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Still very quiet on the rumour front though BALPA Log did have an article on the concept. Is it going to happen?:confused:
Am I going to have to retire my yellow helmet!!:{ HF |
There's a Rotorhead on the Newcastle Crash thread by the name of Jigsaw Jockey, conspicuous by his/her absence from this discussion.
Perhaps due to embarassment at their 100k salary.:O Let's have the story Jockey |
North Sea BP Jigsaw
Anyone got any news on the BP jigsaw SAR contract? Has it died a death yet or is BP still wanting to push on with it?
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Due to BP selling its assets in the N Sea Bond will have a spare Puma on contract to BP so watch this space for Jigsaw in 2005.
332M;) |
Rumour mill has it Bond will supply two aircraft, one based offshore and one onshore in the Shetlands somewhere.
Any one any idea where the crews are going to come from? Lots of military SAR crews with loads of experience who would like to get out of the RN/RAF - hint, hint. Here's hoping :D JKnife |
Seems the rumour wasn't far off according to the following:
http://www.shephard.co.uk/Assets/Ima.../bond332l2.jpg Aberdeen, Scotland: Bond Offshore Helicopters has been awarded a long-term contract by BP Exploration for two new Super Pumas to provide search-and-rescue (SAR) services in support of operations by the oil major in the Central and Northern North Sea and West of the Shetland Islands. Under the 10-year contract, valued at approximately 100 million, Bond will provide two dedicated, state-of-the-art Super Puma AS332L Mark II helicopters, air and ground crews and full back-up for round-the-clock SAR, 365 days a year. The aircraft have been ordered from Eurocopter for delivery in the second half of 2005 when they will go into service in December with onsite immediate response crews and engineers. One aircraft will be based on a production platform in the Central North Sea and the other on Shetland. They will operate in conjunction with advanced Regional Support Ships provided by one of BPs marine contractors The twin-engine Mark II Super Pumas provide improved safety and performance, with a four-axis auto-hover system which significantly enhances the aircrafts ability to operate in severe weather conditions and at night; a dual hoist system, and state-of-the-art avionics and SAR equipment, making the Super Puma one of the most advanced SAR aircraft in the world. Around 40 personnel - pilots, rescue crew and engineers - are being recruited by Bond for the contract. The company has already secured a number of them and they will be employed meantime on other services. Bond began operating services to the offshore industry in the North Sea in the early 1970s, becoming a leader in its field in the UK and internationally. The company and its staff have extensive experience of providing SAR services to the offshore industry, military and government bodies in Europe and Australia. Geoff Williams, Bond Offshore Helicopters Managing Director, said: The contract takes helicopter operations in the offshore industry into a new dimension, with search-and-rescue being significantly enhanced through these dedicated aircraft and crews in their specialist role. The scope and scale of the contract is also a major step forward in the development of our services to the industry and in the creation of further long-term employment. The SAR helicopters will bring to seven the Super Pumas in Bonds fleet. |
Bond-Jigsaw
I'm amazed at the lack of comments regarding Bond being awarded the Jigsaw contract.
I am a Coastguard SAR pilot, and I know the guys that did the Jigsaw trial, and to a man, they all said how difficult it was to work up to and maintain the standard that BP required........and they were almost all current Coastguard aircrew. Where are Bond going to get that kind of experience from ? Ex military pilots are generally very good, but it takes time to get them up to speed (no critisism intended, civvy flying is just different) And I've heard the L2 is not the easiest machine to get to grips with (I'll stick to my 61 thanks) I think it's great to see more work coming up, but I personally don't believe that Bond have the experience to start up this kind of SAR operation. If BP were so keen on safety at any cost, why didn't they give the work to a proven operator? Does anyone care? |
South Africa and Australia silly.......
