itzzkhaliii:



Nice thread op,me found my bed relax,plug my charger and followed the thread reading kindly with all interest wishing to learn one or two things from this write up but it seems there are tons of knowledge in here.
But on a serious note op connect your boy na.

It was ages ago, my friend.

Well done SoKnown, how's London treating you?

Exmilitant:
Op, i can relate, once worked with Noble drillings as roostabout and in a fishing trawler as deckhand. Water is another world of its own. Thats why those who've worked long at sea hardly get use to another life. You write like a pro.

At this time, Noble was drilling wells at Erha.

IYIMAN:


Great experience we had. Nice write up my man. It was all worth it, a lifetime experience. Thank God you made it out and then out. I will be corroborating and expatiating on our encounters as necessary.

Thank you, Baba, good to have you on board

Fidelismaria:
Well done SoKnown, how's London treating you?

Great my friend, welcome on board

Soknown:

It was ages ago, my friend.

.
Ok Sir thanks alot for the reply.But it seems as if you don japa live this country.Abeg any job vacancy wey you fee link person.

Dats true..
Although my normal location 8s at deep water.
Came out there for a call out.
JVO is just stressful cos of the daily surfer movement to external platforms.
All my intestines don twist.
Especially now that they are using the SILVERLINE SURFER.
THE thing can shake u out of ur body.all the same I wish I well in ur endeavors.

Soknown:

Trust you are safe, looks like a JVO location that I know. A Production platform that uses a mother ship as its storage. Don't want to mention the name.

These are the ships and vessels that you will find on the channel, approaching the seven port terminals in Apapa, Oe of the past Nigerian Presidents has a controlling stake in one of them. AP Muller.

• Container Ships.

• Bulk Carrier.

• Tanker Ships.

• Naval Ships.

• Offshore Ships.

There are tug boats, supply boats, floating barges, wooden canoes mostly sand-carrying canoes. These sand-carrying canoes move sharp sand from one point to the other, they travel in clusters of about 15 or more boats tied together. Once we sight them, we will reduce our speed to the slowest because the wave generated by the surfer is strong enough to capsize all of them.

Tug boats are like the touts on the channel in the sense that they are small, hardy, and mostly unkempt but they can tow mighty ships in and out of the channel.

I remember NNS Arandu, the naval flagship frigate, she has accosted us a couple of times, questioning what we were doing on the sea.

In the warm months between February to April, going to the sea on a boat was always fun. During these months, we usually have pods of dolphins accompanying us as we rode to our location. While on-site, sometimes we will notice jet spray in the air and the mammoth sea creature will emerge from the deep blue to breathe and then take another dive, Whales. They do come to our waters to mate and brood babies. There was one that came very close to us, less than 10m to the boat. Fortunately, we were outside on the stern when we sighted it miles aways so we were guessing when and where it will surface again only for us to be sprayed with the jet spray as it came up beside us, less than 10m away.





https://www.africanmilitaryblog.com/2020/02/nns-aradu-nigerias-most-powerful-warship-gets-a-refit

Alwayshungry:
Dats true..
Although my normal location 8s at deep water.
Came out there for a call out.
JVO is just stressful cos of the daily surfer movement to external platforms.
All my intestines don twist.
Especially now that they are using the SILVERLINE SURFER.
THE thing can shake u out of ur body.all the same I wish I well in ur endeavors.

Thank you, Daily surfer transfer to those unmanned platforms is not easy.

Surfer 1414 and 258, 1400 series and 250 series.

Inside picture of one of the Surfer boats

In the warm months between February and April, going to the sea on a boat was always fun. During these months, we usually have pods of dolphins accompanying us as we rode to our location. While on-site, sometimes we will notice jet spray in the air and the mammoth sea creature will emerge from the deep blue to breathe and then take another dive, Whales. They do come to our waters to mate and brood babies. There was one that came very close to us, less than 10m to the boat. Fortunately, we were outside on the stern when we sighted it miles aways so we were guessing when and where it will surface again only for us to be sprayed with the jet spray as it came up beside us, less than 10m away.

