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PICTURE OF THE DAY
PIC OF THE DAY ARCHIVES
2007 - 77
Photographs
2008 - 101
Photographs
2009 - 124
Photographs
2010 - 118
Photographs
2011 - 100
Photographs
2012
- 97 Photographs
SHIP INFORMATION
FLEET LISTS
EUROPE PAGE 1
Acergy, Active, Acomarit,
Aries Offshore, Arctia, Arktik-
more, Bibby, Boa, Branding,
BUE, Boston Putford, Bourbon Offshore, Deep Sea Supply, DOF, Eide, Eidsurf,
Eidesvik, ER Schiffart
EUROPE PAGE 2
Esvagt, Fairmount, Fairplay, Farstad,
Femco, Fletcher Shipping, Fratelli d'Amato, Geoconsult, Gulf Offshore,
Harmsbergung, Harrisons, Hartmann, Havila
EUROPE PAGE 3
Heerema, Island Offshore, JP Knight, K
Line, Lauritzen Offshore, Maersk Supply, Marine Subsea, ITC, Noorhoek, Nordane,
Mokster/Eidesvik, Myklebusthaug, North Star, Nomis, O.H.Meling, Olympic
Shipping, OOC Offshore, Ostensjo Rederi, Petrobaltic, REM Offshore, Sartor
Shipping
EUROPE PAGE 4
Sea Mar Shipping, Sealion, Siem Offshore,
Simon Mokster, SMS, Solstad Offshore, TFDS, Telco, Trico, Varada, Viking Supply
Ships, Vroon
S. ATLANTIC
& CARRIBEAN
Astro Maritima, Bourbon Maritima, CBO,
Delba Maritima, Finarge Brasil, Gulf Brasil, GulfMark Trinidad, Norskan,
Saveiros Camuyrano, Sea Trucks Group
INDIA
Garware, Greatship India, Great Offshore,
Procyon Offshore, Varun Shipping
NORTH AMERICA
PAGE 1
Abdon Callais, Atlantic Towing,
Boluda, C&G Boats, Deepocean, Edison Chouest, Harvey Gulf Marine, Hornbeck, L&M
Botruc, Naviera B Tamaulipas, Oddyssea, OIL, Otto Candies, Rowan, Seacor, Sea
Nar Inc, Secunda, Tidewater.
NORTH AMERICA PAGE 2
Trico Marine
FAR EAST & AUSTRALIA
Alam Maritim, Allied Marine,
Britoil, CH Offshore, Go Offshore, Hallin, Huawei Offshore, IOS, Jaya Holdings,
Mermaid Marine, NOR Offshore, Petra Perdana, Swire Pacific,
MED & MIDDLE EAST
Adams, Augusta, Augustea, Brodospas, EDT
Offshore, Finarge Genova, Five Oceans Salvage, Mar Sol, MCT, Med Offshore, NJSC
Chornomornaftogaz, Portosalvo, Remolques Maritimos, Seaways International,
FEATURES
DEEPWATER HORIZON
ACCIDENTS
OPERATIONS
SAFETY
TECHNICAL
CREATIVE WRITING
GENERAL INTEREST
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
NEWS AND VIEWS
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
PUBLICATIONS
THE HISTORY OF THE
SUPPLY SHIP
SUPPLY SHIP OPERATIONS
THE ABERDEEN
WEBCAM
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FEATURES
DEEPWATER
HORIZON
Deepwater Horizon -
What Have we Done to Deserve This
Deepwater Horizon -
After the BP Report
Deepwater Horizon -
The Investigation
The Deepwater Horizon
and the Late MMS.
The Deepwater Horizon
- PR and Politics
The Deepwater Horizon
- Forces at Work
The Deepwater Horizon
- Where Are We Now?
ROVs, Risers and
Mud
The Deepwater Horizon
- Later
Something about the
Deepwater Horizon Accident
Channelling
the Oil Leak
Preventing Fires and Explosions on Offshore
Installations
OTHER ACCIDENTS
The Loss of the Normand
Rough
The
Bourbon Dolphin Accident
The Loss of the Stevns
Power
Another Marine Disaster
Something About the P36
The Cormorant Alpha Accident
The Loss of the Ocean
Express
OPERATIONS
The Life of the Oil Mariner
Offshore Technology and the
Kursk
The Sovereign Explorer and the
Black Marlin
SAFETY
PFEER and the Dacon Scoop
Human Error and Heavy
Weather Damage
Lifeboats & Offshore
Installations
More about PFEER
The Offshore Safety Regime - Fit
for the Next Decade
The Safety Case and its
Future
Jigsaw
Collision Risk Management
Shuttle Tanker Collisions
A Good Prospect of Recovery
TECHNICAL
The History of the UT 704
The Peterhead Connection
Goodbye Kiss
Uses for New Ships
Supporting Deepwater Drilling
Jack-up Moving - An Overview
Seismic Surveying
Breaking the Ice
Tank Cleaning and the Environment
More about Mud Tank Cleaning
Datatrac
Tank Cleaning in 2004
Glossary of Terms
CREATIVE
WRITING
An Unusual Investigation
Gaia and Oil Pollution
The True
Price of Oil
Icebergs and
Anchor-Handlers
Atlantic SOS
The Greatest Influence
How It Used to Be
Homemade Pizza
Goodbye Far Turbot
The Ship Manager
Running Aground
A Cook's Tale
Navigating the Channel
The Captain's
Letter
GENERAL
INTEREST
The Sealaunch Project
Ghost Ships of Hartlepool
Beam Him Up Scotty
Q790
The Bilbao OSV Conference
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BEAM HIM UP SCOTTY
On the Monday before the 2005 Offshore
Europe John Wils, former director of UKOOA and now columnist
in the Energy Section of the Aberdeen Press and Journal
wrote an alarmingly downbeat article about the oil show, in
which he suggested that it was boring expensive and
pointless, and that more would be gained if we all
concentrated on the fact that Aberdeen has now been
recognised as the birthplace of Scotty - Chief Enginer of
the Enterprise. I wrote a response which was printed in an
edited version. It is printed here in full.
