Esvagt news 2012 02

02 / 2012

news ”Esvagt Aurora” demonstrates Arctic ambitions The interest was great for ESVAGT’s most recent new vessel when ’Esvagt Aurora’ first visited its home town and later Copenhagen where the name ceremony was conducted.

511 days without LTI’s After 511 days without LTI’s, a colleague stepped wrong

rescue activity on the North Sea A British fishing trawler took on water, and two ESVAGT vessels were the first to come to the rescue

Brazilian promotional campaign // Focus on the human factor // Log ensures learning // 11,000 transfers performed // my esvagt COOK Coaches make a difference // fitness challenge // Seal with stomach pain // Every fourth smoking cessation lasts

– SAFETY and SUPPORT AT SEA

INDex 03 04 05 05 05 06 07 10 11 11 12 13 13 14 14 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 18 18 19 19 20

Editorial: Positive development Brazilian promotional campaign ”Esvagt Castor” gets winter clothes A glimpse of a not so remote past New chairman of the Shipowners’ Association Focus on the human factor 511 days without LTI “Esvagt Aurora” demonstrates Arctic ambitions Well-attended ‘open ship’ arrangement Log ensures learning MY ESVAGT: Lars was attracted to the sea Fine preparedness in beach exercise Fine scores in external audits Esvagt in rescue activity on the North Sea Every fourth smoking cessation lasts New contracts for vessels – and a new vessel for a contract 11,000 transfers performed “Esvagt don” outran them all Cook Coaches make a difference She does not look her age at all!

SGI U8 turning out for ESVAGT Don’t forget to use the intranet!

Fitness challenge 2012 A lot of visitors came to see ”Esvagt Stavanger” Comfortable exercise and poor jokes in the bicycle team ”Esvagt Stavanger” is home at long last Back: Seal with stomach pain

Text Sune Falther og Anette Christina Sørensen Photos Esvagt Layout Lund&co Reklamebureau

editorial

positive development søren nørgaard thomsen, Managing Director This has been another year with a busy summer and full employment in all segments in ESVAGT. Our offshore windfarm concept has again been in demand and one of our crew change vessels has been occupied within this segment for several months.

Further to this, the busy summer has been due to taking on delivery of another two X-bow vessels - “ESVAGT AURORA” on 1 August and “ESVAGT STAVANGER” on the 4 September.

With the delivery of “ESVAGT STAVANGER” we concluded a chapter that we are not downright proud of in ESVAGT. She is the last of two vessels that were delayed as a consequence of a shipyard in Spain running into financial difficulties. In spite of all the difficulties we were able to demonstrate that even in situations such as these, people could count on ESVAGT. We kept our word and had the vessel delivered thus fulfilled our contractual obligations. The result has turned out to be extremely good, and “ESVAGT STAVANGER” has initiated an eight-year contract in Norway.

Søren Nørgaard Thomsen, Managing Director

Consequently it was extremely important for us to ensure that “ESVAGT AURORA” was delivered on time. And it was in an impeccably good quality. With the delivery of “ESVAGT AURORA” we have moved our horizon further to the North at the same time as the vessel was built for operations in the Barents Sea with all the technical solution this requires.

“ESVAGT AURORA” began a 10-year firm contract in the Barents Sea in Norway immediately after the official naming ceremony that took place on 16 August outside A.P. Møller – the Maersk head office in Copenhagen.

Both vessels were open to specially invited guests and the interest was immense. We have since had more than 2,000 on guided tours on board. Most of the visitors were fascinated by the technical solutions and the number of tasks that the vessels are able to cope with.

But even with impressive vessels and good solutions they are no good without skilled crews. Therefore it was a great pleasure to witness the credit given to the crews by the visitors. In general they were highly impressed with the interest and pride demonstrated by the crews and the motivation and engagement in which they embarked on their jobs.

This is precisely the attitude that proves that you can rely on ESVAGT – not only to keep its word when it comes to fulfilling a contract, but even more so when it comes to solving difficult tasks in a safe and responsible way under challenging conditions at sea.

Regarding safety, on 23 August we reached not less than 500 days without LTI’s. Unfortunately we have since then had a single incident but will indefatigably pursue our focus in the safety area. We have launched several campaigns – Human Factor courses have been arranged for our crews and safety is number one on the agenda at seminars being held for various groups of crew members.

When it comes to safety we must, however, never forget that we are first and foremost ourselves responsible for our own safety. So it is important that work never becomes routine and that we fight complacency. Here, as always, one of the most important values applies: CONSTANT CARE! Thank you for a fine summer with a lot of positive progress for ESVAGT.

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

3

lately

The Danish Crown Prince Couple participated to support the Danish delegation both at the exhibition and at the meeting with Petrobras. Crown Prince Frederik told us that he was indeed well informed about ESVAGT’s activities.

Brazilian promotional campaign The Brazilian offshore market is expected to be the world’s largest within a number of years – ESVAGT was there when Danish Industry presented its offshore skills in Rio. The Crown Prince Couple participated as well.

Brazilian beaches have been world famous for many years – but what is going on a little further out and away from the beach will be at least as spectacular in the coming years.

The Brazilian offshore market for oil and gas production is expected to grow to become the world’s largest in the forthcoming decades, and Danish offshore companies are very interested in taking part in this development. Therefore, Danish Industry had arranged a joint Danish stand at the Rio Oil & Gas Expo that took place in September. Here Danish offshore companies were able to make contacts with potential partners in the Brazilian market, and ESVAGT - represented by Ole

4

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

Ditlev Nielsen, Chief Operations Officer, The Danish Crown Price Couple were and Ib Hansen, Commercial Manager – part of the campaign, and the Crown took part together with among others Price Frederik took part at the meeting Maersk Training, Maersk H2S and Maersk with Petrobras together with the Danish Supply Service: delegation.

