Has too much of the decision making been moved ashore?

Professional Mariner Forum
21

I’ve only seen drilling rigs from the deck of a boat. After watching the Deepwater Horizon movie, I’m trying to get a clear picture of the command structure on a floating unit.
All I can find from internet research about what an Engineering Technician (the protagonist in the movie) does is that he coordinates information. If that’s the case, the title sounds like a misnomer. If he’s a paper pusher, why did he need the panel with all the buttons? and second, who does he report to?
I reckon this is probably a good place to ask. Can anyone clarify?

Correction: Electronic Technician

22

[QUOTE=Lee Shore;191845]I’ve only seen drilling rigs from the deck of a boat. After watching the Deepwater Horizon movie, I’m trying to get a clear picture of the command structure on a floating unit.
All I can find from internet research about what an Engineering Technician (the protagonist in the movie) does is that he coordinates information. If that’s the case, the title sounds like a misnomer. If he’s a paper pusher, why did he need the panel with all the buttons? and second, who does he report to?
I reckon this is probably a good place to ask. Can anyone clarify?[/QUOTE]

I have not seen the movie. I will say that with any drilling contractor, you essentially have three destinct structures onboard; Drilling Operations, Marine Operations, and Technical Operations. Drilling & Marine speak for themselves. On the technical side, you have mechanical & electrical that focus mainly on top side equipment (drilling equipment (draw works/top-drive / cranes /etc). You also have what you would refer to as the engine room personnel that go by many deferent names, I suppose Engineering Technician is one of those. Sometimes power management is ran from the bridge or control room, sometime the engine room or engine control room. It just depends on the set-up. In either case, the engine control room is always manned during drilling operations even though most advanced MODUs have the ACCU ABS notation (if so classed - DNV has a notation as well) that would allow unmanned operations with a deadman alarm; no operator will work in that mode of operation on a DP vessel even though the level of automation would conceivably make that possible. I do not know what the term “coordinates information” means due to lack of context, but as a matter of being a supervisor, that is just part of the job function. You communicate information from your direct reports to your supervisor in the same manner the muster taker at the lifeboats communicates a head count to the bridge, or anything else that is pertinent due to the circumstances. It’s just part of what you do in general terms, but it’s not a primary role, or your only role. There is no function onboard whose sole purpose is to communicate or coordinate information, except maybe a dispatcher on the logistics side, but that is minimizining their role in the grand scheme of things.

23

[QUOTE=anchorman;191848]I have not seen the movie. I will say that with any drilling contractor, you essentially have three destinct structures onboard; Drilling Operations, Marine Operations, and Technical Operations. Drilling & Marine speak for themselves. On the technical side, you have mechanical & electrical that focus mainly on top side equipment (drilling equipment (draw works/top-drive / cranes /etc). You also have what you would refer to as the engine room personnel that go by many deferent names, I suppose Engineering Technician is one of those. Sometimes power management is ran from the bridge or control room, sometime the engine room or engine control room. It just depends on the set-up. In either case, the engine control room is always manned during drilling operations even though most advanced MODUs have the ACCU ABS notation (if so classed - DNV has a notation as well) that would allow unmanned operations with a deadman alarm; no operator will work in that mode of operation on a DP vessel even though the level of automation would conceivably make that possible. I do not know what the term “coordinates information” means due to lack of context, but as a matter of being a supervisor, that is just part of the job function. You communicate information from your direct reports to your supervisor in the same manner the muster taker at the lifeboats communicates a head count to the bridge, or anything else that is pertinent due to the circumstances. It’s just part of what you do in general terms, but it’s not a primary role, or your only role. There is no function onboard whose sole purpose is to communicate or coordinate information, except maybe a dispatcher on the logistics side, but that is minimizining their role in the grand scheme of things.[/QUOTE]

The character as written in the screenplay was a composite/invention and did not reflect the individual’s actual duties. Supposedly the deviation from reality came about when the original director, whose vision was that of an ensemble of players, left and the new director changed the structure of the plot to plain old Hollywood “good guy vs. bad guy.” As Chief Electronics Technician he was responsible for the electronics of the cyber chairs, materials handling equipment, and the marine side. His job was complicated by his predecessor’s habit of “fixing” things by wiring them in whatever way got them to “work,” so precious little of the equipment on the drilling side was either on spec or documented.

