The Norwegians have a beautiful house and yard. Fresh paint all the time, the grass is like a putting green where a dandelion dare not raise its head. It’s hard to be neighbors with Ned when your Homer but who really likes Ned anyway? I would much rather live next to Homer and have a Duff beer with him down at Moe’s.
Regardless of my brusk replies to norwayornoway who btw, has been poking me with a stick to see if I’ll bite (which I obviously will), the context of this whole thread was that foreign and American shipowners have been using loopholes in the laws to perpetuate an artificial myth that there are not qualified American mariners to man and operate these subsea vessels in the Gulf of Mexico and to have turned what was an exceptional situation to the norm. I aim to make the Congress aware that this is happening and working everyday to that end.
These vessel owners have clearly been shown to be more than eager to access the market in the US GoM but not willing to make any investments for that access. The Federal Government to date has allowed this to occur and one cannot blame these vessel owners from running with that. The game is however in the first quarter and far from over. I want the officiating to stop favoring the opposition and start applying the rules of the game as they are written. The longer the rules are bent in favor of one team the harder it will be to even up the score.
What has been amply proven time and again in this thread is that US vessel owners (ECO, Trico and others) are willing to make longterm investments to access the offshore markets of other countries and to play by their rules. It is time that Olympic, Havila, REM, Siem, et all start doing the same here. The US GoM is the third biggest deepwater province in the world for new discoveries and a highly desirable market for[B] [I]ANY[/I][/B] vessel owner to have a piece of. Should they not have to do [I][B]ANYTHING[/B][/I] to benefit the host nation for that access?
Please elCapitan or anchorman…tell me how this is not right?
btw, I know that my points are made already and I for one am ready to let this thread wind down if NoWay will just go away and leave this old man in peace. Anyone seen my Polygrip? I still need to put my teeth in this morning…can’t do much biting without them, but I suppose I could drool on my old nemesis!