So John
Wils has come to the conclusion that the oil industry is
rather dull and the oil show, Offshore Europe, to give it
its full title is “the same old routine” . And if you are
reading this then probably you will have read his column in
last month’s Press and Journal Energy Supplement.
What
planet is he on. I was a stand holder at this year’s show,
one of the “small lesser known firms in a three sided box”.
And I thought the whole event was little short of
miraculous.
Apparently
the first oil show was held in 1973, twenty years from the
moment when the industry first waded out into the shallows
off the coast of Louisiana, and only eight years after the
first jack-up spudded in, in the UK sector. When the initial
event was held in Aberdeen there were no producing fields
off our coasts. Out in the North Sea the oil men were only
just coming to terms with the local conditions and the
British legislators were doing their best to understand how
the Sea Gem had been lost.
All the
“experts” were American but they were having some difficulty
in adjusting to the British way of doing things, the British
weather and most important of all the waters around our
coasts. In addition to winter storms which could stop the
job for weeks at a time, they had to consider the water
depth, seabed conditions and tidal flows which appeared to
be totally random. Those of you who were out there may
remember that a heavy lift crane was probably mounted on the
bow of an old tanker and might be able to lift 300 tonnes,
and this meant that the platforms were put together like
three dimensional jigsaws, the bits being towed out on
barges from construction sites all round the coast. At one
point there were so many workers employed on the Brent Field
that they used to be taken up there from Aberdeen by ferry.
So what
has all this to do with Offshore Europe this year? By 2005
North Sea oil is mature and our expertise, developed during
those far off days, is being exported to every country where
oil is to be found under the sea. Of course, by now it is
not really “British” expertise. Aberdeen is a cosmopolitan
area providing a centre of excellence for companies from all
over the world and Offshore Europe may be the ultimate
showcase for the city, and the means by which innovators,
entrepreneurs, operators and organisers can tap into this
resource.
From our
three sided box in the main pavilion we have had a window on
the world and have met oil industry people from India,
Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Nigeria
and Malaysia. Some of them have had no interest in our
products but just wanted to talk to us, and we in turn have
enjoyed talking to them. In the central area the largest
service companies in the world have put on wonderful
displays of technology and are exhibiting pieces of
equipment so large that lesser mortals cannot imagine how
they have been put in place. Were else but this exhibition
could be have a close look at a full sized subsea
completion, or, at the other end of the scale, two girls
clad only in blue paint advertising a Danish shipyard.
In the
main arena most of the oil majors were represented, which
shows a genuine commitment, and far from “bagging the
expensive space” they have put a great deal of money into
supporting the event, the city and their suppliers. After
all, no visitor to the show has come to buy petrol. Shell
had a formula 1 car on their stand. It may not be oil
industry but it is attractive, and an indication of the
ingenuity and expense the exhibitors have gone to in order
to attract and entertain their visitors.
John Wils
has made the suggestion that we need more variety and fun,
and that some sort of homage to Star Trek would help now
that Aberdeen is officially Scotty’s birthplace. Well we
little people in the three sided boxes don’t object, but
even the Enterprise technology pales into insignificance
when compared with some of the stuff on display in Aberdeen
at Offshore Europe. There were digital imaging system which
could map the whole hall from a single point and thermal
cameras which could detect a hand print left on a flat
surface. It would seem to be only a matter of time before
some-one comes up with the warp drive. We met people who had
come to the show who had nothing to do with the oil industry
at all, but felt that here they might find a solution to
their problems. We were able to help one or two and I am
sure that this experience was repeated in many places around
the halls.
So, when
it comes to matter transfer technology we’ll soon crack it,
and if Mr Wils wants to be the first to be “beamed outa
here”, then I’m sure that I will be joined by many others
who will be happy to watch him go.
Vic Gibson September 2005
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