Some periods are always difficult to fly as a rotary-wing pilot, Late December till February when there is persistent Harmattan reducing visibility. May till July when it rains heavily offshore. The birds struggle to fly so the boat becomes the medium of staff transit naturally.
There were 3 series of Surfer boats then, at least the ones that were operational in the Nigerian Maritime and Oil and Gas upstream industry.
We had the 1400 series, the 1800 series, and the 250 series in order of production and advancement. Surfer 1822 must have annual maintenance that had to be done in the Bourbon Shipyard in PH. During this period, the company sent Surfer 1414, a 1400 series. The 1400 series had a fatal design error. The Cabin leads straight into the Stern, no wall that separates the Cabin from the Stern, just a flimsy tarpaulins curtain. The 250 series was top-of-the-range boats then, there must be newer series now.

There were 3 series of Surfer boats then, at least the ones that were operational in the Nigerian Maritime and Oil and Gas upstream industry.
We had the 1400 series, the 1800 series, and the 250 series in order of production and advancement. Surfer 1822 must have annual maintenance that had to be done in the Bourbon Shipyard in PH. During this period, the company sent Surfer 1414, a 1400 series. The 1400 series had a fatal design error. The Cabin leads straight into the Stern, no wall that separates the Cabin from the Stern, just a flimsy tarpaulins curtain. The 250 series was top-of-the-range boats then, there must be newer series now

The most common Chopper being used in the sector was and still is the Sirkosky S76c+ and S92/S96, Some operators like AON and Caverton use Augusta and Bell Helicopters but they are not as common and popular as Sirkoskys. - My words

Copied from Bristow Helicopters.
The Sikorsky S76 C++ is a twin-engine, 12-passenger, IFR-certified helicopter featuring higher speeds, greater range and a smoother ride. This reliable helicopter is capable of carrying cargo and passengers offshore, day or night, and in instrument weather conditions. The S76 C++ is powered by 2 Turbomeca Arriel 2S2 engines rated at 923 shp for takeoff, 853 shp max continuous operation, and two-minute power of 956 shp. The S-76D features an all-glass integrated avionics suite, dual-speed composite main rotor, additional fuel capacity, icing certification and 1,077 shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S turboshaft engines.

The Sikorsky S-92 helicopter is the most advanced aircraft in Sikorsky’s civil product line, certified to the most stringent safety requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The helicopter’s advanced health and usage monitoring system sets a new level of reliability and enables cutting-edge fleet management services. With seating for 19 passengers, the S-92 has a maximum takeoff weight of 26,500 lb/12,020 kg. Bristow also has four S92s with the Gross Weight Expansion (GWE) applied which increases the maximum takeoff weight to 27,700 lb/12,565 kg.

https://www.bristowgroup.com/fleet/heavy-twins/sikorsky-s-92

My first trip to a real platform was to Bonga, owned by Shell. Like all investments in oil and gas, Bonga is a Joint venture investment between many partners but the operating partner was Shell. Bonga was named after Bonga fish. The crew has assembled on snake island preparatory to the trip. On a fateful day, we arrived early to fuel the boat, tidy things up, everything was top-notch, we got coolers of food from the kitchen. The personnel boarded the boat at the lower jetty and we set sail.

We played the safety orientation video for them on the DVD. We demonstrated our evacuation plan. I asked if there are people that will need anti-seasickness, no one indicated interest but I brought the tablets out anyway.

Just as we passed, the great wall, it started to rain heavily, the tides changed, the waves started to roar. There were corresponding changes within the cabin to match the changes outside. One person wretched and became sick, it had a domino effect on the other passengers, virtually all of them vomited. Because of the rough sea, we did not arrive at Bonga until late in the evening. As we approached the platform, I noticed two things, the bright light that could be seen miles away and the heat from the gas flare tower.

The Captain contacted the control room onboard Bonga for permission to enter the 500m exclusive zone. Permission was granted and we approached the boat landing, The wearied pax started preparing to disembark, some managed to smile. Then we realized that we have more problems. The heave was more than 2m so it was very unsafe to approach. The personnel with us developed sullen faces again. The Captain asked if basket transfer could be done but it was ruled out based on the heave and the fact that the boat did not have a dynamic positioning system (DP system)

We had to stay additional 4 hours for the heave to go down, eventually, at about 2100hr, we were able to approach the landing and we transferred wave-battered wearied souls onto Bonga. We spent the night on the boat because it was too late to start getting back to Lagos.

A little information about Bonga;
(Copied.)
'Bonga lies 120km southwest of the Niger Delta, in a water depth of over 1,000m.

The real extent of the Bonga field is approximately 60km². After acquiring and processing 3D seismic data in 1993-94, the first Bonga discovery well was drilled between September 1995 and January 1996.

