Bristow Helicopters Nigeria

[Brigitte]

My other half is considering going to work for Bristow Helicopters in Nigeria on a 6/6 rotation. Not being a complete stranger to expat life - even in wayward places - I would like to find out as much as possible about current living conditions at the various Bristow locations in Nigeria, including information about the availability of sports facilities, internet connections, food quality etc. AND, not to forget, the social life in whatever shape it may come.
Thanks.

[Bravo73]

Hello Brigette and welcome to Rotorheads.

Your first port of call should probably be this thread:

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=145176

It might seem a bit old and long but it will give you a very good idea of how the situation in Nigeria has developed over the last few years. It doesn't always make for happy reading, unfortunately. :uhoh:


Any further specific questions should be added to that thread.

HTH

[nodrama]

If you're looking at Port Harcourt, this is a good source of ex-pat life there.....

www.oyibosonline.com (http://www.oyibosonline.com)

[archos]

I would like to find out as much as possible about current living conditions at the various Bristow locations in Nigeria, including information about the availability of sports facilities, internet connections, food quality etc. AND, not to forget, the social life in whatever shape it may come.

Brigitte,
If your other half is being considered by Bristow to come to Nigeria on a 6/6 roster -which means unaccompanied - you really don't want to know about the shapes social life comes along. On the other hand, Bristow is also offering "married accompanied" contracts. In case you might find that an option, then certainly sports facilities and food quality would be of interest to him (and you).

[SASless]

I consider taking one's wife to Nigeria to be legal grounds for divorce.:ugh:

[froggy_pilot]

But enjoying social life in Nigeria can bring divorce ... :E

[inmate]

Don't forget all those lovely "social packages" you can get when working in paradise. Oh what joy to go to the local jungle bar in Escarvos. How I miss that sooooo much.
This may be one job you are better off staying at home and enjoying his comany when he comes home. If you must go then visit for a hitch and see how you like it. Personnally I would advise against you moving to Nigeria at the present time.

[zimsean]

Could anyone shed a bit more light on the living conditions on the "married accompanied" contracts?

[DECUFAULT]

Don't go married accompanied, once there stay away from the night fighters....!;)

[Phone Wind]

Living conditions vary greatly. If he's in Lagos their residential compound has pretty lousy rooms, but food is passable, internet is there but slow and there's gym, tennis and swimming. Social life is very limited. If he's working for Shell he'll live on the Shell camp in either warri or Port Harcourt. The houses in these are passable, he can cook for himself if he wants and there are good sporting facilities with tolerable internet. If he goes to Escravos he'll live like a monk in passable housing with internet only when he's at work. If he's at Chevron in Warri the housing is very good as is the food but internet can be a problem. Social life - see the previous replies! If he goes to Port Harcourt he'll live in a good flat with good facilities but a very long journey to work and very variable internet access. If he goes to Eket he'll live in a flea-pit of a hotel with good possibilities of food poisoning or Legionnaire's Disease :yuk:. Calabar is a nice town, but the housing is old and insecure as it's on the riverside. Food is passable and internet variable.

A number of the Bristow pilots and engineers who were on married accompanied postings have now changed to touring as it's very hard on wives. The company has a night curfew so social life is restricted to whichever compound you live in. In Lagos you can get out during the day for shopping but if you're in Warri you'll be confined to camp for 10 months a year that you're there and have to use the one crummy, expensive 'suppamakket' :} they have there. The local allowance for married accompanied is cr*p and the very few guys I know who do accompanied tours all spend large amounts every month to supplement the pittance they get. They also don't get paid anything more than pilots on 8/4 tours AFAIK, despite the fact that most staff got a more favourable roster a couple of years back when they changed to 6/6.

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

Brigitte,

Most of what has been and will be posted in response to your request for information is true. What you and your other half have to ask yourselves, as any sensible couple would ask about a position where you will be separated for half the year, is what are your reasons for doing it ?

Is it money, the time off, adventure, a different environment or perhaps a combination of all the above and more ? The confinement and stinted social life can be onerous, but there appears to plenty of pilots and engineers willing to put up with it. Perhaps because social life is not the main reason they are here ? That is what they use the 6 months off to do, which the work pays for.

The internet has become the most important facility these days as outside contact is difficult, both locally and internationally, with all the security measures. But as long as people can communicate by and large the confinement is an attitude of mind, your other half will either tolerate it or walk away.

Just my tuppence worth.

