[QUOTE=Fraqrat;195868]Someone had to come up there and teach y’all how to drive tugs and mud boats. It was probably as shocking as a cave man seeing fire for the first time. You have repaid us by invading our waters with underpaid foreigners and villagers depressing day rates to where our equipment can’t work in our own market.[/QUOTE]
Yes, but it didn’t take long to figure out that there were better ways to do things than the coonass way.
Today the development of new oil field equipment and technology has migrated from USA to Norway, with more Norwegians working in the industry in USA than Americans in Norway. (I’m not talking about in the GoM only)
Top end drilling and Subsea equipment is now developed and produced in Kristiansand, drilling & production technology development in Stavanger area, Seismic in Bergen and Marine equipment, shipbuilding and ship design concentrated around Aalesund. All supported by advanced research at NTNU and SINTEF in Trondheim.
Oslo Stock Exchange is one of the main sources of finance for the industry and many Norwegian and foreign owned companies in the worldwide Offshore and Shipping industries are listed there.
Norwegian Banks and Insurance companies are also heavily involved in the industry internationally, incl. in USA.
That is called free market force at work. “If you snooze you loose”.
[QUOTE=injunear;195876]Last time I was there, we pulled in to drop off seismic records October '76. Foreign seamen had been restricted to their vessels because of a few brawls.[/QUOTE]
The lake at the centre of Stavanger was known as “The Italian Bath”.
Some Italian workers who were engaged in building a refinery in the area got thrown in by jealous Norwegians.
(Not because they took the jobs, but because they took the girls)
[QUOTE=injunear;195888]The first company I worked for had quite a few boats in the North Sea and North Atlantic in the early '70s. When they started building the larger “North Sea” boats, They slowly started moving the fleet to South America. The prez of the company told us that they couldn’t compete with the subsidies of the Euorpean companies. In '77, we moved the big equipment to Alaska. We then found out what bad weather was all about…[/QUOTE]
The Prez of that company were full of sh*t. They couldn’t compete because they didn’t follow the trend towards bigger and better boats, with better equipment. The same still applies.
The excuse that the “others” are subsidized is still being branded around and it is still hogwash. Building the same cheap boats to old design, with old and inefficient technology, cannot be blamed on others.
Subsidized and the use of cheap foreign labor and villagers. You can spend $40m-$50m on a nice new gen high spec vessel hat does the job just fine. For the money you don’t really need to double the cost for a sauna and vibrating recliners. When I get off watch I have no desire to spend my down time at a sausage fest in a jacuzzi. Maybe you Norwegians like sitting around each other in your banana hammocks. You can miss me with that shit tho.
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;195917]Subsidized and the use of cheap foreign labor and villagers. You can spend $40m-$50m on a nice new gen high spec vessel hat does the job just fine. For the money you don’t really need to double the cost for a sauna and vibrating recliners. When I get off watch I have no desire to spend my down time at a sausage fest in a jacuzzi. Maybe you Norwegians like sitting around each other in your banana hammocks. You can miss me with that shit tho.[/QUOTE]
Yes the good ol’ American thinking apply; If you have put in 12 hrs. of hard work you don’t need any more than a bunk to crash on.
The Norwegian way of thinking is that crew comfort is important for safety, hence good living conditions, recreational facilities (not just recycled old Hollywood movies on a TV in the galley) low noise level in living quarters and healthy food is worthy investments.
Of cause you don’t need none of all that. Bare painted bulkheads, steel bunks and lockers, common showers and heads with no doors will do fine for the macho American mariners??
[QUOTE=ombugge;195933]Yes the good ol’ American thinking apply; If you have put in 12 hrs. of hard work you don’t need any more than a bunk to crash on.
The Norwegian way of thinking is that crew comfort is important for safety, hence good living conditions, recreational facilities (not just recycled old Hollywood movies on a TV in the galley) low noise level in living quarters and healthy food is worthy investments.
Of cause you don’t need none of all that. Bare painted bulkheads, steel bunks and lockers, common showers and heads with no doors will do fine for the macho American mariners??[/QUOTE]
Ummmm, yeah. . . . although a book or four would be nice instead of recycled Hollywood movies. . . . not sure I see too many common showers these days, but whatever keeps you busy. . . .
We have nice joiner packages, each stateroom has it’s on head, and we have satellite TV piped into all the rooms. Every vessel has an enterprising crew member who is known as the “bootleg man”. He possesses all of the latest high quality Hollywood blockbusters on his hard drive. When off watch I’d rather enjoy wifi in my stateroom and argue with you on gcaptain. I’m gonna pass on sitting in a hot tub with a bunch of eurotrash in their banana hangers.
[QUOTE=ombugge;195933]Yes the good ol’ American thinking apply; If you have put in 12 hrs. of hard work you don’t need any more than a bunk to crash on.
The Norwegian way of thinking is that crew comfort is important for safety, hence good living conditions, recreational facilities (not just recycled old Hollywood movies on a TV in the galley) low noise level in living quarters and healthy food is worthy investments.
Of cause you don’t need none of all that. Bare painted bulkheads, steel bunks and lockers, common showers and heads with no doors will do fine for the macho American mariners??[/QUOTE]
Nothing like the gmo, msg, trans fat laden food that the world seems to revolve around on boats and the “you are a weirdo” vibe people give you for choosing not to partake during feeding time.
I would say organic whole food and the company of eurtotrash in banana hammocks would be a preferable option…
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;195951]We have nice joiner packages, each stateroom has it’s on head, and we have satellite TV piped into all the rooms. Every vessel has an enterprising crew member who is known as the “bootleg man”. He possesses all of the latest high quality Hollywood blockbusters on his hard drive. When off watch I’d rather enjoy wifi in my stateroom and argue with you on gcaptain. I’m gonna pass on sitting in a hot tub with a bunch of eurotrash in their banana hangers.[/QUOTE]
Congratulation!!! You FINALLY got a job on one of them nice foreign built boats then???
For those who are still on a more normal GoM boat; Do you have chairs, not hard wooden benches, in the Mess room?? (If there is such thing as a Mess room, separated from the Galley)
OK maybe not too many common showers and doorless heads anymore, but if those old mud boats of the 1970’s and 1980’s are still in use, I’m sure you can find them??
I remember coming on board one of the newest US flag Seahorse boats somewhere in West Africa back in the 1980’s.
The British Ch.Eng. insisting on showing me the heads. Why???
There were two doorless cubicle facing each other, close enough to were the occupants could swap comic books without getting up.
His comment; Can you believe it??? Goddamned Yankees!!
It’s been normal since the mid 90’s to have tables, chairs and separate mess from galley. We even have real toilets and no longer shit in buckets and dump overboard.
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;195982]Nice new boat built in the good old US of A.
It’s been normal since the mid 90’s to have tables, chairs and separate mess from galley. We even have real toilets and no longer shit in buckets and dump overboard.[/QUOTE]
Next step will be to get Vacuum toilets and Sewage Treatment Plants as well, not just let the sh*t go into the bayou??
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;195982]Nice new boat built in the good old US of A.
It’s been normal since the mid 90’s to have tables, chairs and separate mess from galley. We even have real toilets and no longer shit in buckets and dump overboard.[/QUOTE]
We used to live in a cardboard box. . .in the middle of the road. . .and we LOVED IT!!!
Using Coal is old and obsolete technology. Hydrogen produced with renewable energy is the future.
PS> Actually cheap hydroelectric energy was the main stay of industrial production in Norway, in the form of Nitrogen for fertilizer, Aluminum and Ferro Allow smelters, before the “oil age”.
