For anyone wondering how big those waves are. I can tell you this. The front leg on the left has 1 metre markers from sea level up to 10 metres. The top 10m marker lies halfway between 1/4 & a 1/3rd the way up the leg. So it's pretty safe to say those legs are sticking at least 100ft (30.5metres) up from the water...
Watching the video I was like _is that it?_ Your comment gives an idea of how massive these waves are. For perspective, they would engulf 3 - 4 two-story houses stacked on top of each other.
I worked on these during the oil boom in the early 80s southern Louisiana Texas Mississippi some of the things I saw and experienced were priceless those storms and hurricanes I would rather forget !
@@norml.hugh-mann Southern Ocean perhaps but not the North pacific.My father worked for BP in Alaska and we travelled all over. He said the North Sea was worse and the Irish Sea worse again - Atlantic rollers coming into shallow water funnelling between Wales and Ireland. We can get 3 months solid where the minimum wind speed is force 8. We have had quite a few Force 11 and 12 storms recently. 45' waves in the Irish sea are common. Couple that with huge tides makes for some very dangerous conditions.
Sai Krishna If you work on an oil rig, it’s a high-paying job. My husband was a Chief Electronic Technician and he made money that changed our lives - for seven years. He was highly skilled from being in the military for 24 years. I can tell you that most companies look for people with skilled trades but those who don’t have that training can start out as deckhands - and sometimes they are promoted up. Good luck to you.
I've worked on here ! done 4 trips and it's as sound as fuck!!! great food and the core crew are bob on!! steko! if you ever read this, you made the trips pal!! hope your still singing n strumming .
@@MokuTom Pretty much every bloke I know up here on the NE coast of Scotland works/or has worked offshore. It was relatively easy until a couple of years ago, but the oil price drop and Covid have resulted in loads of them getting laid off (1/3 or 2/3's -can't remember off the top of my head). Normally you'd pay around a grand for your training (BOSIET from Aberdeen or wherever), and then wait for an agency to call back and give you your chance. You might get a job as a roustabout on a rig (kitchen porter etc), but usually you get put on the standby boats for your first couple of trips. If you're mad keen, you could still try it. You might be waiting 6 months -and that's if you move up here especially to work on the rigs (an agency will respect your determination?). The other route is to do an offshore-engineering degree at uni/college. -hope this helps.
@@D3cyTH3r oh man i really appreciate the detailed reply.. thats some good info. i was just really curious as its a line of work you don't hear of too often round my parts.. feeling pretty lost and aimless these days so was just caught up daydreaming bout potential options i guess. i'll look into what you've said tho! thanks a lot mate
Reminds me of my time on Piper Alpha 1978-1981 with Bawdens (yes Piper Alpha, for all those who think the money is worth the risk.) I can remember losing my hard hat while greasing the crown during a storm (big thanks to the bastard who sent me up there) and I watched it disappear towards Norway without falling in the sea. They always said the Piper had a dodgy leg which had been reinforced so it was ironic that the legs were the last part still standing in the end. I was long gone by 1988 but one guy I was roughnecking with was still out there; he jumped and was picked up by the Silver Pit. RIP to those who didn't. Health & Safety was a joke when I was out there I didn't do my Firefighting and Survival (it was before BOSIET) until my second year. I know all that has changed now. I can't say we were brave because like many of them I was still in my teens when I started, making serious money, and safety was mainly about keeping all your fingers. What I still don't understand is why everyone got jammed in the accommodation module; we had at least one emergency drill each trip and always made it to the lifeboat stations no problem but I guess when you know it's for real it soon becomes a stampede.Would I do it again? No thanks (too old now anyway.) Butat 19 I was living a dream I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
+Neil Justin All I can say is you and your fellow work mates must have balls of steel, I get scared just watching this. I was offered a job as a hairdresser on a cruise ship, my very first thought was storm at sea.....HELL NO!!