Shell drilled an exploration well on Bonga Southwest located 10km south-west of the Bonga field in May 2001. Bonga Southwest was drilled in a water depth of 1,245m

Shell decided on an FPSO development solution. The field has around 16 subsea oil-producing and water injection wells tied to the FPSO.

AMEC secured a £300m ($463m) offshore contract for the engineering design, fabrication, integration, and commissioning of the 17,000t topside production facilities in 2001.

These were necessary to produce approximately 200,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of natural gas a day.

The newly built hull arrived in the UK during the third quarter of 2002, following its construction in the Far East under a separate contract. The topsides were installed onto the hull to create the 300,000t FPSO.

The vessel achieved production of more than 800 million barrels of crude oil in 2018. It is amongst the largest FPSOs in the world.

Gas and oil export

Gas from the Bonga is connected to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant at Bonny, where a third processing train was constructed.

LNG is exported to Atlantic and European markets via tankers. The oil is stored on-board the production facilities prior to direct offloading.

It can produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The cost of the full field development was $3.6bn.

Contractors involved in the deep-water project

ABB won the $180m order for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of all of the subsea equipment. This also included production-control umbilicals and gas-lift risers.

ABB supplied 29 conventional subsea trees and associated hardware under the deal in order to facilitate oil production from, and water injection into, the reservoir.

The deliveries of equipment continued until mid-2009.

The work included project management, the engineering and supply of manifolds, trees, wellheads, controls, connection systems, intervention equipment, integration testing and installation support.

Stolt Offshore signed an approximately $200m turnkey subsea construction contract to support the project.

The deal covered the design, engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning of the gas-export pipeline, production flowlines, water-injection lines and steel catenary risers.

Stolt Offshore began the design engineering and procurement work immediately.

The risers were fabricated in the second half of 2002 at the Stolt Offshore Nigerdock pipe reeling facility in Nigeria.

Installation works included rigid steel flowlines, together with steel catenary oil and gas-production risers.

Seaway Polaris installed 36km of 10in-diameter production flowlines and all the project’s steel catenary risers using the J Lay method.

Samsung Heavy Industries was awarded a contract to build the FPSO.

Additionally, Seaway Polaris handled the installation of the 92km-long, 16in-diameter gas-export pipeline that connected the Bonga FPSO to the Shell EA riser platform.

Seaway Kestrel installed 25km of 12in-diameter water-injection flowlines. Surveying and tie-in work was undertaken by Seaway Legend.

ClampOn delivered a topside system of sand sensors in February 2003.

An extension to the field, Bonga Northwest field, is situated in OML 118. It lies at a water depth in the range of 2,953ft-3,937ft.

This field will be developed by 12 subsea wells tied back to Bonga’s FPSO.'

https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/Bonga

Boat landing operations.
1. A Surfer approaching the ladder.
2. Personnel climbing the ladder from a Surfer.

I mentioned Dynamic positioning earlier on.
Here is a little explanation about DP System;

Dynamic Positioning Systems
For many offshore activities, it is very important to keep a vessel at a fixed position and heading. Dynamic Positioning (DP) systems automatically control the position and heading of a vessel by using thrusters that are constantly active and balance the environmental forces (wind, waves, current, etc). Environmental forces tend to move the vessel off the desire position while the automatically controlled thrust balances those forces and keeps the vessel in position.
DP systems automatically deliver thrust that balances external forces such as wind, wave, current, etc
The main components of any DP system are the positioning system, the DP computer, and the thrusters. The positioning system, usually a GPS, monitors the position of the vessel. When the vessel moves off the intended position the DP computer will calculate the required thrust which will then be applying by the thrusters in order to maintain the position of the vessel.
Dynamic positioning systems are typically used by offshore vessels for accurate maneuvering, for maintaining a fixed position, or for track keeping (pipe/cable laying). We usually find DP systems on:
• Offshore drilling vessels (Drilling ships and Semi-submersibles). A Drilling vessel will use DP to remain in a fixed location while drilling in deep water.
• Offshore support vessels: Platform supply vessels (PSVs), Well intervention vessels, Diving Support Vessels. Support vessels use DP to stay at a safe distance from offshore platforms and drilling rigs.
• Pipe-laying and offshore construction vessels. Pipe-laying vessels use DP for position keeping and track keeping.
• Dredging vessels. Suction Hopper dredgers, Rock-dumping vessels, Trenching vessels
• Shuttle Tankers. Shuttle tankers during offloading of FPSOs.
The first DP system was set in use in 1961 ('Eureka'). Nowadays, there are over 1000 DP-capable vessels and DP is considered indispensable for deep-water operations.
The components of a DP systems
There are 5 main components in a DP system:
1. Control Systems. The DP control system calculates the offsets between the measured values of position and heading and the required values (setpoint values). Based on the calculated offsets the control system calculated the forces that the thrusters must generate in order to reduce the errors to zero.
2. Power generation
3. Thrusters and propulsion
4. Environmental reference
5. Position and Heading reference