Cheers,

NEO

[DECUFAULT]

As with all things it's what you make of it.....the first flight in is always the worst, but you soon get use to it all... ;)

[SASless]

Combine NEO and PhoneWind's posts.....and I would call the combination a very good description of the situation.



I won't go into what my ex-wife says about me....but even I would not send her to live with my worst enemy in Nigeria....well on second thought, perhaps there is one that I would greatly enjoy making a gift of her presence.

[212man]

I just heard that Peter Baragwanagh has recently had a heart attack but is now in the UK and doing well. Sorry to hear that and hope he's back and well soon :ok:

(I also gather that rumours of slow repatriation are unfounded, and that by the UK medical opinion's standards, he was moved quickly!)

[Brigitte]

Thank you for all the replies, especially Phone Wind and NEO for going into such detail. Having trawled through the recommended links and coupling information from there with facts gleaned from other sources I think I have a fairly good idea of what the place is like and what working there would entail.
My husband’s main reason for considering working there is the rotational pattern to which I could easily match my personal touring schedule, therefore going married accompanied is not an option. Owing to the locations my job takes me I am fully aware of the stinted social life that can exist in such places, which is unfortunately often limited to drinking in bush bars (or the equivalent) crawling with very determined night fighters. Frequently being the only female on site I have seen enough blokes take off with girls and heard my share of "confessions" :uhoh:, but equally know of enough colleagues that (happily) live like monks for the duration of their tour. With this in mind, a minimum of additional infrastructure, especially sports facilities, internet and/or (mobile) telephone connections becomes even more important, hence me asking for these details as well.
The Bristow International site mentions a location in a place called "Snake Island". It is mentioned in the "What’s new..." link but is not listed in Phone Wind’s reply. Does it still exist? What is the place like?
Cheers.
B.

[DECUFAULT]

Snake island is still there, a small island just off the coast near Lagos. This is the AS332 operation for Shell. Best operation in Nigeria......:)

[anjouan]

brigitte,

DECU is right, Snake Island is a pretty good place, but your husband will only be going there if he flies Super Pumas.

212,

Bara was taken out back in January. H e was well looked after by good old doctor Frank and the only small delay was the repatriation flight being organised by the insurance. He had the operation done and, as you say, we look forward to him and his wit again shortly.

[sharpcollector]

Urgently need some information on the working condition for BRISTOW Engineers working in Nigeria..............what are the rotations????.....what is the pay like??????????

[jonnyloove]

A quick one I know that Shell have changed from the 212 to EC-155. So what has happened to the 212's and is there any 212's left flying for Bristows in Nigeria.

Cheers.....:)

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

jonny,

All the 212s are gone. Some were scrapped, some sold.

NEO

[Winchin out]

What is the security situation like in general?

[unstable load]

What is the security situation like in general?


Hairy, at best. Depends where you are going as to who is likely to want a piece of you. It's not for nowt they are paying what they pay for the guys to be there.

[WhirlwindIII]

What are they paying? Please.

[Phone Wind]

In General (wherever that is :E) the security situation is great. here in the Delta things are a bit different. Kidnappings continue, though the balance has shifted to more Nigerians than expatriates being taken. This may be as a result of better security for expatriates, or a shift of focus. I think it's a bit of both.

If you think anyone is going to come out with what's being paid on this forum, you're daft :}. That would be a great way to increase the number of possible targets for the bad guys.

[parabellum]

In 1969 they paid GBP427.00 per month, tax free, all found!:)

[ramos]

Guys,

Could anyone give the name or direct e-mail of the person(s) to contact for employment with bristow anywhere in Africa? And are they hiring at the moment?

Have searched the whats new.... thread but can't find any direct info, Have had no responce from Bristow in the uk so thought I'd try the inside route through pprune.

Thanks for any help!!

Ramos:ugh:

[WhirlwindIII]

In 1977 it was three times 427 GBP.

[FlyingHead]

Helicopter Pilots - 200240083 - Flight Jobs (http://www.flightglobal.com/jobs/job/helicopter-pilots-global-200240083.htm)

Follow this link.

Cheers
FH:}

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

ramos,

Check your PMs.

NEO

[206Fan]

First officers require a minimum of 1000hrs with at least 250hrs Offshore.

By the sounds of that, no newbies with their fresh new CPL/IR and 250Hrs arn't welcome. Is that going to be the requirment for a co jockey seat from now on anytime bristows looking pilots or just on the international side of things??