To be honest I did wonder what I'd let myself in for on my first trip, and once you're out there it's not so simple to get off; the wait for the next chopper would be a long humiliating one. We were evacuated back to Aberdeen once due to a storm warning but sometimes this wasn't an option as the choppers couldn't land due to poor visibility and the proximity of the crane, derrick etc to the helideck. Generally the intensity of work with the rest of the crew during one of 14 x 12 hour shifts and also the brief window before sleeping didn't leave much time (fortunately) to dwell on the environmental dangers around..
@@QueenJess-gv8fo they couldnt steer boats??? First off, the oars steered, second the keel points the boat forward and allows the wind energy to be transferred to forward motion from whatever direction its coming from, sail placement and trim also helps with steering.....and then there is the rudder, which they most certainly had that steered the boat...Your comment has to be the most uneducated, misinformed comment I have ever read about boats
Wow, and I'm a ocean sailor, damn that was a big one, already breaking at its top and damn those hurt. Let me give some credit where some credit is due, to the engineers and those who built this. Incredible! Salt water weights over 8 pounds per gallon mates and someone said this wave was right at 100feet! Amazing, I must confess, I heard of this wave being recorded some years ago. That's when we were still questioning 100 foot waves. This was the proof of there commonality. These are the conditions that actually makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I'm not kidding, talk about a chill up your back. I bet the camara man had several. The waves are alot taller when seen from the deck of a sailboat. About ten times as tall.
This is not the wave your talking about. The wave your talking about is called the Draupner wave from 1995 and theres a vid on yt of it, scariest wave ive ever seen
We were on the Safe Caledonia when this storm hit. Thats the accomodation vessel where the guy is filming from. There is usually a bridge between the two. I was actually working on the bottom level two days before the storm hit and was sent this film by my supervisor. There is another film somewhere , shot from the rig looking at the accomodation level. It gives you an even better idea how bad the sea was that day. My mate spent most of his time being seasick.
i am not scared of the sea and the oceans . i just don't like put myself in danger.i don't like the sand on the beaches and eat sand in my food at the beaches too How do them oil workers not be scared of them giant waves ?? i like that show .. thank you.. I am proud of all of them oil rigs workers who work off shore on them oil rigs..
I can't believe man can build something to withstand the forces of nature (cliche but true!) Thank you to those who risk their lives so i can have fuel in my car and use my gas heater!
Remember it well. It was December 12th 2008. I was night cook baker on the Safe Caledonia then. The Caley being a flotel was moving about quite a bit and we had to be extra careful working in the galley. One or two hairy moments I can tell you. The Safe Caledonia's contract with Total is now finished and I start on a platform on Nov 3rd. Which one? Yep it's the Dunbar. Looking forward to it though as it's a nice platform.
Many trips watching exactly that kind of weather on the Dunbar from the 706, and the 706 from the Dunbar. Poor weather often meant multiple days where the semi had to withdraw.
My loved one is currently on a North Sea platform, I wasn’t very happy during the two big storms we just had. He said he could feel a lot of juddering and movement this time round and they had to suspend work for the day, at one point.
MindaugasLegend I don't know how deep the rig goes into the water, but it is floating on top of the water like a gigantic buoy and anchored to the bottom. The drill bit is the only thing that goes into the ground.
@@iandonchi1034 whoa pretty old reply :) but glad someone answered it :) still cant believe piles of any material can withstand that power of sea water and waves of storm
No, I understand that you have to risk ditching in your steel coffin into a giant freezing washing machine just to get there and back. I'm asking... How the hell do you people actually do it? I guess they hand you one of those prize cheques like in game shows at the end of it all. I'd guess that might persuade me to go along for the ride too hmm....