1.5. How DP systems work
The video below explains where and how DP systems are used

1.6. Thrusters and propulsion
The initial design of a DP system sets the environmental conditions at which the vessel is intended to work on DP. Based on this operational requirement the number, size, and location of thrusters is determined.
1.7. Weathervaning DP
Weathervaning DP is the use of dynamic positioning to keep the vessel at a fixed position while allowing the heading to change to get the heading with the least environmental load. This function is similar to single-point mooring systems and results in minimum power requirements.
introduced and tested already in the late 1980s by Pinkster and Davison. The basis of this control
is that the vessel is freely weathervaning, similar to single point moored vessels. This type of
control is also called weathervaning DP. It must not be confused with the weathervaning mode of
normal DP vessels, since bi-axial DP is a passive heading control, Dynamic positioning may either be absolute in that the position is locked to a fixed point over the bottom, or relative to a moving object like another ship or an underwater vehicle. One may also position the ship at a favorable angle towards wind, waves and current, called weathervaning.

https://www.offshoreengineering.com/education/dynamic-positioning-dp/what-is-dynamic-positioning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpc9Sdkn7ww

Without the DP, these operations will be chaotic if not impossible.
1. A tanker in position at a SPM, single point mooring to load crude.
2. Loading containers on a boat.

Well done OP!

Following. There's a dearth of good sea threads on NL, like they took an oath of silence . Ride on OP.

Really factual explanation..
I have worked in all the location you mentioned.
Worked at total location.
Agbami,bonga,egina,akpor.
Worked at sedje barge FPSO operated by bw offshore for addax oil.
One of the the best FPSO in term or hospitality.
That where u get ice cream onboard.
Worked at Erha FPSO.
Worked at almost all JVO locations.
Edop,ubit, EAP,usari,yoho,bop,usan FPSO,etim,oso,ekpe,.
All those surfer boats are now veterans in the Field expecially the 205 series.
Love the job,though it's a lonely one.
When you are at home,you are thinking of being at sea and immediately you get to sea,you are thinking of your soft bed at home.

You only begin to imagine the ingenuity of mankind when you get to the vastness of the sea to see the kind of magnificent structure that is put up by humans just to drill natural resources.

Tell u a story,
I once saw a man that came onboard for the first time.
As soon as the chopper landed on d helipad.
We alighted and moved to get out luggages and he also came down and was sweating profusely.
When we started moving out, the man refused moving like his legs were stuck to the ground.
The HLO went to him to inquire only for the man to say he wants to go back.
That he can not work here.
They had no choice but to return him back to land.
Very funny but grim experience.

May God protection continue to be with all sea workers.
Amen.

post=103795114:
You write so lovely. We can relate to life on the sea. It is always a beautiful experience each time.

