I’ve been back on the boat for over a week now and to be honest the trip is dragging already. We’ve been plagued by bad weather which is hampering operations quite a bit. That is going to have a knock-on effect, not only on this project’s schedule, but also the de-mobilization of the Perseus which is supposed to follow straight on the heels of these works.
Along with all the operational things, we’re still getting questions and queries, about not only the imminent de-mob, but also still a few on the ‘Pacific’ and her new systems.
A lot of the guys are getting a little ‘antsy’ as they know that this could be their last trip on ‘Perseus’, but still have no idea what the immediate future holds for them work-wise. We do know that the company’s stated intention is to utilize the personnel as and where required, then to get them back together again as the ‘Pacific’ moves towards it’s commissioning phase. There is likely to be a gap of at least six months between ‘Perseus’ and ‘Pacific’ but no real indication of how and where the guys (including myself!) are to be used. Even if they do disperse us in the short term, the likelihood of getting all of us back together again for the ‘Pacific’ seems like a bit of a vain hope to me. People may get temporary assignments that they like, in which case they may not want to leave them to come back for the ‘Pacific’, or they may get assignments that they hate, and decide to move on somewhere else completely.
Needless to say, the rumor mill has been in full grind with stories of the ODIM winch (a big piece of equipment that we had on the Perseus a year or so ago) being mobilised on one of our other ships, our own VLS being mobilised on another chartered vessel in the fleet, and I have heard that there is ‘definite’ work for the VLS on a.n.other ship in the Asia-Pacific region for 2011. That still doesn’t help us in the short term.
All in all, with things being such a drag here, I’m already trying to figure out what all jobs I need to do a home during my next leave! hahah
