North Sea oil workers are staying offshore for as long as three weeks at a time, potentially increasing the risks of an already dangerous operating environment, according to unions.
Three weeks ?!? Someone needs to warn MSC to put an end to 4 month hitches immediately.
How dare they! On the other hand I sailed for two years on a Shell tanker. During that time we had two docking periods in Amsterdam and one stay for 24 hours in Rotterdam, quite a luxury.
After the lockdown three of us old hands were having a few beers and expressing amazement that people quarantined for 14 days in a 5 star hotel were having Problems.
In the Norwegian offshore sector they have it even better, many people work 2 weeks on 4 weeks off.
During the 2014 downturn some offshore companies went from 2/3 to 3/3, there was uproar then from the offshore workers.
I canât find it now but in 2014 there was a news article about ten offshore workers walking around Aberdeen (the main oil and gas city) wearing âv for vendettaâ masks and handing out leaflets saying â3 weeks on 3 weeks off is slaveryâ or something along those lines⌠They didnât get much sympathy from the publicâŚ
I remember during the early 70âs oil crises slow steaming from Rotterdam to the Persian Gulf and back,
In those days in the UK you also signed articles for two years. The longest I did on the same ship was 15 months. No sat-com or satellite TV in those days.
As I am getting my paper work in order for all that 65+ crap, I came across how many days i worked per year. The younger I was (Teens), the days were in excess of 300 per year⌠All voluntary, I hustled for extra work, even with other companies if the outfit at the time didnât have it. But still filling my spot at my primary employer.The trend continued downward until my mid 30âs, which was also voluntary. Equal time 3 and 3 was most welcome and a helluva lot better than 2 and 2. I really want to upchuck about the slavery quip. Good title for this thread âOh, the horrorâ.
I rolled my eyes but damn now that I think about it when it was crew change time on the mud boat ten extra minutes felt like an eternity and now on container ships itâs like ok, an extra two weeks delay, time to make some free money. Itâs funny how stuff feels at the time.
in the UK offshore oil patch these 2 week on 3 week off rotations are only for rig workers, who join and leave their rigs by helicopter, people working on ships tend to do at at least 4 weeks on/off depending on the company.
How much are these rig workers getting paid?
Back in the day, I worked the SURTASS TAGOS ships. 6 month hitch, one in-port visit [3 days] in the middle, and always had the duty!!!
That said, itâs still unconscionable that CIVMARS have to stay aboard while MILDET can come/go as they please, and the yard-birds still show up. Someone with way too many initials after their name, an advanced degree, doesnât have a fkâg clue!!!
The 2/4 schedule only applies to those working on drilling rigs and production platforms etc.
AFAIK the schedule is based on 12/12 shifts 7 days/week (Weekends count double)
This to match the annual working hours of industrial workers ashore in Norway. (37.5 hrs/week)
On the OSVs the norm is even time and depends on where in the world they work.
AFAIK 4/4 is most common, but 5/5 may be applied for work in Brasil, GoM, Asia etc.
PS> Kraken can elaborate
If you want to know more about working conditions in Norway, here is a blogg written by an American that live here;
Depends on company and position like anywhere else, but I think a roustabout or AB on an offshore installation earns roughly ÂŁ45k ($60k) before tax, they will have to pay around 25% tax and another 5% towards a pension, but no healthcare costs as we have a universal healthcare system itâs paid from general taxation.
People on offshore installations generally earn a lot more than on ships (unless theyâre on big ones like construction vessels or DSVs etc), ABs on smaller offshore vessels probably start on around ÂŁ25k ($33k). The UK average salary is around ÂŁ30k.
Not a pro or con, but that universal healthcare is a game changer for many folks. Too many greedy fucks in our blessed country will mess that concept up.
Weâre getting off topic, but yes it generally works quite well for everyone in most countries that adopt similar like Canada etc.
We still have a private healthcare system for people who have the money and want to pay extra, but often itâs the same doctors working the public system and private you just get attended by the doctor much sooner, the public system has longer waiting lists. If itâs an emergency you get seen straight away though.
Lots of foreign people get free emergency healthcare in the UK too, they donât seem to very strict on checking who has to pay and who doesnât.
Yes, agree off topic at times, but when a subject arises in any of these threads/topics that I catch and have a feeling for, I will comment. No ill will at all.