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Press and Journal Aberdeen
UNION ANGER AS BP REVEALS PLANS TO REPLACE STANDBY SAFETY VESSELS Oil giant BP is poised to reveal plans for a new offshore safety system scrapping standby safety vessels today - a move certain to provoke a furious response from unions representing offshore workers. Details of plans for four giant motherships, each with two high performance lifeboats, combined with more helicopter cover, personal locator devices and better survival equipment were given to union leaders and MPs last night. Under what is known as Operation Jigsaw the central and north North Sea will be divided into three areas with BP installations, each of which will be patrolled by one of the new regional support vessels, with the fourth en route to or from shore with supplies. Their lifeboats - autonomous recovery rescue craft or "arcs" - will each be the equivalent of RNLI sea-going lifeboats and capable of rescuing survivors and completing passage ashore, according to reports. It was not clear if the motherships will be equipped with helicopter platforms and carry their own aircraft. They will be similar, but 50% larger, than existing multi-role vessels used in the southern North Sea It is understood BP have commissioned the craft from Chinese shipyards and that their keels have already been laid. They will replace the existing fleet of largely chartered safety vessels, one of which is on constant patrol round each platform. The company claim that the new safety regime will be more expensive to operate than current arrangements and provide better security and safety cover. Senior executives firmly deny their motive is to save money. Among concerns likely from politicians, some of whom are expected to give the company's plans a very cautious welcome, is the fact that BP have raced ahead without producing a prototype for testing in severe North Sea conditions. There is also worry about the effect on other offshore operators like Marathon and Kerr McGee. But the senior National Union of Marine Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers (Numast) national secretary Alan Graveson said: "Jigsaw has two key pieces missing." He said these include the removal of safety vessels, one of whose tasks is to warn off shipping that come too close, with an increased risk of collision. The other that in the event of a mass abandonment "helicopters with regional support vessels carrying 'daughter' craft will be woefully inadequate". He protested the unions had been given just 24 hours warning of the announcement of proposals which appeared to mean "that all that was learned following the Piper Alpha disaster has been thrown in the bin". He said: "It is a disgrace to the memory of those who lost their lives." BP has made substantial changes to proposals first put forward in 2002 which were roundly denounced by the unions. They were also widely criticised by MPs and standby vessel owners. One of the most telling complaints was that there was an over reliance on helicopters which were said not to be able to cope with a mass abandonment and unable to operate in the worst weather, putting lives at risk. A BP spokeswoman said then their proposals would include a significant marine element and enhance substantially their safety capability. She said: "We are concluding our detailed evaluation of the various components of the project which includes both aviation and marine elements, which have been the subject of intensive consultation with offshore employers and contractors." BP was approached for comment last night. An emergency meeting of the Inter-Union Offshore Oil Committee is being called to discus the proposals. It is understood the Health and Safety Executive have been consulted by BP and may have signalled their approval. |
Mountainman I guess that all this committment to safety is fine until it costs.
Bristows are the number one SAR operator but they must cost more as they have the best equipped civil SAR helicopters in the world. I saw the Jigsaw Mk2 at Helitech and it was superb, they had taken a good Mk2 and improved it out of all recognition - what are Bond going to do? Also the BP press release says that it will create 40 jobs - how are they going to run 2x 24/7 sites and a spare aircraft and crew and trainers with only 40 people? You must hand it to BP though, they sold the concept to the workforce using Bristows and then implement it with a cheap copy. |
Hambling Chaos
If you are who I think you are, your comments are interesting since I would have thought that you would have been involved in the contract award unless the decision was viod of any operational input and made exclusively by bean counters?? These must be interesting times for you. HH:cool: |
Hippolite
I am not sure I know who you think I am! My typing skills are quite poor and shambling chaos didn't come out quite right when I logged on- don't go on the handle listen to the message! However, you comment about bean counters may be quite apposite. Put helicopters offshore, get a tick in the box, save money. |
Has any announcment of the final locations of these aircraft been given? I've heard that BP are planning (or hoping) to base one of these aircraft in Scasta :oh: though I thought the plan was to base one/them offshore..... :confused: and for those who don't know, there is an offshore based emergency heliochopper in East Shetland Basin, Statoil have a 214 based on Statfjord (a few miles from Brent!) to which Shell have a contract with, and use now and again for casevacs and the odd emergency downman, but BP cannot use it and currently have to wait for the Coastguard S-61 from Sumburgh.
