I'm surprised to read that some countries and/or oil companies don't require helicopters, single, twin or triple, to carry sufficient fuel to reach a land base in the event a rig landing can not be made for what ever reason. I know some twins are approved for single engine landings on some rigs but not too many.
In Australia back in 1968 we used to operate two Bell 206A ( i.e C18 ) to the Sedco 135G some 154nm off the beach which was 100nm down the coast from Darwin. We had fuel drums near the beach to top up before heading out to sea and carried fuel to the rig plus 30 mins, i.e. not enough for a round trip. Eventually Murphys Law prevailed and when the 206 was past PNR, the rig had a gas leak and went up in flames and was abandoned. The second 206 told the outbound one to go back to the beach. The fuel dump was about 2 nms inland but as the fuel gauge had sat on E for a while, he decided to land on the beach and not risk the extra 2 nms. On touching down the engine stopped.
Since then CASA changed the requirement to always have round trip fuel for all types of helicopters and having flown offshore in Australia, Thailand, India, Arabian Gulf, North Sea, Phillipnes, China and Malaysia, all the companies I have worked for require round trip fuel. Also I find it hard to believe that any twin when in the cruise would have to ditch if it loses an engine. Must be very over weight or the second engine stuffed!