- We wanted to present what ESVAGT - We did not bring any contracts back can offer, to get in ” We wanted to present what ESVAGT can offer, contact with local oil companies and to get in contact with local oil companies and other players in the other players in the market…” market and make an assessment of the conditions for a possible operation in South America, home with us, but we got a feeling of says Ole Ditlev Nielsen what kind of market it is and a better sense of whether it is of any interest to Meeting with Petrobras us. There are challenges and opportuniESVAGT’s representatives met a number ties in all markets, and we have got a of companies and, together with the 28 better understanding of how we could Danish companies that took part in the operate in Brazil, says Ole Ditlev Nielsen. promotional campaign, joined a meeting with the senior management of Petrobras, the National Brazil Oil Company that is a mastodon not only in Brazil but in the world market with its 300,000 employees.

lately

”Esvagt Castor” gets winter clothes

A glimpse of a not so remote past

Increased activity in the northernmost Norway requires special vessel properties. Now ”Esvagt Castor” is going the winter-way as well.

It seems many years ago, “Esvagt Dana” was part of the esvagt fleet – but actually it was only 12 years ago. In late summer the vessel was back – now as a three-master named ’GuldenLeeuw’.

There is a large increase in the activities on the northernmost part of the Norwegian continental shelf at the moment.

This year alone, 33 new licenses have been given in the Barents Sea, and naturally this makes the area attractive for a lot of operators. ESVAGT has already got a contract for the newly built vessel ”Esvagt aurora” with ENI Norway in the Barents Sea, and now there are requests for yet another vessel for the same area.

- ”Esvagt Castor” has followed ‘Det Norskes’ rig Transocean Barents up and down the coast for quite som time.

Now the rig is going to be made permanent in an area where winter contingency is required, and ‘Det Norske’ enquires if ”Esvagt Castor” can assist with this work for the next two years, says Ole Ditlev Nielsen, COO at ESVAGT. ”Esvagt Castor” is going to be the mother vessel in charge of the crew’s safety and supply the usual, typical standby tasks. For that purpose ”Esvagt Castor” is now going to be ’winterized’, so that it will live up to the class requirements that apply for this area. This includes for example that it will be fully operative down to minus 20 centigrades.

- The Barents Sea is an area where a lot will happen in the next few years. Therefore the next new vessel of the C-type will be ‘winterized’ as well from the start, says Ole Ditlev Nielsen.

- A lot has happened between ”Esvagt Dana” and ”Esvagt Aurora”, says Ole Ditlev Nielsen, Chief Operations Officer in ESVAGT: - ”Esvagt Dana” was our first proper crew change vessel, and in those days people were happy when they came out and back home again..

ESVAGT has been very busy in 2012 with name ceremonies for more X-bow vessels, which is a signal of the growth and continued international ambitions of the shipping company.

But, in fact, it is not very long since ESVAGT frequented other shipping companies when vessels were to be bought in, instead of making new constructions themselves. Originally ”Esvagt Dana” was a marine research vessel from 1937 and was bought by ESVAGT as a crew change vessel in 1984.

A short time ago she was back at Esbjerg, but whether she could recognise her old company is probably doubtful.

FACTS - ”ESvagt DANA” ”Esvagt Dana” came to the Nyborg Sea Training School in 2000 and got a new name – ”Dana Nyborg”, and repeated that achievement seven years later when the vessel was rebuilt to a three-mast schooner and is now operating for P&T Charters under the name ”GuldenLeeuw”.

Søren Nørgaard Thomsen new chairman of the Shipowners’ Association of 2010 Søren Nørgaard Thomsen, the ESVAGT Managing Director, will succeed ship owner Niels Højlund Hansen as chairman of the Shipowners’ Association of 2010.

At the general assembly Jonas Backman, Ship Owner from Sirius Shipping, was elected as a new member of the board that subsequently elected their Officers: Søren Nørgaard Thomsen as chairman, Boye Kromann, Ship Owner as deputy

chairman. Other members of the board are Lars Simonsen, Jørgen Folmer and Niels Højlund Hansen, all three Ship Owners.

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

5

lately

Focus on the human factor People make a difference – for good or bad. Safety initiatives for managers are to contribute to increase the positive consequence that we are all different.

A crash helmet may be designed according to all imaginable safety specification and tested with an A+ top score – you may still fracture your ankle on it if you choose to use it as a step ladder because you have to reach for something on the top shelf in the wardrobe.

This is what safety and protection is all about: Not even the most sophisticated safety equipment, measures of protection or safety outfit is safer than what the user makes out of it.

Therefore ESVAGT has chosen to focus on the human factor. Courses for Masters, Senior Officers, Marine Engineers and other Managers are targeted to increase the awareness of how we ourselves can contribute to avoid accidents.

- When something goes wrong, it is often in spite of the fact that all the equipment, protection and the possibilities of avoiding an accident are present. Therefore we have to focus a lot more on our own behaviour and the share it has of the things that happen, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ Manager at ESVAGT. Smart is often the opposite of safe

A few years ago he attended a Hess course that examined the human factor as having its share of the accidents.

- It was a one and a half-day course with a course leader with a lot of experience in the trade. In one and a half days he gave 80 to 100 examples of how people have behaved – experience he had gained on the spot or as an analyst immediately after the incident. These cases were incredibly instructive. I could nod in approval to most of it. Everyone is familiar with ‘Well, but I only had to…’ He here demonstrated how this approach influences safety, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

The experience from the course was so good that about 150 employees from

6

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

Correct prioritisation OPEN DIALOGUE

CONTINOUS RISK ASSESSMENT

ESVAGT have been through a similar course.

- We are humans and that means that we are smart, constructive, creative, quick and make things easy for ourselves. And all these things are in direct opposition to good safety culture. This is effectively underlined by the course, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

Good at the work – but not too good!

compliance

care for each other

because we want to be sure that we can deliver when we are asked to. But the risk of this amount of training is that it becomes commonplace. We have to keep that in mind. Competence often leads to loss of respect for what has to be done, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. But he also emphasizes that it is definitely not a draw-back to be good at one’s work.

”One will not have to see one’s doctor be-

The course is for Managers and Junior cause one is creative. It is wonderful that people are creative. But one should not be Managers as they so creative that it compromises safety” are the ones who have the experience Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ-manager i ESVAGT and the routine and the consequential respect for the colleagues. Because even people with routine - We are good at our work at ESVAGT! may need a brush up on the safety Otherwise we cannot crew-change in profile. Thus the course is a contribution the North Sea in the darkness of night. to underlining the danger of being too The trick is to make sure that we do not skilled. Along with the ability to be able get too good at our work. One has to to do something, forgetfulness often approach the job with humility as if we follows as part of the dangers involved in were to do the job for the first time, he what one is doing. says.