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BP and Bond go back a long way with SAR trials. This photo was taken on the Belford Dolphin accommodation rig in the Forties field in 1978.
If my memory serves me right, the BP rep agreed to a trial using a rope ladder. The person climbing up it (he is only about 2 feet above the helideck) was one of the aircraft engineers. This trial was for obvious reasons not a success! The pilot posts on this forum. Does he remember?? Bond went on to provide a very successful SAR service with a Dauphin for many years. http://www.hughmartin.btinternet.co.uk/Fly/Jigsaw.jpg |
The method described above by Hugh, is not a new one.
I clearly recall thr "Batcopter" an all-singing, all dancing variant of the Bell 47 being used in a similar fashion. Unfortunately during the trials, with Robin at the helm, Batman was savagely attacked by a Shark! After some deft work with an aerosol can of shark repellant, the vicious beast let go. Later on they also demonstrated a unique emergency preocedure when they suffered an engine failure but were fortunate enough to perform an emergency landing in a mattress factory! :8 :ok: |
Hi Hugh
Where in the hell did you get that photo???? The person on the ladder was a deck attendant who had never climbed a rope ladder in his life which is why BP chose him. The person in the back is an engineer whose job was to watch and make any safety comments but not to do anything unless for safety. The ladder was rolled up and fitted under the rear seat, the whole idea being that it could be left there and rolled out by the pilot when an emergency rose. The pilot, and I won't say who he was but he left for Oz the nezt week, rolled out the ladder and the climber was in the back in under 30 seconds. BP were suitably impressed as this was done in response to a 61 ditching with only 3 on board and the other helicopters flying by could only watch, although 1 did toss out a life raft which went a few miles downwind. The Forties Kiwi very kindly made the ladder. How time flies!!!:O |
Interesting pictures, I can see from that lifting technique why Bond aren't recruiting that many people!
Despite Bond and BP's 'long history' of SAR trials :confused: I should point out that the Jigsaw trials were slightly more complicated than getting some poor sod to climb up a rope ladder! Nowadays the BP Health and Safety Department would have a f**king fit at the very thought of an untrained man climbing a rope ladder to a helicopter without the aid of safety ropes, trained medics, roped off areas, HSE consultants and a bouncy castle. But it is nice to see that the man in question has one hand on the ladder rail at all times! So no red card there! In fact it's a very different North Sea to the one Bond left, as I believe they are now discovering. So I have no idea where they are going to get their staff from. There aren't that many qualified guys around and as anyone who's been involved in SAR will tell you - SAR training takes time and experience. It's not just a case of putting crew on a 3 month SAR course to get a tick in the box. If BP and Bond are serious about this then they are going to need to get the right guys to run it and man it. SAR is about experience and that's hard to find. There were a lot of lessons learnt during the trial on both the flying and engineering side that will have to be learnt all over again. Anyway, good luck chaps. But the real burning question is what are they going to call their aircraft? Bristow owns the 'jigsaw' callsign so what will Bond use? Answers on a postcard..... |
Night Watchman has hit the nail on the head, things have moved on in recent years and things are hopefully a lot more professional.
If the rumours about Bond pay are true, what self respecting SAR pilot or crewman is going to jump ship to join an outfit with no REAL SAR pedigree, which is clearly being run on a shoe string? The Jigsaw crew at Helitech explained that they had to modify the SAR autohover control in the cabin as the standard Eurocopter system needed a crewman with 3 hands- there are some ugly crewmen around but very few with 3 hands! Where will BP get all that kit from, will Bristows cut their own throat and sell the design? I bet the CAA and HSE are watching BP very carefully. |
But the real burning question is what are they going to call their aircraft? Bristow owns the 'jigsaw' callsign so what will Bond use? Answers on a postcard..... :} |
How about:
Once piece short of a Jigsaw. Or, the Nightsun is on but the 3 armed crewman is not at home. Or, The names Bond, Jig Bond. |
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