Yes yawn. This thread ain't for lazy readers. Happy yawning o

Please, he's not into vulture business like you. Leave him alone

My first experience in a deep-sea facility was about Mid May 2007. I have started working with the Surfer 1822 that I have introduced earlier in the thread, my darling boat. Well, the Surfer boat is the transport of choice when the weather is too grim, to use a mild word. Between May and August, the deep sea experience torrential rain more than what you experience on land, and with this rain comes strong wind and poor visibility that even navigational aids do falter. I witnessed one heavy rain on Erha, it was so heavy and windy that as the chopper lifted and tried to exit the landing pad the draft brought it back almost swiping it against the side of the pad, many untold stories of grim experiences. Well back to the main story, it was mid-May, the weather was too bad for Choppers to access the offshore facility. Flights were delayed for two days. Being delayed in the deep sea because of weather is one of the most brutal experiences one could have. If offshore platforms were military bases, there would have been many mutinies, many OIMs and supervisors would be thrown overboard by angry borders that were delayed from going out.
This is the way it works, each person has a back-to-back, that is another personnel that does exactly what you do so that as you go on time off, your back to back to back reliever comes in on the same flight that will take you out. So if my back-to-back is delayed for any reason, I will not be able to go out.
After delaying the flight for a few days, the list was building up to the extent that it will take several daily flights to clear off the backlog. So the next best option was to use a surfer boat to convey as many as possible. A surfer 1800 series can convey twice the passenger of a Sikorsky s76.
A day was arranged for the trip, I restocked on the necessary medications and tools. The Captain worked on the engine and stocked on spares. We all had good rest on the night before the trip. We assembled on the jetty, refueled, and came to the main jetty. The kitchen has supplied freshly roasted chickens, fried chickens, Fresh bread, sandwiches, Milk, and honey. We stocked the food away safely and we took delivery of the pax.
It was a sunny day on land the generally was a bright, joyful aura all around. We played the Surfer orientation clip for the pax, we demonstrated the safety evacuation procedure and we answered the few questions that were asked. We said our goodbye to the Reps, Bon Voyage we set sail.
We always move slowly while in the channel so that the ripples we generated will not disturb the wooden canoes. I asked if anyone will need anti-sickness tablets, I brought them out of the bag anyways. They all said they are seasoned seamen, Ok. I retreated to the stern to watch the activities on the creek. From the tin can, we passed AP muller terminal, then Ladol, then Taqwa Bay before we exited the channel into the Atlantic. It was at this point that the men made a huge mistake in their life. They were taking pictures and making a phone call before now but as we pressed into the sea, the signal went off. So one person opened the cooler of food and requested to eat. I told them to hold on a little till we are in the deep sea to see if they adapt well before they eat since they did not take the anti-sickness. One man answered me, ‘young man na today, we don dey fly boat since we dey small o, no dey scare us’. I said, yes Sir.
I sat down at the back with the Seaman and the diver. I watched as they ate and made merry, there was no alcohol but we had energy drinks and soda.
About 15 minutes into our trip, the rain started and it changed the dynamics within and without the vessel. When the rain started, It became darker outside, visibility dropped, our speed reduced. The tide changed direction, the pitch became higher. So we were being tossed up and down literally. Now the smell of fried Chicken became irritating, coupled with the tossing up and down, the stomach muscles started their work, it took one man to throw up and it had a domino effect on all of them. I offered the tablet again but it was too late, the ship is docked already. All of them threw up till there was nothing left in them. I pity the seaman and the diver as they were cleaning up every time. I tried to manage nausea and vomiting as much as I could but to be honest there was little I could do. It took about 2 hours for all of them to settle, they feel horrified, dejected, and looking like a chicken beaten by rain in their chair. I knew this could have been prevented if they had listened but I dare not rub it in as a professional. They chose as adults, even though I consider it an unwise decision, still it was their decision to make.
As were approaching Bonga, we were noticing clusters of unmanned platforms so the pax faces started lightening up, Ordinarily, the trip should take 3 hours or thereabout but it took about 8 hours. We got to Bonga at last. We asked for clearance to enter the 500m exclusive zone. We got the clearance to approach but when we approach the boat landing, the heave was too high, so safe transfer is not possible. We cannot do basket transfer with a crane also because of the heave. The pax became dejected again when they realized that they will not be able to disembark for another 3 hours. It was complete silence for the next 3 hours. I believe they were reflecting on what just happened and the likelihood of worse things happening humbled them, eventually they disembarked at about 2200hr. There was no darkness because of the flare. The light from the flare tower illuminate at least a 3-kilometer radius on the sea and the heat was something else even for us that we were on the sea level.

Information about Bonga;



Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd (SNEPCo) is producing oil from the Bonga North West field, which lies at a depth of more than 1,000 metres (3,300 feet). SNEPCo is adding production to the existing Bonga facility with this new development, in which it holds a 55% interest.
Key facts

Location: Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria

Depth: More than 1,000 metres

Interests: SNEPCo 55% (operator), Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited (20%), Total E&P Nigeria Limited (12.5%) and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (12.5%) under a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation

Fields: Bonga North West

Peak annual production: 40 kboe/d

Key contractors: Aker Solutions, FMC Technologies, Invensys/Sidler, SAIPEM, Weltek

Project development

On August 5, 2014, SNEPCo started oil production from the first well at the Bonga North West deep-water development off the Nigerian coast. Since then, all the remaining five wells (three oil producers and two water injectors) have been completed and are now on stream, with the last well commissioned on January 18, 2015.