The thing this does not show is the movement that is going on the rig when a big one hits. When I was on a platform in similar weather on nights like this I would sleep fully clothed and in my life jacket. The last platform I was on was in 550 feet of water and it would sway about 6 feet when a big one hit. Very unsettling to say the least.
hahahahahahaha.....its ok its not for everyone...but to answer youre question...they fly in via chopper or by boat.....and the people are there for a rotation. so a rotation can be about 2-3 weeks on the platform and then rotate out for 2-3 weeks off..in essence they pay you to work half a year ...its the best
well that depends on the job .....not everyone aboard drills or breaks connection...and its not a horrible job...when you see the size of the steak they prepare for you at lunch time...but you must like those 9-5 office desk driving types of jobs
@dexywatt hey Im a night cook baker on the Henry Goodrich off the coast of Newfoundland. In fact I am here right now. its a semi-submersible and it does move quite a bit in rough seas, but not as much as the FPSOs I have worked on. life offshore is excellent but I'd rather be home!
@@struanmorrison7032 you would not be able to deploy them in this kind of swell. You cannot get a grasp of the scale from this, but it's got to be at least 50m (150ft) swell. I guess you could try pulling the release lever just as the ocean hits, but if you're a couple of seconds late that's a fatal drop for all inside. All the North Sea platforms are designed to survive the _hundred year wave._ a wave so abnormally gigantic that the combination of frequencies required to create it only statically occurs about once every 100 years.
@@forestdenizen6497 Ahh, rogue waves ... There is still so much to learn about them, but as you said: a combination of the right wind direction, and strength, plus constructive interference, can easily produce a 120ft+ wave out of seemingly no-where ... There is a great BBC documentary, abet quite old now, where various Captains, old Salts whom have seen almost all, describe pitching over a wave, only to find themselves, and their ship, being plunged into a huge hollow, and above them, a wave unimaginably large. The only option, iirc, was to max out the engines ahead to try a ride up, and over, without, hopefully, tipping backwards ... ... but I can easily imagine how some ships could be sunk like that, such as the 'Edward Fitzgerald' ... from the position of the lifeboat that was recovered, and the forces that tore it off of the ship, it was hit by a colossal rogue wave that must have rolled her so badly, so fast, there wasn't even a chance to send out a 'mayday' ... iirc, she sank with all hands, with none recovered (may they rest in peace ...) ... As the --- very --- old saying goes: never underestimate the power of the Sea ...
. Wage slavery is the order of the Day, that's how the Capitalists set up same...There's one thing worse that being a slave is not knowing your one like of Robert Tresells. 'Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' the capitalist market of Supply Vs Demand decides the rate for the job.. the reason why there a premium payed for this work is lack of supply, the skill set involved coupled with the seriously unsocial aspect of the locality, As for Traitor to Humanity....ye know so little of my life.
My apologies to commenting with you - you are obviously very young - your quite right to have conversations with people your own age and who can relate to what you are saying, but I won't comment because I've lived a life and won't undermine your comment because it shows character if not understanding. Have a good life and please don't respond to adults on youtube - there are vile one's out there Stay safe..
To take a pounding like that - be top heavy shows developers of these rigs got it right for the most part - people in flood plains who continually lose thier houses and lifes to floods get your house on top of the design of an oil rig on the seas - they preserve what they hold most to their hearts and that isn't you or me but the oil. Boy do I hate governments and people who put money higher than peoples lifes.
@kuroyoroki you're right in saying that there is no country which has 100% democracy (would 100% democracy even be a good thing? is it even possible?), but some countries do have greater respect for their own citizens' rights than others & in these countries, big companies are forced to have some respect for ordinary people. i suppose respecting other countries' citizens is rarer, even when their country is an ally & in most countries, governments are often less powerful than big companies, so
Well to kinda tie your thoughts together with cinnamongirl's and Hare Krishna...I had a cousin that drown after an offshore drilling "accident". He got into it for the $ that he lost his life earning in a dangerous job. $ he'll never be able to appreciate because he's dead. It's rumoured that he's dead because he wasn't a very nice person and his accident...wasn't.
