An FPSO?

I saw the import invoice for the Agbami FPSO. $1.2 Billion. That was impressive, but we did not get the full impact of being impressed until the vessel showed up in Nigerian waters. The Agbami FPSO is not only one of the largest in the world and is also one of the largest floating marine vessels in the world with only a few ships like the Knock Nevis and the USS Ronald Regan being larger. Even if it was the largest vessel today, however, the status would not last long because each successive FPSO is built larger than the last .

I organized the first two helicopter flight to the FPSO the first morning of its arrival. The idea was to get the customs and immigration officers on board and get the vessel cleared and signed over to Chevron before the end of the year. The timing was critical as she only arrived on Dec 30th giving us only two days as a window of opportunity. I realized that night we were going to be fine when I heard a squall line move through with rain thunder and lightning. That was what we needed to clear the air of the Harmattan dust haze that might have delayed our launch.

We got away on time and here are some of the amazing images I managed to capture as we caught the FPSO in tow on the way to its final mooring. This vessel made it all the way from Korea under tow at an average of 5.4 knots and arrived less than 48 hours before the deadline. Needless to say all Chevron was very happy to have it cleared and signed over before the New Year. Now the work begins.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=21607

“The Agbami FPSO will be moored in about 4,700 feet water depth, and at least 40 subsea wells will most likely be necessary to fully exploit the field. The FPSO will be designed to handle 250,000 barrels of oil per day, 450 million cubic feet of gas production per day and 450,000 barrels of injected water per day. Approximately 415 million cubic feet of gas per day will be re-injected. Designed to store approximately 2.2 million barrels of oil, the Agbami vessel is set to be on location for more than 20 years.”

Chevron Agbami FPSO Arrival in Nigerian Waters

November was a busy month anyway as we are preparing for the imminent arrival of the Agbami FPSO for Chevron Nigeria, but it was made near impossible by the fact that we needed to audit all the helicopter service providers who will be flying on the contract. That includes ACN (CHC Global), Bristow Nigeria (Bristow Group) and Pan African Airlines (Bristow Group). Leading the team was Mike Simmons and Clive Christenson from Chevron Aviation Services. We spent a full two weeks completing the job. In PH and Lagos I did not get many pictures, but was able to knock off a few in Escravos and found a few willing posers.

Pan African Airlines Nigeria November Visit

While we were in Port Harcourt Clive and myself did a flight with ACN out to the Sedco-Energy. We stopped on the way to drop off passengers on the Toisa Perseus a service vessel helping to get the field ready for the Agbami FPSO. David, the Deputy Chief Pilot of ACN, did the honors and even agreed to be “snapped”.

ACN / CHC Helicopter Flight to Deep Water Nigeria

For October I flew to Singapore to attend an IATA Auditors course. Here I have posted some pictures of my class mates.

IATA Aviation Auditor Course Singapore

Plus I took a few days off and managed to take a few pictures around Singapore.

Singapore Oct 2007

Honda ST1300 Motorcycle Ride from Miami to the Grand Canyon and back up home to Canada in 14 days. John and Holly Goulet.

Day 1 – South Miami to Titusville Space Coast Florida 560 kms.
Day 2 – Titusville flying helicopter with Bristow Academy. Motorcycle Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral.
Day 3 – Titusville flight with Bristow Academy and then motorcycle to Jacksonville and Tallahassee 560 kms.
Day 4 – Tallahassee to Pensacola, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Alexandria for the night 950 kms.
Day 5 – Alexandria to Dallas and Wichita Falls for the night 885 kms.
Day 6 – Wichita Falls to Amarillo and San Jon where we got a flat front tire. AAA got us a trailer that moved us to Clovis where we had both tires changed at High Desert Honda. 520 kms.
Day 7 – Clovis, New Mexico to Albuquerque on Historic Route 66.
Day 8 – Albuquerque to Flagstaff and Tusayan Arizona and then a drive around to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon 685 kms.
Day 9 – South Rim Grand Canyon around route 89 and 89A to Cameron, Marble Canyon, over the Colorado River to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for lunch over looking the Bright Angel Canyon. Then we headed around to Cape Royal for the best view of the Grand Canyon. Here we got the real experience. The Canyon is so large and so quiet. It was the absolute stillness and quiet that made me feel so small. The we drove North to Fredonia and stopped at Kanab Utah for the night. 585 kms.
Day 10 – Kanab to the Red Rock Canyon and Bryce Canyon and then Scenic Hwy 12 around to Escalante, Boulder and Torrey for the best ride of my life. We stopped at Provo Utah for the night 680 kms.
Day 11 – Provo to Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls for the night. We stopped early to wash clothes and rest up for big ride next day. 495 kms.
Day 12 – Idaho Falls to West Yellowstone via Hwy 20. We rode through the Yellowstone National Park Lamar Valley to Cooke City for lunch. Then we did the Beartooth All American Road going up to 10,947 feet through the highest pass in the North Rockies known as the Beartooth Corridor. We drove on through Red Lodge, Cody and Billings Montana to stop at Miles City for the night. 785 kms.
Day 13 – Miles City to Bismarck where we stopped early to visit with Eddie and Andria 460 kms.
Day 14 – Bismarck South Dakota to Fargo North Dakota, Winnipeg and finally back home in Lac du Bonnet 800 kms.

8350 kms in 14 days on a Honda ST1300. Click on the link below to experience the ride for yourself.

Grand Canyon ST1300 Ride