GOM'ers live in the lap of luxury offshore!

[SASless]

A Reuters news article this morning said offshore workers live very well despite being offshore.

Amongst the articles statements was this.....

Modern technology helps ease the pain of separation for offshore workers, particularly during the holiday periods, with rigs now having good telephone and email links.

Workers eat well. They have gyms, satellite-fed television rooms and other diversions for off hours. The rig day is 24 hours and workers typically do 12 hours on and 12 hours off.

Have I missed something....my perception of GOM life for offshore based helicopter pilots is anything but this plush?

[Gomer Pylot]

There are the major offshore installations, some of which have upwards of 500 people on them, and there are the small platforms on which the quarters are Elder buildings and perhaps 2 to 4 people, none of whom is a cook. The major installations are fairly nice, have catering companies providing the food and cooking staffs, but don't have pilots staying there. They get multiple S92/S76 flights every day, so there is no need to keep one based there. The small platforms keep the helicopter (206 or 407 size) there, to save the cost of having it fly in every day. Those are the guys who stay offshore, and the conditions are generally miserable. Everybody is in one bedroom, one small shower, lavatory, and john, TV is iffy if it even exists. These are where offshore pilots spend their time. A few pilots do stay on platforms with a cook, but these are old installations, and the conditions aren't much better. The recreation facilities are a pool table if you're lucky, and the 30+ year old quarters are far into disrepair in most cases. :sad: These facilities don't get reporters from Reuters.

[B Sousa]

Thanks Gomer. Just got an email from a friend who says hes stuck out there 85 miles offshore in crap weather. He sort of likes it, but I think he may be about a half bubble off.
So "Bubba" if you read this......I aint coming to Lousyianna anytime soon........

[gwelo shamwari]

I live offshore, I have my own personal room and bathroom, Satellite TV in room, wireless Internet and a decent cook. The platform is relatively small with only 9 guys who live out there. It is not the Thistle in Aberdeen but it is comfortable.

Those are my living conditions, however I do know of pilots who work for other companies who do share rooms and bathrooms, in really desperate conditions. I guess it all depends for which company you work for and the contract you are assigned. I know the company I work for requires the pilot to have his own quarters.

I can’t generalize, as I don’t have much experience.

Hope this helps.

TGZ

[Gomer Pylot]

TGZ, you're right, it really is variable. I spent many years flying 206s offshore, and conditions ranged from barely livable to fairly decent, depending on the oil company. The majors are usually the best, and the contract production companies are the bottom of the barrel. I would never go offshore flying for a contract production company again, nor for some of the oil companies I've flown for in the past. I'm getting too old to put up with some of the crap they dish out. OTOH, it's not too bad if you get the right platform.

[havoc]

Would the companies safety officers have any say in the conditions since it would be a crew rest issue?

[Gomer Pylot]

Nope. Safety takes a distant back seat to short-term expense.

[SASless]

Hey GomPlt,

How many EPIRB's do you, your Copilot, passengers and aircraft carry/wear when flying over water?

All of the crew have EPIRB's and Survival Radios for communicating with Rescue services and the like don't you?

Or....do EPIRB's cost too much for your operator to provide them to you?

[Gomer Pylot]

Each crewmember has one, and each liferaft has one. We got our own not that long ago. Still don't have the new generation ones, though. No radios, either, just an EPIRB. And a mirror. And a strobe light.

[SASless]

They the VHF/UHF (121.5/243.0 Mhz) style or the 406hz style that is now the requirement and registered according to the government rules?
You guys changing your Marine FM radio's to accomodate the frequency changes?
Talking about EPIRBS here...not radio's.


A link that discusses such items....

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/gmdss/epirb.htm