- One has to be aware of self-complacency. That is the eternal challenge in ESVAGT because we do things with an identified risk so many times that it becomes routine.

We invest a lot of working hours in training

lately

511 days without LTI After 511 days without LTI, a colleague stumbled and twisted his ankle.

The counter has been reset, but the mentality must persevere, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ. On 11 April 2012 ESVAGT reached a prominent milestone as the shipping company rounded 365 days without any LTI. The good trend continued for another 146 days until a colleague twisted his ankle when he stumbled on a 2” bunker hose on ”Esvagt Gamma” and

‘well done, dip the colours – and do your best to keep the high levels of safety’.

We did the same thing when we rounded 500 days. It is important in the short term to celebrate and make clear that we have achieved an impressive level, but safety must never be something where you take it easy. We should not be self complacent from this and think that we have

We have developed a lot since then, xand one year without LTI shows that we have taken safety along with us in that development, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. He points out that the first and most important condition is that the vessels are good at working with safety individually and to act and react to what happens.

Every day is fortunately not equally risky

had to be reported as sick. In spite of the incident, Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQManager in ESVAGT, is proud that they have rounded a full year without LTI. - We are pleased that we have managed to be without any LTI for a whole year and as a shipping company we are pleased doing 511 days in all without LTI. But first of all, I am pleased that the incident that brought an end to the good trend was not more serious than it was.

He could not possibly have been worse off in that incident, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

According to HSEQ the incident must not mar the pleasure of having had a glorious period with focus on safety. But it must underline the understanding that safety is not about reaching a goal or a date, but deals with making one’s best effort every day that nothing happens that should not happen.

- When we rounded one year we wrote to all colleagues that it was extremely

reached the goal. In its own way this incident is a reminder that days without LTI are not a matter of course, he says.

Thereupon he emphasizes that the safety culture is at least as important as the safety that is concealed in procedures and protective equipment.

- The tools are better, and they help us to increase safety. But they do not do it alone. It is not the helmet alone, but what is under it that gives safety in the work place, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

Not only the helmet HSEQ thinks that it is far from accidental that this was the year in which 365 days without LTI was rounded.

For even if it has become more difficult to do a full year for the reason alone that the ” We shall approach our jobs with our builtshipping company up knowledge and experience, but with a is today much larger risk perception as when we did the job for and works much the first time”. more diversely, development has also Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ-manager in ESVAGT contributed a lot to safety.

- You can say that it is more difficult to do - Our philosophy is that all accidents can years at a time without LTI with 30 vessels be avoided. We have started at zero again rather than with 10. Those days where and are now to keep focus. If we use the we were exclusively in the Danish sector incident properly then it will ensure that and came in and out with the exchange the mentality is still the right one, says vessels, things were different.

Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

7

8

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

”Esvagt Aurora” is the fourth newbuilding, ESVAGT gets from Zamakona Shipyard. The vessel seen here in Copenhagen.

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

9

ESVAGT AURORA

” Esvagt Aurora” demonstrates Arctic ambitions ESVAGT’s most recent new vessel, ’Esvagt Aurora’, is completely designed to work in the Arctic Regions.

The oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Regions is undergoing rapid development these years, and ESVAGT has considerable ambitions of being a player in that special market.

These ambitions are strongly underlined by ”Esvagt Aurora”, which has just been chartered for the ENI, Norway in the Goliath Field in the Barents Sea after the vessel had arrived from the Zamakona Shipyard in Bilbao, Spain. ”Esvagt Aurora” is 87 metres long and weighs about 2,100 tons and thus ”Esvagt Aurora” is physically the largest vessel that ESVAGT has till now included in its programme.

At the same time, it is a heavy-weight investment and a signal that ESVAGT for one seems to be finding its future market in the Arctic Regions – also after the 10-year period that “Esvagt Aurora” has been chartered for.

- The oil and gas production in the Arctic Regions has only just started, and we see a strong potential being involved from the beginning. The Barents Sea and Greenland, where we have just had two vessels working, have shown great find10

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

ings, and we have ambitions of getting established in these markets right from the outset, says Søren Nørgaard Thomsen, Managing Director in ESVAGT. Prepared for the cold

Work in the Arctic Regions requires something very special. In these waters, the sea water is so cold that chances of survival are negligible if a person falls overboard and he or she does not get out of the water very quickly. Søren Nørgaard Thomsen estimates that ESVAGT with its high training capacity will be able to take the lead as a supplier of quality.

Furthermore, the vessels have been adapted to the special conditions.

The air is very humid there, and as the air is biting cold at the same time, there is a great risk of icing. Thus, all ladders and escape routes are warmed up preventing people from slipping. The masts are warmed up to avoid icing and the heli hoistzone is heated by cabling under deck.

Strong environmental preparedness

The Arctic Regions are different as well in having a very sensitive and vulnerable countryside. This makes especially heavy demands on e.g. oil spill preparedness.

Therefore, ”Esvagt Aurora” has comprehensive oil spill preparedness with higher capacity of the recovery tanks than any other ESVAGT vessel. She has more complex and more powerful FiFi (fire fighting) equipment and as the first vessel in the fleet, she is equipped with a ROV – a unmanned submusible that can work down to a depth of 500 metres and that will e.g. be able to inspect the drilling wells so that any irregularities can be detected in time.

ESVAGT AURORA

Well-attended “open ship” arrangement The interest was great for ESVAGT’s most recent new vessel when ’Esvagt Aurora’ first visited its home town and later Copenhagen where the name ceremony was conducted.

”My God it’s big when you get close to it”.

This was one of many comments that ”Esvagt Aurora” was met with when business partners, ESVAGT employees and curious inhabitants from Esbjerg availed themselves of the “open ship’” arrangement at the Esbjerg harbour in order to welcome ESVAGT’s new vessel before the voyage to its base in Hammerfest, the northernmost Norway, where it is going to work in the Barents Sea for the next ten years – and hopefully for the next five as well. In other words, it was a question of seeing the vessel in due time and quite a few people availed themselves of this opportunity. In Esbjerg there were several media joining a test voyage, and on the ‘open ship’ day there were a lot of visitors.

