames and speeding the collapse of the structure. All that I read agree that a hydrocarbon (oil, diesel, jet fuel) fire burning in air cannot get hot enough to cause aluminum to ignite. It can melt but not actually ignite. The diffuse flame of an uncontrolled fire does not produce the hottest possible flame. The dense black cloud of smoke indicates the fire was fuel rich and does not have sufficient oxygen to obtain peak temperatures.

This all sounds spot-on correct to me.

I reckon that if the heli-deck had ignited there would be nothing left of it to see. Even from the thin skin of alu deck plating, the heat would most probably be enough to melt much if not all of the supporting steel structure along with it. If bit of fell off, then any burning alu may even continue to burn underwater! It would be a ghastly but impressive sight.

As far as I know from my reading, alu is only known to have ignited under battle conditions (and tests). Explosives are not dependent on atmospheric oxygen - it is in the chemical composition - and the instantaneous thermal release is enormous, resulting in very high temperatures. In addition, I would guess that a phosphorous bomb (of which I have no detailed knowledge) may also burn at a high enough temperature to ignite alu, although they ARE dependent on atmospheric oxygen (once ignited). This is a horrible thought because a phosphorous bomb on its own would be extremely nasty even if it ignited nothing around it. That said, I'm not sure if phosphorous is used in anti-ship weapons.

Yuk. Deepwater Horizon is enough of a tragedy without having to speculate on how much worse it could have been. I hope nobody is too upset by discussion of weapons.

Clipper

[Sterkoder]

"Siem Emerald" in Kristiansund today

[pakarang]

I have noticed an interesting detail... the logo in the bow of "Siem Emarald" looks very similar to the old Viking sail of Kloster Cruises....

Does anyone know if there is a connection or if this is just a coincidence?

[Fjordtroll]

"Siem Emerald" in Kristiansund today

Know someone who works as a mate aboard the "Seim Emerald" http://www.siemoffshore.com/Default.aspx?ID=46

Here is his website. Here are some pictures from the "Seim Emerald" http://web.me.com/plott/Henning_Olse...m_Emerald.html

[ombugge]

Some Offshore vessels seen at Labuan, East Malaysia last week.

AHTS Maersk Seeker leaving from Labuan Offshore Base:




She is working for Sabah/Sarawak Shell offshore Labuan, together with her sister ship AHTS Maersk Supplier, supporting the MODU Atwood Falcon.

AHTS Normand Ivan alongside at Labuan Offshore Base:


AHTS Normand Atlantic seen through the A-Frame of Normand Ivan:


The last two are supporting the MODU Ocean Nomad working for Murphy Petroleum in deep water off Labuan.

The self-propelled Workover Jack-up BIMA at Labuan Shipyard:


A fleet of offshore vessels standing by at the anchorage as the sun sets:

[pakarang]

Know someone who works as a mate aboard the "Seim Emerald" http://www.siemoffshore.com/Default.aspx?ID=46

Here is his website. Here are some pictures from the "Seim Emerald" http://web.me.com/plott/Henning_Olse...m_Emerald.html

Lots of interesting images, thanks for sharing the link!

A fleet of offshore vessels standing by at the anchorage as the sun sets:

Cool image... almost like pearls on a necklace.

[pakarang]

Dangers of the Deep

The tragic explosion and loss of Transocean's Deepwater Horizon last week, and subsequent efforts to use ROVs to help stop the outflow of oil from the well, which is situated more than 5,000 feet below the surface, serve as an unwelcome wake-up call regarding the inherent challenges and dangers that walk hand-in-hand with the advent of deepwater oil and gas drilling.

The whole story provides interesting reading for those of you interested:

You find the rest here: http://www.maritimeprofessional.com/...-the-Deep.aspx

[Clipper]

With thanks to Pakarang for an interesting and informative article once you get into the meat of it ...............but .............. " ... wake-up call ...".

This is typical journalist's cliché, which deserves to be purged from the English language for ever. It seems to have originated in the US and is steadily pervading British English.

In this case it implies that the oil & gas industry was incompetent enough not to have known the "inherent challenges and dangers" before the incident.

Of course they know what might go wrong and despite, for the most part, working very cautiously and deliberately in a heavily regulated industry, accidents (sometimes tragic accidents) happen. A cause will be discovered and the regulations - maybe technical, maybe procedural - will get even tighter.

