Oilmen’s concern over emergency helicopters
From the Scotsman
==================================================
Oilmen’s concern over emergency helicopters
Frank Urquhart
. .OIL workers have called for the replacement of rig-based helicopters after a series of emergency alerts.
The Super Pumas, which are the first point of escape from platforms in the North Sea, are now approaching 20 years of age. There are fears that six incidents in the past four weeks could be a sign they are past their best.
Jake Molloy, of the offshore workers union, OILC, is now calling for the helicopters to be replaced.
He said: "There are great concerns over the ageing aspect of the helicopters, which are in use at this time. The rash of alerts sends out a message that there are problems.
"No-one likes to contemplate a major accident, but it might take one for the companies to wake up to what’s going on here.
"We had the very old SL6s and they were replaced with the Super Pumas in the late 1980s - early 1990s.
"Now there are newer machines on the market, but it will take investment from the oil operators for them to be introduced. Confidence is waning and we need a new, improved fleet of helicopters."
==================================================
If they wanted new helicopters they may have had them if the oil companies hadn't kept trying to cut back on contract rates to such an extent that two companies had to merge and a third almost went out of business!!