The interest was not less in Copenhagen where ”Esvagt Aurora” docked outside the Esplanaden in distinguished company with the A. P. Møller-Maersk head office, the Opera and Amalienborg (the Royal Castle) as the nearest neighbours. For three days specially invited guests had the chance of seeing the Pride of ESVAGT – a guided tour by a very proud and dedicated crew.

Well over 1,500 people from Copenhagen availed themselves of the opportunity of having a closer look at the vessel.

On Thursday 16 August the vessel was named by its godmother, Grethe Foldnæs, Communication Advisor in ENI.

FACTS - ”ESvagt aurora” • Built at the Zamakona Shipyard, Bilbao • 87 metres long & 17 metres wide • Weight about 2,100 tons • Crew: 12 people but capacity for 40 • Rescue capacity: 370 persons

All through the day, ESVAGT was host for the many guests when ’Esvagt Aurora’ was an ‘open ship’ in Copenhagen.

Log ensures learning Experience from one vessel has to be transferred to another.

The ca-log helps us to do that.

At the turn of the year ESVAGT introduced ca-logs on all vessels.

Corrective action-log, which is what the abbreviation stands for, is intended to ensure that the experience gained on board the shipping company’s vessels will be passed on to other vessels.

The background is an event on ”Esvagt Charlie” from 2011 where a procedural error resulted in an incident that was a risk to both people and the environment.

The incident was described and widely reported in the organisation – but that was all that happened.

- It was up to the individual person to estimate if something similar could ever happen to oneself, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ Manager at ESVAGT. - But that is not good enough. When we had our safety coach out there, he was able to register that the requisite learning from the incident had not taken place. We saw the same risks. That means, that the experience gained in one place was not always transferred to the other vessels, he says.

Learning for a defined target group

For that reason all incidents have been provided with a specific number (from 1 January). The number is an opportunity to both define the incident and to give a possibility of learning from it.

- We can now become very specific to whom may need to know something about what has happened. If we have an incident that is particularly relevant to a special type of vessel, a working routine or a job function, then we can send it out specifically. For example to all ASL vessels, all anchor dealers, all cooks.

The log is documentation that this learning has been taken up, and on his visits, the safety coach will of course check if the ca-log also reflects the corrective actions people have received in the report. This will save time as well as it being a hand-over document, so the various teams will know what work has been done by the previous team.

- Of course it is not in bad faith that people forget to enter what they have been doing.

So the log is a contribution to qualitatively ensure the follow-up, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

11

My ESVAGT

Lars was attracted to the sea Seaman and handyman Through the years he has been on many of the ESVAGT vessels. He began on ”Esvagt Protector” and came later to ”Esvagt Preventer” and sailed on group-3 vessels. He also managed to be on “Esvagt Gamma” before he came on to his first new vessel “Esvagt Observer” – and later the sister vessel “Esvagt Connector” - in Klaipeda in Lithuania.

As a 16-year old boy Lars Dahl stood out to sea – and that is where he has felt at home ever since.

For Lars Dahl there was not much doubt as to what time was going to be spent on after nine years at school: he was to set out on a long voyage.

- My father was engaged in overseas trade, and I was quite certain that I wanted to do that myself as well, says Lars Dahl.

Like father, like son – and Lars became a seaman and sailed on European and African destinations – mostly on coasters and mostly for small and medium-sized shipping companies where an able seaman who wanted to go for it would be able to see most of the world.

After a few years with long voyages, a few of his friends at home in Esbjerg talked warmly about changing over to the fisheries.

- We are talking about the very good years for the fisheries and I was persuaded by all the temptations. It was trawling for herring and mackerel for consumption and trash fish for the industry, and I actually liked being a fisherman. Financially it was attractive and were entertaining years. But then restrictions began to hit the fisheries and suddenly the annual salary was halved, says Lars Dahl.

One of many In 1991 he joined the expanding ESVAGT

12

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

together with a number of other colleagues, who are still in the shipping company. And we are all still here, says Lars Dahl. - I had just become a father for the first time, and I needed some more peace and tranquillity. I had also grown tired of the instability that I saw in the fisheries, says Lars Dahl.

Since then, it was the culture and the workplace that kept him and other employees. Very good proof of this is the fact that the team Lars Dahl began together with in ESVAGT are still in the company.

Apart from the three fishermen mentioned, Stig Holmkvist and Steen Møller were also in that team – and they are still with the shipping company.

- From my team there are only four people who are no longer at ESVAGT. Two pensioners and two who have died, says Lars Dahl. - ESVAGT has turned out to be a very interesting workplace to get to. There were 90 of us when I came here, and today there are more than 600. It was more like a family then.

But it is still an open company where all doors have been open since the days of Ole Andersen. One will always be heard; and even if it is a very large company today, ESVAGT is still very good at informing and communicating with all of us. That is very important when there are so many, says Lars Dahl.

For the last three or four years Lars Dahl has been on “Esvagt Beta”. For quite some time, the vessel has been a crew change vessel and been used for the training of new colleagues. These are work tasks that suit Lars Dahl well. - We have a very fine working day where there is a high level of activity and a lot of different people to talk to. Part of my job is to pass the experience I have gained on to my colleagues.

We have had many colleagues through their first training drills for the company with us here, and I thoroughly enjoy passing the culture on, says Lars Dahl.

The turns of being on duty for four weeks out and four weeks at home suits Lars Dahl’s other interests fine. The house in Kirkegade has been renovated from top to bottom – without a single visit by a craftsman. All of it has been done from ‘Daddy’s workshop’ in the basement.

- I have no training as a craftsman, but I am not afraid of giving it a try – and I always get good advice from my craftsmen friends.

Having four weeks at home, I can do many things. And then Helle is very good at making new proposals, so there is always something for me to do, says Lars Dahl with a smile.