Oil from the Bonga North West subsea facilities is transported by a new undersea pipeline to the existing Bonga floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) export facility, from where oil is loaded onto tankers for shipping around the world.

The Bonga FPSO has been upgraded to handle the additional oil flow from Bonga North West which, at peak production, is now contributing around 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, helping to maintain the facility’s overall output.
Technology

The project included upgrading the Bonga FPSO to add new chemical injection systems to prevent corrosion and freezing in the new pipelines. The 300-metre long FPSO is one of the largest of its kind in the world, held in place by 500-tonne anchors linked by 20km of mooring lines. It receives crude from production wells on the seabed. The oil is processed on board, stored and then sent to a single point mooring buoy anchored nearby from where it is loaded onto tankers for export.

Below the surface a new production module was tied into the existing infrastructure.
Environment and society

The Bonga North West project is part of Shell’s long-standing commitment to developing deep-water engineering skills in Nigeria. The investments made by SNEPCo and its other project partners in the Bonga North West project include upgrades of local contractors’ facilities and providing specialised training for Nigerians to work in the energy industry.

More than 90% of the people who designed and built the Bonga North West project were Nigerian. SNEPCo awarded all five of the major engineering and construction contracts for Bonga North West to companies that were either indigenous, have local staff, or invest in the country.

The project made use of existing infrastructure, limiting its environmental impact.

Deep-water milestones
he visual shows the ocean with 16 offshore oil & gas assets on the surface. It also shows the seabed with different depths on the left with a depth meter ranging from 200 to 3,000 metres deep, in steps of 200 metres.

Following assets are shown from left to right with the year and the depth at which the asset drills:

Cognac: on-stream 1978, depth 300 metres
Bullwinkle: on-stream 1988, depth 400 metres
Malikai: on-stream 2016, depth 500 metres
Bijupirá & Salema: on-stream 2003, depth 800 metres
Auger: on-stream 1993, depth 830 metres
Mars: on-stream 1996, depth 900 metres
Olympus: on-stream 2014, depth 900 metres
Brutus: on-stream 2001, depth 900 metres
Ram-Powell: on-stream 1997, depth 1,000 metres
Bonga: on-stream 2005, depth 1,000 metres
Ursa: on-stream 1999, depth 1,200 metres
Gumusut-Kakap: on-stream 2014, depth 1,200 metres
Vito: in progress, depth 1,200 metres
Parque das Conchas: on-stream 2010, depth 1,800 metres
Na Kika: on-stream 2003, depth 1,800-2,400 metres
Appomattox: on-stream 2019, depth 2,200 metres
Perdido: on-stream 2010, depth 2,300-2,800 metres
Stones: on-stream 2016, depth 2,900 metres
https://www.shell.com/about-us/major-projects/bonga-north-west/bonga-north-west-overview.html

Bonga is the first deep-water project for the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) and for Nigeria.

The discovery well is located in oil prospecting license (OPL) 212, which was awarded during Nigeria’s first round of deep-water frontier acreage awards in 1993.

SNEPCO operates the field on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its partners under a production sharing contract. The partners in the field include Shell (55%), Esso (20%), Total (12.5%) and Agip (12.5%).

Crude oil production from the field started in November 2005 and the first shipment from the field was made in February 2006.

The field underwent its fourth turnaround maintenance (TAM) in 2017 and delivered 819 million barrels of oil by the end of 2018.
Bonga exploration

Bonga lies 120km south-west of the Niger Delta, in a water depth of over 1,000m.

The real extent of the Bonga field is approximately 60km². After acquiring and processing 3D seismic data in 1993-94, the first Bonga discovery well was drilled between September 1995 and January 1996.

Shell drilled an exploration well on Bonga Southwest located 10km south-west of the Bonga field in May 2001. Bonga Southwest was drilled in a water depth of 1,245m.

The well reached its final depth of 4,160m and was subsequently logged and suspended. It encountered a substantial amount of net oil sand.

An initial evaluation of the well indicated that the recoverable reserves discovered with Bonga Southwest were large enough to form the basis for new deep-water development in OML118.

FPSO of Bonga field

Shell decided on an FPSO development solution. The field has around 16 subsea oil-producing and water injection wells tied to the FPSO.