Get what your saying, it's a wild world but I think if the governments really wanted to put money into saving people they could do more - but thats enough politics for today. Thanks for making me think more on my comment and I agree with you.
What I don't like seeing on an oil rig is gases burning in a pipe that is sticking upward from it. Place a pipe on it with gas sensor that starts a gas burning power generator make something useful from it, don't waste it.
Australia is the best pay for average Oil / Gas Workers pay, @ 173,000$...in the North Sea it's just 80,000$ plus in Australia you are more than likely LAND based....
haha and thats where you're wrong. it may come as a surprise but oil workers are the most HIGHLY PAID no matter if they are in labour or management or engineering. google it
@parmo4life I'd like to agree but don't think so. They have trouble building them and they cannot measure the weather. This is, by all means, as fragile as it looks.
@kuroyoroki so the world is in many ways an unfair place, but i actually think it would be even more unfair if the UN (for all its many faults) didn't pull its weight.
I worked on these platforms and let me tell you the guys inside will be drinking tea playing pool watching movies in full size cinema or in the gym or even tucked up really snug in bed oblivious to the weather outside! You dont even feel it,unbeatable feats of engineering made by men and women.
Yes we were bouncing around on an errv as well but i've seen worse in the north sea.a guy that winched down from a rescue helicopter to a ship i was on thought we were all mad,that was in extreme force 11 conditions.He didn't feel very well at all.
@iputonchrist they move with the waves, u can feel them swaying side to side in these conditions, they are built to withstand conditions 3 times as bad as this
Get your scaffolding ticket, rigging ticket , I started in1975 as a twenty year old and did over 25 years, as painter, blaster and scaffolder, dope station coatings and drilling leg piles from a Derrick barge in Australian waters, bass straight plenty of work as a contractor doing repaints mostly 3 or 4 months work at a time doing week on, week off, both off shore and on shore construction,,pipeline coatings and gas plant maintenance , thease days is very hard to get rig jobs , maybe move to the area e.g. Aberdeen in Scotland or Sale in Gippsland Australia or New Orleans in USA, pound the streets visiting the relivent contractors , apply and tell them your available on short notice, even available to replace anyone who's off sick or injured, keep annoying them to show them your keen, visit the local pubs and get on the piss with rig workers , that's how I started , once you prove yourself they call you, it's not for everyone , it's hard work sometimes dangerous and takes a toll on your body health wise
@@iandonchi1034 just seen this message. Thank you for the information. tomorrow I'm doing my sea survival at Blackpool. then I will try and get my cv out there. if you have any more tips or contacts I'd be very grateful. thanks again.
Adam, I visited Aberdeen back in the late seventies , there's a great youth hostel in the city, across the road is the Dutch mill was very popular rig workers pub, there is a harbour suburb??, can't remember the name but has most of the companies offices and workshops ,there is probibilary hundreds now, take multable resumes ,cover letters act and keep them simple, remember it a painter job not an engineering job. You probibilary won't get past the office girl at first so be nice to her , phone back 2 or 3 times a week, visit personally every 2 weeks or so , be persistent, meanwhile learn and get experience any where there are large painting/Blasting companies , Middlsbourgh used to have many, maybe not now ? . Other options are off shore catering / cleaning and drilling rig workers, roustabouts and roughnecks, I think that being available any time at short notice was my ace card , worked for me, think positively and project that to others always helps , good luck and never give up, many, many people apply once and never try again, the companies know this and often don't reply unless you prove your genuine, ps in Australia the have corrosion association qualifications, level 1, 2 ,and 3 that can help ,some companies require this or helps to have it ,maybe the UK has a similar qualification ? good luck ,hope it helps ,
Death trap Oil Rig they even have the nerve to give it an name but just look at its pathetic spindly legs....and final death toll on this one will be worse than any case of Rickets i can tell you...You have to feel sorry for the men that work on that...!!