The one thing the movie got right was his courage under fire. I can’t imagine running back into that inferno to try and get the emergency power going for the fire pumps. Best guess as to why the attempt failed was that the genset had gas detectors that prevented it from firing up. Another example of not-fully-thought-out systems design that pervaded the whole rig.

Earl

24

[QUOTE=Lee Shore;191845]I’ve only seen drilling rigs from the deck of a boat. After watching the Deepwater Horizon movie, I’m trying to get a clear picture of the command structure on a floating unit.
All I can find from internet research about what an Engineering Technician (the protagonist in the movie) does is that he coordinates information. If that’s the case, the title sounds like a misnomer. If he’s a paper pusher, why did he need the panel with all the buttons? and second, who does he report to?
I reckon this is probably a good place to ask. Can anyone clarify?

Correction: Electronic Technician[/QUOTE]

I suppose you may get various answers depending on which drilling contractor is involved. I can give you one man’s experience with Transocean and specifically the Horizon from about 2003 to 2006. One thing to keep in mind is that it was classed as a MODU and this can result in some seemingly strange manning requirements/arrangements (at least during that pre-Macondo time).

My recollection is that Transocean was going through some changes on philosophy on the maintenance side of the house. When I first got there there was a Chief Engineer who was designated as Maintenance Supervisor. Under him there was a Mechanical Supervisor, First Assistant Engineer and Electrical Supervisor.

The breakdown below these supervisors was something like this

Mechanical Supervisor (day worker)
Chief Mechanics
Assistant Mechanics
Welders

First Assistant (day worker)
2nd Asst Engineers
Motorman

Electric Supervisor
Chief Electricians
Assistant Electrician (if carried)
Electronic Technicians (ET’s)

My experience was that - unless the OIM was related to the ET or from the same home town - I doubt they would be talking much in the manner displayed in the movie. Of course if the cable TV went out or one of his electronic devices was acting up you could be sure the ET would be called to get that working.

At least when I was there the chain of command was mostly observed so normally maintenance planning would be done at the CE, 1AE, MS, ES level and tasking would filter down to the ET and others at that level. However, if operating drilling equipment goes faulty in operation the rig floor would page directly Chief Mechanics, Chief Electricians or ET’s as applicable. With any luck the ME, 1AE or ES would also be called especially if we are looking at down time.

The ET is not a paper pusher. If you are referring to the part in the interview with that guy, I believe he was referring to his emergency station duties. I don’t know what panel you are referring to but as far as I know the ET’s had NO operational duties. They were there for performing maintenance only. There were no control panels in his shop BUT there was an ESD panel in the ECR just aft of the ET shop. The engineers would operate the ESD if any manual shut downs were needed or ordered.

So the idea of this being a composite character is the only way to explain the action taking place in the movie. As far as this specific guy goes he wasn’t there when I was. One thing about him being on the phone to his wife from his shop while being on tour that doesn’t sit right with me. I was not aware of that going on when I was there but I sure as hell had no time for that crap when I was there. Guess that is inevitable nowadays though. Did I hear correctly in that 60 minutes interview that he left two guys buried in debris in the ECR? Said he’d go to bridge and send back help? Wonder how they eventually got out.

During my time there the CE was a real licensed CE. However, the concept of one organization when the rig was on station and drilling and another when the rig was in transit could have been a point of confusion. Cant remember the exact time but 72 hours comes to mind. If the transit was to be over the limit there needed to be a licensed CE and assistant engineers per the manning certificate. Seems on some toher rigs the Maintenance Supervisor was not licensed or had some crazy MODU document. At that time Transocean also shifted overall command from OIM to Master during transits. As someone else mentioned above not the sort of arrangement that exudes clarity but in practice there did not seem to be problems between OIM and Master knowing where each others responsibilities began and ended. It didn’t look good during the hearings though. I also think it depends on personalities involved too. In general some marine guys that have sailed deep sea for while come to drilling and cant take it for very long. You have to put the way a normal ship operates out of your mind.

I had moved on by time of the incident and out of the mainstream of Transocean GOM ops but I heard the flag state didn’t look too good by allowing un-licensed people as “maintenance supervisors” even when on location so I think after Macondo they went back to licensned CE’s everywhere. Before I left though they did combine the 1AE and Mechanical Supervisor positions which was a huge mistake. The span of control of the 1AE became quite huge and with no day working engineer the battle just became tougher. The reasoning they used at the time (at least as related to me) was really pretty poor and I had a few arguments with people from town in the ECR about it but once they make a move like that they never back down.