If the Deepwater Horizon incident was a "wake-up call" to the journalist who wrote the piece (or more likely the sub-editor who added the intro), then he/she/they shouldn't pretend to be expert enough to write on the subject. If they attribute the "waking-up" to other people, then who are they?

Rant over.

Clipper

[ehp]

Speaking of ROV's..Alan and I watched the most interesting TV show last night..

Dive to the Bottom of the World on the Science Channel

It documents the attempts to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Mariana's Trench

Wish I could find a link for y'all to watch it........

[ombugge]

With thanks to Pakarang for an interesting and informative article once you get into the meat of it ...............but .............. " ... wake-up call ...".

This is typical journalist's cliché, which deserves to be purged from the English language for ever. It seems to have originated in the US and is steadily pervading British English.

In this case it implies that the oil & gas industry was incompetent enough not to have known the "inherent challenges and dangers" before the incident.

Of course they know what might go wrong and despite, for the most part, working very cautiously and deliberately in a heavily regulated industry, accidents (sometimes tragic accidents) happen. A cause will be discovered and the regulations - maybe technical, maybe procedural - will get even tighter.

If the Deepwater Horizon incident was a "wake-up call" to the journalist who wrote the piece (or more likely the sub-editor who added the intro), then he/she/they shouldn't pretend to be expert enough to write on the subject. If they attribute the "waking-up" to other people, then who are they?

Rant over.

Clipper

YES, this is so true. The media will blow up ANY incident in the Offshore Oil and Gas exploration and Exploitation industry into a major catastrophy, even if they know zilch about the business."The big bad wolf, BIG OIL, is out to destroy the world".

There is VERY few Cowboys left in the industry, unlike in the early days of Offshore activity. I was part of it, but my role was to rain in some of the extremes. We developed a whole new thing; Warranty Surveyors, who were out there in the field and put some limits to what went on.

Today the business is a lot more safety conscious, maybe more then most industries. Heavily regulated to a point where regulations sometimes become more of a danger than the Cowboys of old.

All these regulations and the paperwork that follows sometime make people think that if they have done all the "chores" and are wearing their safety gear, nothing can go wrong. They forget Murphys Third Law; " if something can go wrong, it will".
In this case it obviously did.

[Clipper]

Here's a photo from an email I received from a friend in the USA



This is Nautilus, a sister rig to Deepwater Horizon, on the back of a heavy-lift ship. I think it is a library picture and doesn't imply that Nautilus is part of the recovery operation. But it does give a good impression of the rig. In particular, you can see that it's not designed to sit on the bottom as per traditional rigs we might see in the North Sea.

Some explanatoty text that came with the picture (and others) reads:

"The rig represents the cutting edge of drilling technology. It is a floating rig, capable of working in up to 10,000 ft water depth. The rig is not moored; it does not use anchors because it would be too costly and too heavy to suspend this mooring load from the floating structure. Rather, a triply-redundant computer system uses satellite positioning to control powerful thrusters that keep the rig on station within a few feet of its intended location, at all times. This is called Dynamic Positioning."
Uncredited

Clipper

[Sterkoder]

"Far Sapphire" comes into the harbour of Kristiansund this afternoon




"Far Sapphire" sailing passed the moored "Akademik Shatskiy", "Skandi Stord" and "Havila Borg"


"Havila Borg"

[pakarang]

"Far Sapphire" comes into the harbour of Kristiansund this afternoon

Great shot: clean and well composed! Well done Sterkoder!

[Sterkoder]

Thank you, Jan-Olav....!!
Yes, I spent a few minutes to compose and ajust the image, so I'm happy that payed off then.

I really thought you should ask about the odd green colour near the waterline of that "Havila Borg".

You see, this vessel was originally ordered by another company, and with a red hull and green below waterline she would be named "Saeborg".
Then they sold her to Havila....., and the rest you see in my image.
I guess the colour below waterline (Oh God, could I ever have a word for 'bunnsmøring' in my vocabulary!!) would be changed to red at the first service in dry dock.

[pakarang]

I have noticed an interesting detail... the logo in the bow of "Siem Emarald" looks very similar to the old Viking sail of Kloster Cruises....

Does anyone know if there is a connection or if this is just a coincidence?

This is the logo which I'm talking about and that is sooo similar:

[Clipper]

(Oh God, could I ever have a word for 'bunnsmøring' in my vocabulary!!)

Google translates 'bunnsmøring' as "base lubrication" but I wonder if "anti-fouling treatment" might be better? ie. paint that withstands salt water attack and weed/limpet attachment.

Clipper