[DTibbals53]

Often, the minimums are set in the contract of the supported agency. In the US, most minimums are set by the insurance companies that underwrite the aviation company.

It is a difficult thing, getting the experience that employers demand. Keep plugging!

[tu154]

Yeah the general minimum hours for co-pilot hires for the most recently advertised jobs seems to have gone up to 1000 hours from 500. DOH!!

[206Fan]

Yeah the general minimum hours for co-pilot hires for the most recently advertised jobs seems to have gone up to 1000 hours from 500. DOH!!

:ugh::ugh:

[helipiloto]

Can anyone give information about what it is like living / working in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, for Bristow?

Thank you in advance for your replies!

[chopperchappie]

Most people have a clue about the culture in many of the areas natural resources exist and are collected and I can't speak specifically for Bond - Nigeria.

I don't know if I am imagining this or if I dreamed it or what but I think there was a programme (I think it was a documentary, possibly even part of some Ross Kemp or Chris Ryan gangs thing) on UK TV about couple of guys including a (206?) pilot who got kidnapped and were held for a while and released.

It's really sketchy and I think it was Nigeria but to be honest I'm hoping that someone else might remember it more clearly, but it did have a bit of a no holds barred commentary about the general living conditions and big picture on the general risk. The bit I recall was that the pilot that talked about it said something along the lines of everyone kind of dismisses the risks as being a bit trivial until they walk into a room with multiple people pointing AKs at you.

Maybe that doesn't help at all and maybe I am remembering it wrong but when I watched it I thought it was quite interesting that it showed some of that background.

Anyways - I'm sure there's more people that have been there - got the T-Shirt and can provide better more specific info but it was just something that twanged in the grey cells when mentioned. On the other hand I may be talking about the wrong country - so don't put too much store in this !

CC

PS - Obviously I'm expecting a bit of flak over such an "informative" post but the point was just that we often consider the day to day things like shift pattern, living accom etc. but trivialise or blank out the really important things like life-expectancy!

[soggyboxers]

I can't speak specifically for Bond - Nigeria.
Bond has never operated in Nigeria :=

helipiloto,

As with many things in this life, the life you get is the one you make. Port Harcourt is a large, busy base with a lot of staff of many nationalities from Spain to USA, Ecuador, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, Malaysia to Peru amongst other countries operating a mix of Bell 407, Bell 412, S76C+/C++, AS332L/L2 and S92 and doing a lot of flying, mostly offshore and some onshore. The security and accommodation is good, but Port Harcourt is a big city and the journey to work can sometimes take a while. Make sure you take your MP3 player and a Kindle or a good supply of paperback books :ok:. Nigeria has a somewhat but readily available mobile phone network which is easily accessible and relatively cheap, though not always very reliable. The accommodation is very good with a lot of facilities provided in the compound if you want to use them. You can cook for yourself or eat in the staff restaurant, there's satellite Tv, internet (not great compared with Europe, but ok for Africa) and sporting facilities.

There will be those who say it's great and those who say it's rubbish, but the only way is to come and see for yourself :). There's an old saying that once you have been bitten by the mosquito Africa will always be in your blood! There's another that says "if you think you're too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a locked room with a mosquito". I always say that newcomers always come here telling everybody how they're going to change Africa - but if they stay long enough, they may be lucky enough to find that Africa has changed them :ok:. Keep your mind as open as your eyes and you may learn something and enjoy the experience ;)

[dedhead]

Very true Soggy.I am,as you know,back after 4 years away and it's fun to be back.It has it's ups and downs but I would rather do this than pound the radials out of Aberdeen.As long as your mind remains open,this is a doddle.

[helipiloto]

Thank you for your post Soggyboxers

[unstable load]

soggyboxers has it on the button.
If you arrive expecting hardship and strife, you will not be disappointed.
On the other hand, if you come with an open mind and are prepared to accept that there is another way of doing things, then you will find that it won't be nearly as much of a burden as you expected.

[Silver Hawk]

Hey pros, just wanna say I just sent in my application for the post of a cadet pilot with bristow. Please are there any of the firms employees here who would be willing to offer any advice or heads up info and tips? i would really appreciate. :O

[tdaaviation]

Could anyone currently employed by Bristow Nigeria please shoot me an email.
Regards
T

[flycreffe]

Any Canadians working for Bristow Nigeria?
Please PM me, thanks.
PC

[alfie1983]

If you do please contact men on [email protected]