Lagos Update.
Just spent some time in Lagos and seen quite a few Bristow, Aero and Caverton people.
It looks as if Aero helicopter people are either going to be absent from Lagos for a while, or have just gone already, as their contract with Petrobras is just winding up. They seem quite happy and there's no great queue forming to go to Bristow or Caverton. Some of the guys were withBristow before but got laid off from Eket for being over the age of 57. Despite being offered their jobs back again (and at more money than Aero pay, they don't trust Bristow at all (with good reason if the 'new' Bristow is anything to go by) and will stay where they are. In Lagos they have a reasonable staff house with a nice bar and a swimming pool, though the staff house is so full some guys are being 'boarded' down the road. The big problem is that there has never been any recreational transport for the helicopter guys when they're in Lagos. In Port Harcourt they have transport, but no swimming pool, though a lot of the pilots go and play golf or squash on their days off and Port Harcourt has a much better social scene than Ikeja. People are still unsure what CHC will do for (to?) them in 2005, b ut at least they're investing in more machinery with at least 2 more S76s and2 365N3s scheduled next year (wonder where they'll get the pilots and engineers as they're already short). A number of their people in PH were in Cameroon before and say that Douala is suffering from an exodus too, with people disliking it so much now, they're even going to Sudan and living in the desert
Bristow now has a permanent rotary presence with the crews for the Bonga contract flying the Super Puma. They also just had a new S76 delivered last week (still on the 'N' register). They have a good deal, as although they work 7/5 (compared with the 6/6 for most Aero people), they get more money and have more facilities for their time off. Some of the crews are living in the Sheraton Hotel with all its facilities and the others live in the BRC (Bristow Residential Compound). This is in a pretty 'dodgy' looking area and the rooms aren't great, but they do have a swimming pool, tennis and squash there.
The Caveron guys obviously have nowhere of their own because most evenings they're to be found either in the Jolly Sailor, the Aero bar or the Bristow bar. They say they have nice flats (but don't know anyone who's actually been there to confirm that). However, they're a long way out, somewhere near the Guiness brewery and they have no bar, sporting or social facilities of their own. Must be pretty hard when they work 12/4. It's no wonder they now seem to be down to only one pilot and a couple of engineers. They say they have some ore guys on the way from various places. They have a single contract with Nigerian Ports Authority for the 109, but it doesn't seem to fly much. It also seems that HPB was right to some extent about the A109 because it doesn't have sliding doors or opening windows so it's almost useless for photography and doesn't have floats so it can't go more than a few miles offshore. It's good for taking one 'market mammy' a sack of garri and a packet of peppers from Yabba market to Ikorodu - and there's not too much of a market for that right now
. Maybe when/if they get their Victoria Island heliport finished things will improve for them. There's still work going on there so it may be finished in a few more months unless the money dries up before it's finished as it does for so many grand schemes in Nigeria
I'll try and get some more rumours about Port Harcourt when I'm next around.
MM