Besides, he is an active cyclist in the ESVAGT bicycle team, and in winter it is spinning that keeps him fit.

lars dahl In private: Lars Dahl is married to Helle, and father of the daughter Christina (22) and the son Christian (19). Christina is studying to become a nurse in Copenhagen and Christian still lives at home and is an electrician apprentice.

in brief

Fine preparedness in oil spill exercise oil spill recovery exercise at Oksbøl showed that collaboration on oil spills on the beach is a very good idea.

Increasing oil activities makes it very important to be in control of the oil spill preparedness, especially in regions where nature is very sensitive to oil spills.

ESVAGT includes oil spill as a special competence, both oil spill at sea and oil spill along the shore, and this competence is maintained by exercises among other things. The latest exercise was a beach exercise on Børsmose Strand. - We had a very fine beach exercise in which we practiced both our own share and the collaboration with the other players.

DONG, the army artillery at Oksbøl, the fishing boat “Mette Janni” and ESVAGT were all active in the drill, and the collaboration worked well. The drill was called in by an SMS chain, and that turned out satisfactory as well – everyone turned up in the oil spill hall as planned. From here the trip went to Børsmose Strand where also ’Esvagt Alpha’ and the fishing boat ”Mette Janni” had arrived, and together the team got a 200-metre boom laid out, and the “oil” – that had been replaced by popcorn as it behaves very similar on the influence of wind and current – was contained.

- We convened at the oil spill hall at 08:30 a.m., and at 11:40 a.m. a boom had been laid out along the coast.

Three hours and ten minutes is good on a day where there are no time constraints because we knew it was a drill. Instead we spent some extra time to ensure that we were getting succession and routines completely right.

The conclusion was that everyone knew their roles and everyone worked according to the procedures and the plan prepared.

And we are quite satisfied with that.

By the way, the exercise was monitored by observers who had been invited as guests on “Esvagt Alpha”. They attended the drill together with DONG representatives.

high scores in external audits audits, and this has resulted in very fine assessments, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ-Manager at ESVAGT: - They make somewhat different approaches when they make the final score, but we have every reason to be satisfied with the results, he says.

The assessments by the Achilles auditor is made in proportion to the Norsok 006 standard that deals with safety and working environment.

Both FPAL and Achilles rate ESVAGT high on HSEQ Achilles and FPAL are the oil and gas industry score card. This is where suppliers are measured and assessed as far as safety is concerned by an impartial auditor, to show new cooperation partners that a supplier is up to the standard that is requested. FPAL primarily assesses suppliers to the UK sector, whereas Achilles deals with the Norwegian sector.

ESVAGT is also subject to these impartial

Cooperation makes stronger The score can be either ’A’, ’B’, ’C’ or ’D’category ’A’ is poor, ’D’ is excellent.

- We had 11 points raised from ’C’ to ’D’.

We had no ‘A’s’ but we had a single ‘B’, which is related to an incident with a high potential back in 2008. Back then a person was very close to getting really bad off in a situation when the vessel was in port.

This ‘B’ should hopefully be gone next year, because only the past five years are included in the audit, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. Also the FPAL score was fine. ESVAGT was visited by the FPAL auditors in 2010 for the first time where we obtained a fine score. And it has increased ever since.

- From FPAL we received a graph that shows how well we did in 2010, 2011 and 2012. It is divided into sub-categories such as health and safety, environment, quality and competence and training.

On a scale from 1 to 10, we obtained 9.2 for health and safety - last year it was 9.1.

We are very pleased with that – it will be incredibly difficult to get it much higher.

For environment we scored 8.8 last year – but 9.1 this year. Here it is our increased structure and our controlling equipment that have worked for us. We are definitely very satisfied with that as well, in the same way as the increase in the category competence and training from 8.8 to 9.1 is a good sign, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

He was very pleased to demonstrate improvements all across the line and especially that the points where improvement potential has been registered last year had now been solved: - It is exceptionally good when we can show the auditor that we listen to the inputs we get. We have to improve all the time, and that is done in cooperation and dialogue with the auditors. That is an incitement to drive us forward, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

13

in brief

”Esvagt Contender” and ”Esvagt Observer” in

rescue activity in the North Sea A British fishing trawler took on water, and two ESVAGT vessels were the first to come to the rescue. Credit to the crews for good seamanship.

The North Sea is a large ocean especially when, like the fishing trawler ”Roust Mount”, you are right in the middle of it and suddenly begins to take on water.

That is what the trawler did and the five-man crew sent an emergency call

by Mayday over the Rogaland Radio. The call was received by two ESVAGT vessels “Esvagt Contender”, which was on standby at the Alvheim field in the Norwegian sector, and ”Esvagt Observer”, which was on standby at the Barryl field in the UK sector.

When the distress call arrived, the vessels first reacted by contacting the platform managers and then ringing up the duty officer in ESVAGT. Having received permission from the platforms to leave the standby tasks, the two ESVAGT vessels took off towards the position stated by ”Roust Mounts”.

- ”Esvagt Contender” launched the

FRC with four men crew so that it could go ahead before the vessel would arrive at the position. And ”Esvagt Observer”, which was close by as well, launched the daughter craft, and took the ”Esvagt Observer’s” portable emergency fire pump with them.

fine feedback from the parties involved.

Apache and Maraton, who are operators in the Barryl field and the Alvheim field respectively, have commended ESVAGT for demonstrating good seamanship and for having ‘made good decisions’ and the ‘right disposition’.

Good decisions ”Esvagt Contender’s” When the distress call arrived, the vesFRC was the first to reach sels first reacted by contacting the platthe trawler – three hours form managers and then ringing up the after the distress call. duty officer at esvagt A short time after that, ”Esvagt Observer’s” daughter craft arrived as well. The crew - The action demonstrated that we have from the FRC went on board the trawler good seamen who are able to read the and began to pump the water out of the situation correctly and make the correct trawler with the daughter craft’s emerdecision. Fortunately, it is rather rare that gency pump. That relieved the situation – we have an occasion to show what we but not enough for the trawler to be able can do, but it is nice to know that we can. to sail ashore without outside assistance.

We can be justly proud of that.

- When they were in control of the situation, ”Esvagt Observer” sailed back to the Barryl field, whereas ”Esvagt Contender” stayed with the trawler. JR CC was called and helped the trawler to Bergen.

