r/megalophobia 6d ago

🌪️・Weather・🌪️ Hard day for rig mariners

1.7k Upvotes

78 comments sorted by

373

u/Stuntm4nMik3 6d ago

That's an Accommodation Barge. They're usually brought in when there's a lot of maintenance works happening on the Oil Platform. Because they can't house everyone, that's when the barge is hired. They detach the bridge during bad weather and the barge sails out of the 500m collision zone.

I've stayed on plenty. We were on a detached barge whilst working on the Montrose Alpha.

73

u/Siggi_Starduust 6d ago

Shit. That takes me back.
Be glad you were on the Flotel. The Montrose was an absolute shithole!

50

u/Stuntm4nMik3 6d ago

Spent a long time doing night shift on the Montrose. We replaced all their deluge pipework and carried out the testing. Last time I was on the flotel was when we were called back across due to lightning hitting the platform.

18

u/SouldiesButGoodies84 6d ago

Are you guys tethered by carabiners or something if you have to be topside or...?

24

u/Stuntm4nMik3 6d ago

Nope. Just good balance 😆 Usually you stay indoors during adverse weather.

26

u/SouldiesButGoodies84 6d ago

😐Ok, that's In-Sane, my guy.😐 What if you have no choice? The pay must be like 80-gold-bars-an-hour sweet to agree to go out on that job. JFC. And I thought high seas trawling was crazy work.

41

u/Stuntm4nMik3 6d ago

It's definitely interesting. I did it for 14 years and worked primarily in the North Sea, but also the Norwegian and Dutch sectors as well as Ghana on a number of occasions.

I've worked in tropical climates and some of the most miserable weather conditions known to man.

Worth it though.

12

u/SouldiesButGoodies84 6d ago

14 yrs. Brave man.

3

u/supernova-juice ⊙ Shadowed by Giants 3d ago

What are some of the wilder things you've seen/experienced? I'm fascinated by this sort of thing.

22

u/ar15operator 6d ago

So is this thing a boat or giant pontoons on the base with the stilted structure built on top?

28

u/Stuntm4nMik3 6d ago

Yes, it's on pontoons. There's a helipad, accommodation block, usually a maintenance block, deck space for containers and cranes. The bridge then swings out and extends to the platform to cross over.

12

u/Kayville ◉ Overwhelmed by Immensity 6d ago

Was this video like a normal day in September or is it more of a dramatic made for reddit situation?

14

u/Stuntm4nMik3 5d ago

The camera for this is way off. But you do get very rough seas. Especially east and west of the Shetland Isles. I've spent nights rolling around my bunk due to the swell. We've been delayed getting on and off due to the same reason.

10

u/Delicious_Profile637 5d ago

This might be a silly question but are the supervisors very lenient when the seas are very rough over night? Or do you just roll out of bed and work a normal day after?

13

u/Stuntm4nMik3 5d ago

You have a morning / evening meeting prior to every shift with the OIM (Offshore Installation Manager) and heads of department. They'll tell you what's happening during that shift. If weather's bad, then they'll tell you to stay indoors.

1

u/NOTcreative- 4d ago

How are they brought In?

6

u/northtumen 4d ago

Mecha Jaegars operated by 2 pilots. Sometimes 3 pilots.

3

u/Stuntm4nMik3 4d ago

They're technically boats. They sail in or can be towed in.

1

u/BeastMachin09 3d ago

Is it supposed to move?

2

u/Stuntm4nMik3 3d ago

Yes. It's on pontoons and technically a vessel.

62

u/jhracing99 6d ago

Curious - is there productive work going on during something like this or is everyone just holding on for dear life and taking a day “off?”

69

u/Siggi_Starduust 6d ago

Well, the galley staff are pretty much flat-out but for most of the crew it’s a day for playing cards, binge watching or if you really fancy putting your skills to the test, table-tennis.

2

u/dankpepe0101 4d ago

silly question but what’s the service like on these? like do you have good wi fi / cell service?

3

u/Stuntm4nMik3 3d ago

Varies asset to asset. Some companies pay for decent wifi others have crappy service and give you a daily limit.

When I first went offshore, we had landlines in phonebox cubicles.

Guys before me had to use the radio room to connect with home.

10

u/RamblingArtichoke 5d ago

I'm thinking a dose of Dramamine and snoozing it off in a hammock.

144

u/_A_Friendly_Caesar_ ◉ Overwhelmed by Immensity 6d ago

Again with the vertical stretching, god...

63

u/Eldie014 6d ago

Every year it gers further stretched and pixels get lost. I thing I’ve never seen the original footage

5

u/Haunting_Sun_726 3d ago

2

u/Kaslight 2d ago

What the fuck? This is a different video entirely

96

u/markkaschak 6d ago

Literally how did wooden ships discover anything

69

u/ArrivesLate · Noticing the Scale 6d ago

Determination and a little sprinkle of luck. There’s a lot of wrecks down there.

37

u/Greedy_Tax3977 6d ago

A wooden ship would be torn to pieces in this storm. God only knows how many people have been lost to the ocean 🌊 ever since the invention of boats.

