Solships - Solstad Offshore ASA 02/2013 - Summer edition | Page 32

Operasjoner. Det var også en gjennomgang av aktuelle tema fra HR, HSEQ og teknisk avdeling ved hovedkontoret, i tillegg til at deltakerne fikk informasjon fra Solstad Offshore Asia Pacific i Singapore, som NOR-flåten er en del av. Solstad Offshore has employees all over the world, a fact reflected by the shipping conference for the NOR Fleet officers held in March. Captains and chief engineers had travelled from places such as Australia, Mexico, Poland, Croatia and Finnmark, Norway to join the conference. Nor Tigerfish The participants agreed that sharing experiences with colleagues is very useful. Being found on different ships the world over 3rd Engineer Ruben Carillo and 2nd Engineer Anatolii Bakurov, Nor Valiant. throughout most of the year, they appreciate getting together at the shipping conference once a year. The fact that this year’s conference took place at the head office at Skudeneshavn gave the participants the chance to meet up with many of the office staff they otherwise have contact with by e-mail or phone. -We appreciate being able to see the faces behind the voices we know from conversations over the phone, Roman Tarnowski says with a smile. He is the Captain of NOR Tigerfish and has travelled from Poland in order to attend the gathering at Skudeneshavn. Solships meets him and Roberto Ramirez, who is Chief Engineer on Nor Valiant and comes from Mexico. The participants of the conference do not only come from different parts of the world – their ships also operate on separate continents, which offers multiple challenges. Gas field in Mozambique NOR Tigerfish has since August last year 32 Solships – June 2013 Nor Valiant been operating in Mozambique on the east coast of Africa, where a large gas field is being developed in the waters off northern Mozambique. The Solstad ship operates on behalf of Anadarko, which is one of the world’s largest oil and gas exploration and production companies. In connection with the gas field development, an onshore LNG processing plant will also be built with start-up of production scheduled for 2018. The gas field and the processing facility are being built in one of the most impoverished and least developed regions of Mozambique. This means that infrastructure is scant. -Everything must be planned carefully and well in advance. Supplies have to be ordered two weeks ahead. All supplies are imported from the neighbouring country, which is South Africa. There are currently no supply vessels in the zone that can carry supplies, spare parts etc. to us, so if we are not docked by the time the supplies we have ordered arrive, even more time will pass before we get it onboard. This can be demanding, but gradually we’ve become good at planning. I also find it exciting and interesting to take part in operations in new regions, Tarnowski says. All work at the gas field takes place at 1500 m water depth. Operations are carried out in a zone that may be exposed to pirates, thus the ship has its own security guards and there are several vessels patrolling the area in order to protect the safety of those located there. The Gulf of Mexio While NOR Tigerfish is operating on a gas field under development in Africa, NOR Valiant is located in a more established area – the Gulf of Mexico. The construction support vessel is operating on a long-term contract for the Mexican company DMGP Servicios de Integridad, which belongs to the large Mexican oilfield services company Diavaz. In connection with underwa-