After the sea rescue ESVAGT has received

Every fourth smoking cessation lasts In 2011 ESVAGT began to support colleagues who were going to give up tobacco. This initiative has produced a large number of non-smokers.

Tobacco is a tough habit to break. Many have tried but far from everyone has been successful.

In 2011 ESVAGT launched a campaign that was intended to help smokers to give up tobacco. Every staff member who registered for a smoking cessation programme received a DKK 2,000 company support contribution for preparations that could relieve the urge to smoke.

- There are a lot of ways to obtain support, and we wanted to let it be up to the individual, says Jesper Nielsen, HSEQ. Some have used plasters and sprays, others

14

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

have had acupuncture or hypnosis and some have asked their doctors to write out prescriptions for pills that reduce the urge. We also see ESVAGT colleagues who are busy smoking electronic cigarettes.

The method isn’t important – as long as it works. And it has done so.

- Last year we had 41 people registered for the arrangement and out of those 11 have quit smoking completely. That is quite impressive. We had hoped that 10% of the registered people would stop completely and 11 out of 41 is more than 25%, says Jesper Nielsen.

The figure may even increase further as a few of the 41 registered staff have had to make tentative moves for a long time.

- More people have joined the smoking cessation programme, but they will need a little longer with the process before we can specify who has actually stopped.

Only one person has written to me and told me that he could not stop, says Jesper Nielsen, who quitted tobacco in 2005 himself.

The smoking cessation efforts will continue in 2012 and if anyone wants to join, then contact Jesper Nielsen.

New contracts FOR ESVAGT

New contracts for vessels – and a new vessel for a contract ESVAGT vessels chartered for standby and oil spill preparedness in the UK and on the Faroe Islands. New vessel bought after contract negotiations.

A number of ESVAGT vessels have changed contracts recently, and several of them are long-term. ”Esvagt Cassiopeia” has been chartered by Hess Denmark to follow the rig Mærsk Resolve, which is going to drill in the South Arne field in the Danish sector. The rig is going to work from end of October, and so far it has been booked for five drillings – each of the duration of between 75 and 90 days. Furthermore, there is an option for another six drillings, all of them of the same duration. The new ESVAGT vessel T-201 has been chartered as well – and if you have not heard a great deal of the

T-201, there is a very natural explanation for it. Until recently, the vessel was on its way to another recipient, says Ib Hansen Commercial Manager in ESVAGT: - The vessel was 95% completed in the ship yard when the shipping company decided to cancel the purchase due to a delay. But as Maersk Oil made enquiries for a vessel of exactly that type at the same time, we changed the course and quickly contacted the ship yard, he says.

Purchased for a contract The vessel was purchased when the contract with Maersk Oil was in place, and after the last 5% of the vessel had been completed in the ship yard in Indonesia, it went over to ASL in Singapore. Here the vessel was made ready for the voyage back home. When the vessel reach Europe, it will need final completion so

that it meets all the requirements of the Maersk Oil in the Danish sector where shipping company. well maintenance has been carried out - The vessel is an AHTS – that means from June till the beginning of October, an anchor handling supply vessel. We and ”Esvagt Connector” has been already have ”Esvagt Gamma”, ”Esvagt chartered by Statoil Faroe Islands for 130 omega” and ”Esvagt Connector” days beginning in June. which are AHTS as well. The new vessel ”Esvagt Connector” is coming from has 120 tons bp, has 450 sq m deck and another Statoil job in Norway with sea comprehensive oil spill equipment. It bed sampling to an environment survey is going to work with cargo and supply and will be asked to deliver standby, oil services in the Danish sector and will be spill preparedness, fire fighting, emerused for rig moves as well. gency towing preparedness etc. in an The bollard pull of +120 tons means, that area where the rig COSL Pioneer will be she can act as the “leading tug” in conneccarrying out exploration drilling. - ESVAGT tion with 90% of all the rig moves Maersk was there when, in 2000, BP UK was Oil is performing says Ib Hansen. With this, ”The vessel was 95% completed in the ship ESVAGT returns to a yard when the shipping company decided to field of operation that the company used to cancel the purchase due to a delay.” cover as well.

From 1987 to 1998 ”Esvagt Omega” was active within the same field of operation.

The new vessel has been chartered for a 5-year period in the Danish sector with options for another 3 x one-year terms.

The vessel will be delivered in December.

Old findings checked again Other vessels in the company have got new tasks as well. At the end of July ”Esvagt Cobra” joined the Norsea Group where it is going to follow the rig Borgland Dolphin in the Norwegian sector. The work will involve standby and FiFi duties functions while Borgland Dolphin drills four wells. Each well is supposed to take 75 to 90 days for the drilling, and there is an option for another three wells. “Esvagt Cobra” came back from work with Wintershall and ‘Det Norske’. ”Esvagt Cassiopeia” had a contract with

looking for oil in the area without making any new findings that could be used commercially. Now another attempt is made. A lot of things are going on within research and development that can make old non-commercial findings interesting again, says Ib Hansen. It is P/F ESVAGT THOR, ESVAGT’s Faroese subsidiary that ”Esvagt Connector” will be connected to during the operation. Finally, the British oil company EnQuest, who has chartered ”Esvagt Sigma” for the British sector, has now also chartered ”Esvagt Capella”.

The task will be to support the rig Stena Spey northeast of the Shetland Islands.

The contract began at the end of February and will be running for nine to fifteen months.

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

15

ESVAGT NEWS

area for several reasons. For one thing, there will be more windfarm and another thing is that they will be positioned further and further away from land.

That makes the ESVAGT way of transferring people even more attractive. - The further the farms are positioned from land the better for us. When it is a long way from the coast to the farm, it takes far too long to transport people back and forth in the traditional way. That’s where our methods are more effective, says Ib Hansen.

11,000 transfers performed Rush of business – especially in the windfarm sector – led to an increased number of transfers in 2011 at ESVAGT: 11,000 in all.

The German and the Belgian sectors are relatively new waters to ESVAGT, but they are areas on the offshore map that are growing significantly – within ESVAGT as well.

This can be seen from the number of external transfers that in 2011 exceeded a total of 11,000 for the first time (launch and recoveries) and with a considerable

part of the transfers carried out in the sea windfarms in the Belgian and German sectors.