AMEC secured a £300m ($463m) offshore contract for the engineering design, fabrication, integration and commissioning of the 17,000t topside production facilities in 2001.

These were necessary to produce approximately 200,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of natural gas a day.

The newly built hull arrived in the UK during the third quarter of 2002, following its construction in the Far East under a separate contract. The topsides were installed onto the hull to create the 300,000t FPSO.

The vessel achieved production of more than 800 million barrels of crude oil in 2018. It is amongst the largest FPSOs in the world.
Gas and oil export

Gas from the Bonga is connected to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant at Bonny, where a third processing train was constructed.

LNG is exported to Atlantic and European markets via tankers. The oil is stored on-board the production facilities prior to direct offloading.

It can produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The cost of the full field development was $3.6bn.
Contractors involved in the deep-water project

ABB won the $180m order for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of all of the subsea equipment. This also included production-control umbilicals and gas-lift risers.

ABB supplied 29 conventional subsea trees and associated hardware under the deal in order to facilitate oil production from, and water injection into, the reservoir.
“After acquiring and processing 3D seismic data in 1993-94, the first Bonga discovery well was drilled between September 1995 and January 1996.”

The deliveries of equipment continued until mid-2009.

The work included project management, the engineering and supply of manifolds, trees, wellheads, controls, connection systems, intervention equipment, integration testing and installation support.

Stolt Offshore signed an approximately $200m turnkey subsea construction contract to support the project.

The deal covered the design, engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning of the gas-export pipeline, production flowlines, water-injection lines and steel catenary risers.

Stolt Offshore began the design engineering and procurement work immediately.

The risers were fabricated in the second half of 2002 at the Stolt Offshore Nigerdock pipe reeling facility in Nigeria.

Installation works included rigid steel flowlines, together with steel catenary oil and gas-production risers.

Seaway Polaris installed 36km of 10in-diameter production flowlines and all the project’s steel catenary risers using the J Lay method.

Samsung Heavy Industries was awarded a contract to build the FPSO.

Additionally, Seaway Polaris handled the installation of the 92km-long, 16in-diameter gas-export pipeline that connected the Bonga FPSO to the Shell EA riser platform.

Seaway Kestrel installed 25km of 12in-diameter water-injection flowlines. Surveying and tie-in work was undertaken by Seaway Legend.

ClampOn delivered a topside system of sand sensors in February 2003.

An extension to the field, Bonga Northwest field, is situated in OML 118. It lies at a water depth in the range of 2,953ft-3,937ft.

This field will be developed by 12 subsea wells tied back to Bonga’s FPSO.
https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/bonga/

So I continued to be the medic on board our darling Surfer 1822. Soon, August came and it was time for me to go for my annual leave, so the company sent my reliever, another nurse. He came for orientation so that he can be acquainted with the structure and operations of the boat with me before he could be the sole medic.
I told him not to eat on his resumption date, possibly he forgot. He ate before he left home. He was very unlucky because the Sea was rough. He was sick all through the shift he brought out all the stomach content, at some point, there was nothing to bring out again except bilious content. He was so relieved when we got back to Niger dock in the evening. Immediately we touched the ground, he became better. He called his wife to prepare pap for him. The wife was so worried thinking what could make the husband want to eat pap in the evening.

One particular day, we were seabound as usual and many miles into the waters, we noticed a huge round object on the horizon. We knew something was amiss so we sped towards it. Some minutes later we got to the object, it was taller than our boat and half the length of the boat. The Captain said it must have drifted off a ship at the harbor. So we sent the diver to dive underneath it and attach a towing rope to it. The object was a big fender, A ship fender. We towed it to our location. Around mid-day, we were approached by two canoes. They were the search party for the fender. They narrated how they have been looking for the fender since daybreak. They showed us the picture of when the fender was in position by the ship's side. The Captain was convinced and we released the fender to them, they rewarded with some naira. The two canoes were not able to tow it so we told them, that we will bring it to the harbor on our way back to the land which we did but we wish we did not make that promise because the weight slowed us down.
October of the same year, It was time for me to step up on the ladder, I was redeployed to provide relief duty for the guys on the rig. CRI guys that were on the different Exxon rigs and platforms were the big guns then. When it is time for them to go on leave, a relief nurse will be raised from the pool.

Interesting

Going back to Bonga FPSO, even its carcass is a mountain on the sea