I didn’t cover the Subsea department but that is a whole different ball of wax.

Hope that helps give some perspective.

25

Based on KPChief’s description, here are the manning levels at the time of the blowout:

[Chief Engineer 1]

Mechanical Supervisor (day worker) [1]
Chief Mechanics [3]
Assistant Mechanics [listed as “Mechanic” 1]
Welders [1]

First Assistant (day worker) [1]
2nd Asst Engineers [listed as “3rd Assistant” 1]
Motorman [3, 1 of which was a trainee]

Electric Supervisor [None]
Chief Electricians [2]
Assistant Electrician (if carried) [None]
Electronic Technicians (ET’s) [2 Chief, 1 Electronics Tech, 1 Electrical/Electronics Tech]

One of the Chief Mechanics complained bitterly in internal emails and later to Congress about staffing levels and Transocean’s “run it until it breaks” maintenance philosophy. Evidently maintenance was being deferred until the trip to drydock scheduled for November; the rotary table had been out of commission for four years.

FYI.

Earl

26

That same “run it until it breaks” BP business model killed 15 people and injured 180 at their Texas City refinery in 2005.

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[QUOTE=Lee Shore;191879]That same “run it until it breaks” BP business model killed 15 people and injured 180 at their Texas City refinery in 2005.[/QUOTE]

That sort of thing has been going on for a long time. Cornelius Vanderbilt said of his great rival Jay Gould that “any fool can make a railroad pay.” Just stop maintenance. Vanderbilt invested in his, and left behind a system (New York Central) that lasted through WWII. Jay Gould gutted the Erie and left behind a McMansion. And then there’s Carl Icahn, who took over Transocean and squeezed $1B in cash out of the company. (Icahn only got 6% of that – nobody’s really figured out what he was up to.) Anyhow, I’m sure that maneuver improved Transocean’s maintenance practices :frowning:

For those interested in these kinds of financial shenanigans, there’s an excellent analysis on the Roosevelt Institute website:

http://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Disgorge-the-Cash.pdf

Earl

28

[QUOTE=Earl Boebert;191917]That sort of thing has been going on for a long time. Cornelius Vanderbilt said of his great rival Jay Gould that “any fool can make a railroad pay.” Just stop maintenance.[/QUOTE]

The people of Johnstown PA know all about Cornelius Vanderbilt’s buddies Carnegie and Frick from the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club whose arrogance and disregard for safety obliterated their town and killed over 2000 innocent people.
It was the biggest man made disaster of the 19th century.

29

[QUOTE=Lee Shore;191935]The people of Johnstown PA know all about Cornelius Vanderbilt’s buddies Carnegie and Frick from the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club whose arrogance and “don’t worry about maintenance” philosophy obliterated their town and killed over 2000 innocent people.
It was the biggest man made disaster of the 19th century.[/QUOTE]

Good point. I didn’t mean to imply the guy was a saint – far from it. But he did know how to build a viable operation. As opposed to the hedge fund mentality of today.

Cheers,

Earl

30

Earlier in this thread I have mentioned the biggest single accident in the history of the Norwegian Offshore Oil & Gas industry, the Alexander Kielland capsizing:

Since the Alexander Kielland accident in the early 1980’s all OIM has to have attended 4 months of special training to qualify for the position on any MODU working in the Norwegian EEZ.

I learnt today that not everything about that accident has been public knowledge. Here is an article in today’s smp.no stating that it wasn’t only metal fatigue that caused the accident, but that the way they had handled the unit during operation as Accommodation Platform at Ekkofisk was a major contributor: Norske myndigheter fortalte ikke hele sannheten om Kielland-ulykken - smp.no
I was of the impression that this was common knowledge, at least in the Offshore industry, and one of the reasons for the additional training and certification requirements for OIMs and tougher regulations that followed.
That it was also a major item in the claim against the builders was not known to me, however.

31

I thought it was all to do with the hydrophone install into a seriously important structural member done badly?

32

Statoil’s Operation Center for their Offshore vessels, situated just outside Bergen, Norway:

I had the opportunity to visit in June and it is seriously impressive. Every vessel is monitored in real time and 24/7.
Is this too much oversight and reducing the authority of the Master?