[QUOTE=Deuce;41439]^^^^ I feel you brotha! If I lived in Manvel I’d be pissed at the world too[/QUOTE]
Some people just don’t appreciate the scenic grandeur of a rice field!!
[QUOTE=Deuce;41439]^^^^ I feel you brotha! If I lived in Manvel I’d be pissed at the world too! Maybe you should treat yourself to Alvin for a life upgrade? You guys that are giving my friend here shit for his thoughts need to step up and move to Manvel for a year. This place makes being stuck in the middle of the ocean without phone and internet seem like heaven on earth! If you’re ever in Miami feel free to pm me and I’ll treat you to a good lunch and see if I can help to get you laid. Best wishes amigo![/QUOTE]
Oh, I ain’t pissed at the world. Just have a broader view. Oh, and Manvel isn’t what it used to be. . . .
[QUOTE=CaptTomH;41434]A friend of mine told me that none of Nobles DPOs have DP/Drilling experience (only supply boat exp.)on thier rigs in the Gulf , Some have no dp or marine experience because Noble wont hire Sr DPOs. a good place to break in for DP experience.[/QUOTE]
That’s true. All the Frontier ADPO’s were made Noble “Mates” which requires a 3/m license but no DP Cert. The DPO’s need a 3/m and DP Cert, but no drilling experience. Frontier required a 2/m, DP Cert, and drilling experience. There’s no SDPO position. I don’t think the client will allow that when the Bully and Globetrotter ships go to work. I believe the Danny Adkins has two DPO’s on watch, not sure how they decide who’s actually in charge on the Bridge.
[QUOTE=cmakin;41452]Oh, I ain’t pissed at the world. Just have a broader view. Oh, and Manvel isn’t what it used to be. . . .[/QUOTE]
What do you mean it’s not what it used to be? You mean it has come a long ways? Progressed? Become more modernized? Maybe you wouldn’t be living there if it was what it used to be??? HHHMMMMMM…Interesting concept…Maybe this same concept relates to other things as well…
[QUOTE=Orniphobe;41453]not sure how they decide who’s actually in charge on the Bridge.[/QUOTE]
They probably just flip a quarter!
We had the same issue over here. It was OK for a while, but someone has to be in charge. There has to be someone that has final decision making authority clearly defined. You can’t wait for the captain on every issue. Eventually over a year into operation they made a senior dpo position. The only requirement the company has though is to have an Unlimited License, a DP certificate and at least one year drilling experience. So a third mate can serve as Sr. DPO if he has the DP certificate. Noble is asking for trouble, if they want the experienced guys they are going to have to pay. The only good thing about them is that people who have no drilling experience can get on there and gain the knowledge and experience that they need to move on. They may end up like McDermott…the training company that trains their employees to move on to better paying positions at other companies. Noble is not bad, they just aren’t as good as some of the other companies. It is my opinion that they do not think very much of their marine departments in general.
[QUOTE=Capt. Lee;41458] Noble is not bad, they just aren’t as good as some of the other companies. It is my opinion that they do not think very much of their marine departments in general.[/QUOTE]
Isn’t that the attitude at quite a few drilling companies? I have always thought that if the drilling companies could operate a rig without a marine crew, they would. Of course on jack ups, they do.
[QUOTE=Deuce;41456]What do you mean it’s not what it used to be? You mean it has come a long ways? Progressed? Become more modernized? Maybe you wouldn’t be living there if it was what it used to be??? HHHMMMMMM…Interesting concept…Maybe this same concept relates to other things as well…[/QUOTE]
Nice use of logic. Now, while parts of Manvel HAVE changed, there are still plenty areas of nothing. Of course it is still just 25 short miles to the big city. . . .
Can anyone confirm the rumor that a bunch of the Frontier Phoenix crew quit and shutdown thier operations in SE Asia ? And Shell has taken it off contract.
[QUOTE=GOMariner;41834]Can anyone confirm the rumor that a bunch of the Frontier Phoenix crew quit and shutdown thier operations in SE Asia ? And Shell has taken it off contract.[/QUOTE]
Yes, that’s the Frontier Phonenix (ex Peregrine II, soon to be the Noble Phoenix) in Brunei. I understand it was a mutual decision between the Company Man and Rig Superintendent. They had lost 27 people as of Tuesday, Bully I and II together were down 20.
The other rumor is the Phoenix may go to Brazil. Noble has two sister ships there already, scheduled to be stretched.
Heard that Noble paid out the bonuses to the Frontier crews that stayed Dec 1st , now they are losing a bunch of people from the Frontier rigs that got paid out . Can anyone confirm ?
I can confirm that some of the better Frontier people [marine and drilling] left at the time of the Noble takeover and more are on the way out. There’s the usual thing of lay offs in slow times going on in the marine industry right now, but the the oil exploration end of the industry is surprising me with their shortsightedness. Noble is not alone in this, some of the leaders in the industry are doing the same thing. They have all been hit by the world slow down but are cutting their own throats by replacing some of their most highly skilled and experienced people with people of MUCH less experience and skills. It is especially surprising that this is going on in the oil exploration end because they are under great scrutiny by regulatory agencies due to the Horizon disaster. I suppose they’ll move on to countries which don’t care about blow outs and they’ll insure themselves.
It’s all about the next quarters bonus and not the long term success of the organisation.
It used to be we could say that in the long term “They shall reap what they sow” but since the advent of quarterly and annual bonuses that is no longer true. Now it’s BOHICA for everybody.
New guy onboard. Got the latest on the Noble/Frontier swindle. Noble sent out contracts/offers for each position onboard when they took over. These contracts were required to be signed and returned to their office in Houston. Each contract stated that based on your respective position you would receive the differential pay, etc., between Frontier’s and Noble’s payscale provided you work at least two complete hitches and were employed [B]through December 31, 2010[/B]. This past week they moved the goal post… Must now be employed through end of January to receive differential pay. Letters have been received at home sent through USPS, no signature required upon receipt. Does not give a date, only states sometime at end of January. Obviously they don’t have a legal leg to stand on, but I’m sure the Dept. of Labor and Maritime lawyers will be getting phone calls post haste!
It is without question that Noble Drilling is the most employee unfriendly drilling company you can find these days. Fucking their people out of what they are due is standard operating procedure of them, but who can affort a lawyer to fight this (hell the cost of hiring counsel will exceed the bonus amount!) and the Dept. of Labor wouldn’t even listen to you (it’s a Texas matter they’d say and don’t figure anyone in Texas gives one rats ass for the plight of labor!) so what is someone to do? The best action is to use your feet to register your anger at how they conduct business. If you can’t do that for whatever reason, then you have to suck it up until the day comes when you can escape their evil clutches.
Of course, if everybody getting fucked by Noble were to get together to hire councel to file suit against Noble then that might be the shot fired across Noble’s bow that is needed right now. Maybe a Facebook page for current and past Noble employees would be a good place to start? Perhaps a letter signed by a hundred (if there are that many left) ex Frontier people threatening to leave unless these wrongs are made right could just be effective? But then again it is Noble we are talking about here and they have never let the loss of experienced people stop them in their profit at all costs on the backs of their workers way of doing business!
Never has the need for labor in the offshore industry to be represented been more apparent, but god forbid anyone ever talk about it! When will the workers in the GoM ever wake up to that? Never, I fear!