- The windfarm market is very interesting to us, and the large amount of transfers carried out by “Esvagt Supporter” and other vessels both in the Belgian and the German sectors show that we have been able to expand our expertise to new fields within offshore, says Ib Hansen, Chartering Manager at ESVAGT. Growing market The windfarm market is an investment

Thomas Fauerby, Chartering Manager, estimates, that close to 70% of ESVAGT transfers of extern personnel in 2011, is down to offshore wind: -“ESVAGT PRESERVER” assists Maersk Oil with several transfers each year – having carried out this task for quite a few years.

But the majority of transfers are carried out by “ESVAGT SUPPORTER” operating solely within wind energy, Thomas Fauerby says. In 2012, the growth will have distinct imprints from the wind energy sector. So far, more than 7,500 transfers of extern personnel have been carried out and of this - the most part are wind related transfers.

Photo: ESVAGT has amended the stem of the FRB 15 C, so that they are specially suited to dock at the windfarm platforms.

“Esvagt Don” outran them all The two crews on “Esvagt Don” ran nearly 7,000 kilometres for victory in the Merchant Shipping Welfare Council’s running contest

- The Engineers also deserve some credit for the patience and dedication they showed every time the running band for some reason or other broke down.

Shallow waters, keen legs, a big physical surplus and a thoroughly healthy disposition of leisure time has born fruit for the two crews on “Esvagt Don” 6,957 km in all was the result for 2011, and that gave “Esvagt Don” the first place in the Merchant Shipping Welfare Council’s running contest.

- First and foremost, all the runners from both teams on “Esvagt Don” are to be credited for a very impressive achievement, says Jesper Holm, Master of one of the teams.

Parts have been replaced, repaired or simply made a new on the vessel lathe.

So congratulation to all of you who have demonstrated teamwork and sweated a lot of sweat, but you took the first prize of the Merchant Shipping Welfare Council’s running test 2011 back home to “Esvagt Don”, says Jesper Holm.

Last year a single runner managed to run more than 2,000 km. The person in question will take part in a marathon race next autumn, which will not surprise anyone.

16

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

Photo: The crews on “Esvagt Don” ran almost 7,000 kilometres in 2011. For their efforts the vessel received a plaquette from the Merchant Shipping Welfare Council as evidence that the “Esvagt Don” crews ran the most of all competitors.

ESVAGT NEWS

Cook Coaches make a difference

’She does not look her age at all!’

The oldest vessel of the fleet has both charm and a good many years still to come, says Dion Schmidt, master ”Esvagt Bravo”, who had her keel laid down on 30 June 1962 and is now reaching the age of 50 - and still in great shape.

The food on board ”Esvagt Castor” and ”Esvagt Cobra” has been pepped up after a visit by cook coaches Just as it can be difficult to find inspiration in the normal household at home for the daily ritual of cooking, it may also be difficult to come up with something new for the crew who have to serve food to their colleagues on board every day.

An initiative with so-called Cook Coaches has tried to remedy this. The Cooks, Kim Cleverly and Flemming Hemdorff have been “stationed” on “Esvagt Castor” and “Esvagt Cobra” respectively where they were supposed to inspire the vessel’s crew in the kitchens.

- Often food is the climax of the day when you are working offshore. Therefore it has to be a treat, says Kim Cleverly.

- It doesn’t have to be advanced gastronomy to make the food different, says Kim Cleverly. - It is down-to-earth food we cook – meat balls in curry and that sort of thing from “Miss Jensen’s” cooking book, and that is all very fine.

Make better use of the freezer This is the first time ESVAGT sends out Cook Coaches, and Kim Cleverly thinks that people have welcomed him warmly.

- They have demonstrated a great interest and felt like learning something.

The atmosphere has been very relaxed, and it has been a great pleasure to see how positive they have been, says Kim Cleverly. The three able seamen on board the vessels have received a ten-day course each together with the coaches,

and Helle Vind Sørensen, Recruitment & Project Officer, would like to repeat the event at a later stage: - The experience has been very positive and people have taken to it very heartily. Kim and Flemming are experienced Cooks, and they can help not only with inspiration and recipes but also with practical things such as food plans and control of the freezer. And then they are able to strike a blow for healthy food, she says.

In the near future visits to the following vessels are planned: ”Esvagt Carina” “Esvagt Corona” “Esvagt Christina” “Esvagt Champion” ”Esvagt Cassiopeia” ”Esvagt Carpathia”

FACTS The cooks made 28 new dishes the days they were on the vessels. Kim and Flemming’s recipes are to be found on the intranet.

- She is full of wonderful charm, does not look her age at all and has some peculiarities that you learn to appreciate.

If you were not better informed, you might think that Dion Schmidt was giving a speech at a silver wedding, but in actual fact it is ”Esvagt Bravo” that the Master is speaking so warmly about. ”Esvagt Bravo” is the oldest vessel of the ESVAGT fleet, and on 30 June this year she celebrated her 50th birthday from when she had her keel laid down – 30 of these years as an ESVAGT vessel.

And to add to all this she is in fine shape, says the Master.

- You do not for a moment think that you are on board a 50-year-old vessel. She is not so modern, but she is in great shape, and she has this particular charm that you do not find in a new vessel.

The plan is to prolong the lifespan of “ESVAGT BRAVO” with 10 years, which would be very appropriate according to the Master.

– She will have no problems with another twenty years at sea, but let’s just make that 10. I am 55 which could mean, that we could take our retirement simultaneously, Dion Schmidt says.

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

17

ESVAGT NEWS

SGI u8 turning out for ESVAGT

Fitness competition 2012 The competition ended towards the end of August 2012 and exercise has been performed frequently on both the vessels and on land. During the last 6 months we have reported a total of 178,000 km of running, cycling, rowing and swimming as well as quite a few hours of work out.

This is the equivalent of touring the earth 4.4 times! Or going almost halfway to the moon!

This effort is impressive and the race at top of the range was incredibly close as well – only 25 km parted 1st and 2nd place. The winner of the competition was Crewing/Operations. Chief Operations Officer Ole Ditlev Nielsen says, what guaranteed the victory was the fact, that all 9 in the department took an active part in the competition. The department achieved a total of 7,217 points, which is the equivalent of a run from Esbjerg to Beijing! “ESVAGT OBSERVER” came in at an impressive 3rd place with a total of 16,535 points evenly divided among 26 employees. In this case, they went all the way to Sydney!!

