Rig Deliverer

The need to anchor, as opposed to using dynamic positioning, has lead to small teams from the semi-sub rig Maersk Deliverer undertaking a training programme not normally faced by rig crews, but one very much at home in the maritime arena. The four-day Anchor Handling course has been especially modified for the rig teams and first five participants arrived in December. Five more rig team members arrive to MOSAIC early in the New Year.

By mooring out, the rig will be able to shut down the eight engines which normally hold it in position via DP, thereby saving fuel, but more importantly further reducing emissions on a rig which already has ultra high 'green' qualities.

The arrival of the Deliverer team at Svendborg had a very natural, almost inevitable feel to it. The initiative was triggered by the OIM of Deliverer who, because a sister rig Discoverer did it in Australian waters, thought it would be a good idea to know exactly what was in front of them. Added to this the OIM knew exactly what simulated training could offer because he had been on a special new buildings course in January at MOSAIC before the team even set foot on Deliverer.

It might be said that the arrival of the trailblazing Deliverer crew way back in January 2010 put into focus the huge potential for simulator training for rig crews and help to trigger the exciting MOSAIC II development which had its ground-breaking ceremony last month.

There was one other connection, Discoverer anchored in the Indian Ocean with the help of Per Fredricksen, a former MT instructor who is now a towmaster.

The new courses are very different to the process the Discoverer crew followed.
Instructors Kenneth Kroer Hansen and Michael Toftelund have been analyzing figures for the zone of operation and mooring details for Maersk Deliverer off the Angolan coast. 'We still need the procedures to be outlined by the operating company but we are in good shape and will be able to simulate everything that will allow them to keep in position in all conditions up to and including a 100 year storm,' says Kenneth.

The first team had two days of a general introduction to anchor handling including the differing values of various types of anchors and chains. Then they had two days in the simulator in scenario-specific operations.

The DP2 series of semi-subs (Developer/Discoverer/Deliverer) are designed to work in depths of up to 30,000 feet, but off Angola it will be in waters of well under 1,000 feet. This creates a whole new environment with its own particular problems – for instance the shorter the distance between vessel and drill head the less flexibility there is in the pipe.

'It is very important to realize that because of the power and ability of the computers we have, we can simulate any of the scenarios before they come and train for a specific job,' says Michael. 'But it is equally important that the level we test them to is also realistic and that they leave here feeling confident and ready for the job. It would be stupid to create conditions which would have them leaving uneasy.'

The two instructors really enjoyed the course since there was a considerable degree of inter-job crossover between the seafarers and riggers – often the same task, but now seen from the other end of the towmaster's rope.