Matthew Wilson, design draughtsperson in Aberdeen, shares what it was like working offshore in the Gulf of Guinea for the latest 'Highlights from my travels':
Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Sparrows
I joined Sparrows as an apprentice in August 2014, as part of the apprenticeship I undertook a HNC in mechanical engineering and qualified in August 2018. I'm now almost finished my HND and looking to go to university after the summer.
What first interested you in your job and how did you get in to it?
I had enjoyed CAD-based subjects at school, and this coupled with an interest in pretty much anything mechanical meant that an apprenticeship as a draughtsperson in an engineering environment was ideal for me. The fact that I could still work towards further qualifications whilst building on my first-hand experience only furtherd the appeal.
Tell us more about your trip
I went offshore to work in Cameroon, Africa to undertake surveying work. I’d been offshore in the North Sea before but this was my first international trip.
The client is looking to extend the decks on five of their smaller satellite platforms. This extension means that new equipment would be out of the reach/capacity of existing platform cranes, so we were asked to carry out a feasibility study for installing new ones using the Sparrows ECR20 design. My job was to survey the existing deck area and see if there was scope to fit our cranes here, whilst Eben Van Wyk (senior design engineer) who was with me looked at the structure of the platform so see if it would be capable of handling the loads the crane would produce.
What was your day like?
We would be woken up just before 5am, have breakfast around 5.30 and then start shift at 6am. As there were five satellite platforms to survey, we had to plan the order we wanted to visit the platforms each day and what data we needed to collect. The majority of the day was spent on the platforms surveying or transferring between them using small Zodiac boats. Our shift would end at 6pm and we would go for tea, after which there was free time until it was time for bed.
We only had three days out there so there was a lot to fit in and being out and about every day is very different to my normal day in the office.
What did you think about the location?
I was surprised by the good condition of the platforms, they were really well maintained. I’d been warned about the heat but working in a boiler suit in 32-degrees is not to be underestimated!
Apart from that, it was quite similar to being in the North Sea.
What did you enjoy most about the trip?
I really enjoyed getting to see a different part of the world and developing an understanding of the way these rigs were operated. The rigs themselves were interesting, we stayed on the main Juliet platform which was similar to assets you see in the UK, but the satellite rigs were smaller and closer to the water to allow for boat transfers - something that isn’t possible in the North Sea due to sea states.
One of the rigs had a jack-up drill ship conducting drilling works on it so being allowed on board and getting to look around was great as they’re extremely complex pieces of equipment.
Being offshore on 12-hour shifts there wasn’t a lot to do outside of work, but it was nice to get back to the air-conditioned accommodation block!
Other than that, the variety of wildlife and different fish that we saw from the platform or during boat transfer was amazing and I genuinely enjoyed the chance to work in a different environment.
What was most challenging?
Due to the short length of the trip we had to be as efficient and methodical as possible each day in order to maximise productivity in the timeframe.
What did you find most valuable about your trip?
As one of the youngest personnel in the design department I try to take on as many surveys as possible to further my experience. This was a unique survey with getting to experience so many platforms in so little time.
Long-term I would really like to work abroad so I enjoyed getting to see another part of the world and hope I get the opportunity again!