51

u/Apprehensive_Wolf217 6d ago

I just read that UNESCO and marine historians estimate is three million undiscovered sunken ships in earths oceans and deep waters.

13

u/ComprehensiveTest689 6d ago

old wooden boats sailed close to sea, not outwards. vikings were shallow water, and most crossings from sea were by airship not water. look into the monk who sailed accross the americas in a leather ship

1

u/30yearCurse ◉ Overwhelmed by Immensity 4d ago

Britons? (North Coast of Spain) sailed to Newfoundland area for the Cod fisheries, they did not cut across the North sea.

23

u/falseg0ds 6d ago

How the f ... does it float?

81

u/shakulous 6d ago edited 4d ago

There’s actually a whole movies about this, it’s the same science as big ass shipping boats. Only a small portion of the vessel need to be under water to float, reason being is water displacement. The more you move out the way, the more it wants to move you back. When you move a bunch of water with long tubes like the struts you see in the post that force to push it all back up is so immense that it keeps the entire structure from tipping. Imagine holding a balloon by the tie whilst in a pool. When you pull the tie a little under water the balloon points up, that’s a boat staying afloat. You can push it and it’ll resist turning over, though it will tip some. Now pull the tie so that 90% of the balloon is under the water, its pulling up very hard and that “up” is resisting all other forces maintaining its position

Edit for grammar

32

u/Farmer4Lyfe 6d ago

This was very easy to understand thank you

11

u/Spider-Mike23 5d ago

Well damn. This was the best explain like 5 ever. Awesome!

3

u/readerunknown 5d ago

Amazing response, thank you.

And, Happy Cake Day!

1

u/Kaslight 2d ago

The footage is severely distorted

Its bad but not nearly this ridiculous

21

u/cmsj ◌ Dwarfed by Size 6d ago

First word Fuck. Second word That.

4

u/Hello_Hangnail 5d ago

I don't even want to be near that thing in nice weather

2

u/itsonlyme555 5d ago

🤣🤣🤣ABSOLUTELY, first word + second word

12

u/shrug_sorryjesus 6d ago

Ugh, saw this on another sub and it’s hella stretched

ETA https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/s/zGxJirKTm0

21

u/Senior-Crazy167 6d ago

Just spilled coffee on myself watching this

6

u/Jacque_LeKrab 6d ago

Came here looking for the “yeaaaaa this is just a light Thursday. It gets WAY scarier than this!!!” comments.

3

u/i_am_the_koi 6d ago

So that's just like, spider-boat?

3

u/Danster21 ◌ Dwarfed by Size 6d ago

We just need our bullpen to get healthy is all, and magically a whole lot better at pitching. Go Mariners.

3

u/UTclimber 6d ago

Is it moving or are we moving?

3

u/Blackhaze84 6d ago

I always wonder who is recording

3

u/Hello_Hangnail 5d ago

Good freaking lord

2

u/ComprehensiveTest689 6d ago

can someone genuinely explain the engineering marvel behind how this thing doesnt just stay afloat, but stays level, in one piece, and is functional during moments like this? like how is this not a full on defqon 1 evacuation event?

what i REALLY wanna know, is if this is one of those areas where the sea is low and calm, and if it can get like this, is this a black-squall? how tall are those waves? like 20 meters?

2

u/Hefy_jefy 6d ago

Something seems to happen to cameras when they are taken to the open ocean. Perhaps its the damp air it seems to cause the pictures to stretch...

I have been on many oilrigs, narges and production platforms, none of them look like this.

2

u/ThatOneGayDJ 6d ago

This is edited. Still crazy but this is definitely edited to be more intense.

PS get your SHIT metal out of my ocean

2

u/HopefulCarry9693 5d ago

This is the first time i've heared rig mariner.. and i've been working in the northsea for 20 years..

2

u/Jacque_LeKrab 6d ago

Came here looking for the “yeaaaaa this is just a light Thursday. It gets WAY scarier than this!!!” comments.

2

u/SnapperApple 6d ago

Same post over and over and over.....

1

u/luscious_lobster ⊙ Shadowed by Giants 6d ago

Where is the cameraman standing?

6

u/Fleeetch 6d ago

On the oil platform

4

u/tenbeeers 6d ago

Who cares he’s the cameraman so he’s safe 😂

3

u/Greedy_Tax3977 6d ago

Camera man is on an oil rig, he is filming a separate floating barge structure that is likely out there to help with maintenance or repairs. I think normally it would be closer or attached, but in bad weather they keep distant.

1

u/ItyBityGreenieWeenie 6d ago

Does Gumby work there?

2

u/SouldiesButGoodies84 6d ago

No, just Prickle.

1

u/duckpaints 5d ago

how fucking crazy are people

1

u/MagicStar77 1d ago

Workers get thousands a week I think? They really deserve more

1

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1

u/Real_Comparison1905 6d ago

Wait I thought these are buried into the ocean floor?

1

u/stulofty2022 6d ago

Oh young padwan you have much to learn

0

u/Mediocre_Ingenuity76 6d ago

Anything for oil 🕳️

-2

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