PPRuNe Forums - Happenings at Warrnambool

FLYING VISIT
By GLEN BERNOTH
June 23, 2005

Warrnambool Standard

Bristow Helicopters Australia contracted to transport the Woodside Energy workers to and from the Thylacine gas field

ANY hope Woodside Energy would provide the south-west with a permanent search and rescue helicopter has been dashed, with the company announcing yesterday it could only help on a temporary basis.

Woodside will bring two helicopters worth $15 million to Warrnambool in October and make them available for emergency search and rescue work for about nine months.

The company has awarded a contract to Bristow Helicopters Australia to supply the choppers for the duration of its Otway Gas Project construction phase.

That phase is expected to last between eight and 12 months, when the helicopters will disappear again.

The announcement is bitter-sweet for WestVic Helicopter Rescue Service - the group behind a 10-year campaign for a fully equipped search and rescue chopper to be based in the south-west.

West Vic chairman John Robinson had hoped Woodside would base a helicopter, with emergency capabilities, at Warrnambool permanently to provide ongoing support for its Otway basin interests.

Woodside spokeswoman Nicole Turner said yesterday neither aircraft would remain in Warrnambool and the company no longer had the capacity to provide any helicopter on a long-term basis.

"I guess it is a good outcome that they will fly in and out of Warrnambool for nine months...this obviously is not the dedicated helicopter that West Vic was pursuing," she said.

"We won't have a permanent helicopter in that area.

"When WestVic, the State Government and us were in discussions about a rescue helicopter...we couldn't reach an agreement with the Government so it was off the table and we pursued it on a commercial basis."

Bristow Helicopters Australia general manager Paul Gliddon said four pilots and four engineers would accompany an 18-seat Super Puma Eurocopter and 10-seat Sikorsky S76 to Warrnambool.

Mr Gliddon said the aircraft were fitted with the latest safety enhancements and had the capacity to react to emergencies if instructed to do so by Australian Search and Rescue (AusSAR).

Mr Robinson said his committee welcomed the short-term safety net that would come with the helicopter's arrival, but would continue its efforts to pressure Government for a permanent search and rescue service.

"We will be doing everything we can to support them because obviously we know they will support us in our time of need," he said.

"This provides some comfort for the period the helicopters are here.

"They wont be dealing with medical emergencies, which is the greatest need in the west of the state."

Mr Robinson said his committee was not defeated and would continue to campaign for a permanent helicopter dedicated to saving south-west lives.

"We are concentrating on the long-term - really the call now is for the Government to fully fund such a service," he said.

Warrnambool Standard
Helicopters to ferry 300 gas rig workers
By GLEN BERNOTH
June 23, 2005

UP to 300 gas workers will be flown between the Warrrnambool aerodrome and an offshore gas rig 70 kilometres south of Port Campbell between November this year and August 2006.

Bristow Helicopters Australia has won the contract to transport the Woodside Energy workers to and from the Thylacine gas field, where they will drill wells and lay a massive pipeline to bring gas onshore.

Perth-based general manager Paul Gliddon said four pilots and four engineers would man an 18-seat Super Puma Eurocopter and 10-seat Sikorsky S75 to provide the passenger service.

"I would think there will be a couple of flights a day seven days a week," he said. "These are big aircraft. The Super Puma is worth about $10 million and the S76 about $5 million.

"They'll be operating out of Warrnambool the whole time supporting the pipeline laying barge and drilling program.

"We're not using the aircraft for heavy lifting."

Mr Gliddon said he anticipated the helicopters would arrive in late October and start work in November.

He said the construction phase was expected to take nine months but could take anywhere from eight to 12 months.

Woodside spokeswoman Nicole Turner said the weather and a number of other variables would dictate how long the construction phase lasted.

She said phase one also included the construction of a gas processing plant, which will be located at the same site as Tru Energy's existing facility at Waarre near Port Campbell.

"The helicopters are not needed for that though. They will only be used for the offshore work," she said.

"Initially personnel will be mobilised and demobilised from the Warrnambool airport about five times a week

"Later on there will be up to 10 flights a week."

Bristow originated in the United Kingdom and now has ventures all over the world.

Bristow Helicopters Australia was formed in 1967 and operates 13 aircraft nationally.