People at Work

Deep Water Desk Jockey
'Just another day at the office' is not a phrase Don Fraser uses often...

As Offshore Superintendent on Woodside's Cossack Pioneer, Don can spend up to six months of each year at sea, managing staff operations and production functions.

The Cossack Pioneer is a floating production storage and offtake facility, moored to a riser turret mooring (RTM) in 80 m of water, about 130 km off the coast of Dampier.

The RTM is connected to numerous subsea wells from which it feeds oil into the Cossack Pioneer. The vessel processes the liquids at a rate of 140,000 bopd and offloads the product into tankers that moor alongside. Associated gas is compressed and exported to Karratha via a subsea pipeline.

On an average day, Don is in charge of all staff and operations aboard the Cossack Pioneer. "Under the PSLA, which is the legislation that governs offshore facilities, we must have one person in charge of all the activity on the vessel", Don said. "And on the Cossack Pioneer, I'm that person".

"I manage the people and make sure they are properly trained, developed and managed, and that we don't do anything that endangers ourselves or the vessel. I make sure we meet our production targets, and obviously environmental issues assume high priority too."

"I'm also the Emergency Commander, in charge of the emergency response team. We have a programme of emergency response exercises that we need to practice every year to prepare for potential events such as an engine room fire or helicopter crash."

While Don overseas all these functions, he has a group of people working for him who ensure his instructions are properly carried out. "In addition to the Production Supervisor and Chief Engineer, the vessel is fully manned as a ship, complete with a Captain."

While most wouldn't view the role as a typical office job, Don sees himself as an average 'desk jockey'. He explained, "Although there are many highly physical roles to be carried out on the vessel, my role is mostly desk bound – I don't do a lot of physical work."

"It is important for those in physical roles aboard the vessel to pace themselves", Don continued. "Our work cycle is two weeks on, two weeks off. When we work, we live on the vessel, working twelve hours a day seven days a week. In terms of hours, you do a whole month's work in two weeks."

But the vessel is well equipped to accommodate the needs of its crew. The Cossack Pioneer's massive size – 270 m in length by 55 m in width – means the vessel can provide a range of leisure-time activities.

"We have a gym, theatre and quite a few other amenities, but you're still confined", Don said of life on the vessel. "Our core crew is about 40 personnel, but we can accommodate up to 80 if we're doing special work such as repairs."

The Cossack Pioneer's closest neighbours are fellow Woodsiders North Rankin, Goodwyn-A and Ocean Legend, all platforms located within a 30 km radius. All four structures lie within 'Cyclone Alley'; the region off northwest Australia where cyclones are regular occurrences.

Don explained that while the platforms are permanent, cyclone-proof structures and can withstand the 20 metre waves and 300 kph winds common during cyclones, the Cossack Pioneer is not cyclone-proof.

"When a cyclone comes within 400 miles of the vessel we detach from the RTM and move. As soon as we are free of the RTM, the vessel is technically classed as a ship, and control passes to the ship's Captain and his crew. They keep us ahead of the cyclone, then circle back behind it", Don explained.

The Captain aims to keep the ship in calm water, even avoiding the gales, which are relatively light winds of 35 knots. "We stay far enough away for the seas not to be too rough, just 3 m to 4 m swells", Don said.

Don has been offshore for seven cyclones and is grateful for the Cossack Pioneer's ability to move out of a cyclone's path. "You can make ships cyclone proof but I don't think I'd like to be onboard if one passed overhead – it would be pretty rough", he admitted.

Don began his career in the industry in 1964, as a process operator in oil refineries. He initially worked for Shell in a number of locations before joining Woodside's Karratha operations in 1988, where he spent six years at their onshore gas processing plant.

His first offshore experience was on the Goodwyn-A platform during its initial commissioning and hookup in 1994.

"I didn't know what to expect from my first time offshore", Don said. "I couldn't paint a mental picture because I just didn't know. But ultimately it wasn't too much of a culture shock. You're restricted on board but the two weeks go pretty quickly."

Don has since been involved in many offshore projects and found the new experiences associated with learning about how the Cossack Pioneer works very interesting. But he cites his participation in the 1999 refurbishment of the vessel as the most enjoyable.

"I was responsible for taking the ship off its station and readying it for the trip to Dubai where it would be worked on", Don said. "As part of the massive upgrade, the Cossack Pioneer received a new compressor and the ship's accommodation was expanded from 24 berth to 80 berth".

"The upgrade took six months, after which I flew to Dubai for a week of final preparations as we got her ready to go to sea. I joined the Captain on the journey back to Australia, which took three weeks."

"It took about three months to get the vessel and crew operating at peak capacity again but now, 18 months later, it's all very steady and we're focusing on other things."

While Don enjoys life onboard the Cossack Pioneer, he says that the job does have its disadvantages. "One of the advantages of office-based work is that you get to go home every night", he said.

"There's also a degree of risk involved in this job. They say our single worst component is the helicopter flights", Don continued. While he doesn't mind the frequent helicopter flights, he does find the machine's noise makes conversation – the only entertainment on the flights out to sea – difficult.

But overall, Don speaks fondly of his less typical way of life, and enjoys the challenges his position on the vessel presents him. "I have always said that it's important to do your job as best you can but to also have fun. We take our work very seriously but also share a lot of laughs."