Thinking 'In' The Box

Lock two crane drivers in a box and what do you get? A host of good stories of quayside manoeuvres, the tales of legendary operators and number of lifts per hour . . . maybe. But in this case they emerged after a week with a new course programme for Maersk Training, one which will help the planned MOSAIC II complete the learning circle.

The box was a converted container which Maersk Drilling had used to good effect in Singapore to familiarise rig crane drivers with operational practices. Experienced driver John Reay was used to life in this particular box having accompanied it to Singapore; it was new to Chief Instructor Johan van Berkel more used to conducting courses inside the globe-trotting CraneSIMS.

Englishman John had come directly from the Maersk Deliverer so that he could relay information about the kind of situations they come up with as the vital link between the rigs and the supply vessels. For Johan, whose experience had long been confined to the quayside, it was a whole new world, a world of knuckle-boom cranes and surging seas.

After their days in the box what they came out with was a two-day refresher course. Initially it's for those on the Deliverer, but it which will start the ball rolling regarding a portfolio of related courses so that MOASIC II can create a whole world of rig scenarios when it opens next year.

The role of the rig crane operator is a vital one, for it is in their ability that the entire supply system relies. There are courses out there but the decision to 'box' John and Johan was taken on the grounds that the end product could be enhanced by applying Maersk Training methodology.

'Drilling Systems have been commissioned to supply the new MOSAIC set-up with a complete rig crane simulation, so we look forward to working with that and developing all the courses that are needed,' explained Johan. 'I think it is fair to say that previously in this area training has lacked structure and uniformity – this should make rig loading and off loading a lot more efficient, and safer.'