The SGI football boys under eight did not look like a fully coordinated team when they appeared in their match strips. The shirts came from different producers, and the logos on their chests belonged to various companies.

Now ESVAGT has equipped the SGI U8 with a complete set of players’ football strip – together with another sponsor who wants to be anonymous: - They are 25 to 30 happy boys – and

football freaks. A considerable number of them are sons of people working in the offshore industry, so it was only natural for us to sponsor them, says Thomas Fauerby, Assisting Coach and father of Julius (bottom right in the picture) and Chartering Manager in ESVAGT.

Don’t forget to use the intranet!

A lot of visitors came to see ”Esvagt Stavanger”

The ESVAGT intranet has now been implemented and like anything else on the net, it profits the most from having many users who are active and dedicated.

Helle Vind Sørensen, Recruitment & Project Officer, encourages people to use the intranet frequently so that this becomes the natural source of information and discussions.

- It is the staff members’ own tool, and it has been a much requested wish from the seamen as well. The intranet can be used for debates, reading news from the cooperation committee, study recipes from the Cook Coaches and get news from the organization. This is not where we discuss collective agreements and that sort of thing – but otherwise everyone is free to write what he or she wants, she says.

18

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

The inhabitants of Esbjerg like to watch vessels – ”Esvagt Stavanger” was particularly well-attended when an ‘open ship’ arrangement was made in September.

With an ‘open ship’ arrangement, at first on ”Esvagt Bergen” and later on ”Esvagt Aurora”, one would think that people in Esbjerg and the surrounding countryside had had their need to see X-bow vessels from ESVAGT fully met.

But an extremely well attended ‘open ship’

arrangement on ”Esvagt Stavanger” left us with the impression that ESVAGT can go on with the ‘open ship’ arrangements – and they will see a lot of visitors every time.

People were queuing up for ”Esvagt Stavanger” far beyond the Østre Dokkaj, while people in groups of twenty were guided around on the vessel. More than 600 people visited the vessel on that special day. Now it has been chartered for the Norwegian sector outside the town that has given ”Esvagt Stavanger” its name.

ESVAGT NEWS

Comfortable exercise and poor jokes in the bicycle team ESVAGT’s bicycle team is looking to increase its number of cyclists.

Two fixed trips a week together with colleagues should hopefully be tempting.

- Admission requirements are not insurmountable! But poor condition and a miserable sense of humour will help!

This is what Claus Carlsen says, Chief Controller at ESVAGT and the prime mover of the ESVAGT bicycle team. The team was launched by a group of colleagues in 2011, and today it counts previous and present staff, neighbours, relatives and friends and others as its members, who are able to keep the balance of both thread and vulgarities when they set out for a ride together twice a week.

- There are about 25 to 30 people who are on the mailing list, but we are not able to produce a full team every time, so we would be very pleased if some more would join us, says Claus Carlsen.

It is road racing that we do, and the trips are every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and every Saturday at 08:00 a.m. Always starting from the lighthouse at Sædding and with a two- or three-hour ride to Blåbjerg, Varde, Ribe or along similar routes that a few of us have planned prior.

- A few of us have done bicycle racing before, but it is 27 km/h rather than 34 km/h when we go. So everybody can join in. We always travel approx. 50 kilometres – preferably longer.

Beautiful in black People have to provide their own bicycle whereas the clothes are sponsored by the company. The race suit design is very close to the cut of the professional Cervelo Test Team, but dominated by black colours. - We made an attempt with “ESVAGT-red”, but came to the conclusion that black was probably slightly better on grown-up men. Especially as it was very, very tight, says Claus Carlsen.

“Esvagt Stavanger” is home at long last

After a long process, ESVAGT has finally got its third X-bow vessel ”Esvagt Stavanger” home from Spain. The vessel has been chartered for Norway.

It does happen that twin delivery drags on so long that siblings are born each on his or her own day. For the twin vessels ”Esvagt Bergen” and ”Esvagt Stavanger” one day will not suffice, however.

Both vessels were ordered at the same time when ESVAGT won the contest for the delivery of vessels for the Statoil operations outside Bergen and Stavanger respectively. The vessels are sister vessels and identical seen from a technical point of view – but where ”Esvagt Bergen” had her name ceremony already in March 2011,

”Esvagt Stavanger” only joins the fleet now. The reason is to be found at the FNM ship building yard at Vigo, Spain, says Kristian Ole Jakobsen, Chief Technical Officer in ESVAGT: - The ship building yard ran into severe financial problems that delayed the project so much that it was in fact possible for ESVAGT to cancel the agreement. But we have a motto in the company – and that is to keep what we promise, and we had promised Statoil two vessels. So we have put a lot of effort into keeping the contract with the Spaniards in order to get our vessel.

New yard ESVAGT spent some 18 months to work out a new contract, which, among other things, involved moving the vessel to another ship building yard in Galicia.

- In order to avoid bankruptcy at the old yard, which would have given us big, big problems, we had to pay them a good deal more for the contract. On the other hand we required that a new yard was entrusted with the task of completing the vessel, and we required a higher guarantee that we could have the vessel that the customer required, says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

- Statoil had accepted a new deadline, so we did not have to start renegotiating that, he says.

The Astilleros Armón ship yard, also based at Vigo, took over the task and had one year and four months to complete the vessel. They succeeded – even faster than promised, and after one year and six weeks, ESVAGT was able to initiate the process with the handover declarations.

- The vessel has been delivered in a fine quality seen from a craftmanship’s point of view – and it is a good thing to get her home so that we can commence delivering what Statoil expects from us, says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

FACTS: esvagt stavanger Type: Multirole - AHTS Length: 80 metres, Width: 17 metres Draught: 6 meter, Tonnage: 3676 GT - 1103 NT Engine power: 2 x MAK 4000 bkW Bollard Pull: 130 tons Rescue capacity: 370 people

ESVAGT NEWS 02 / 2012

19

– SAFETY and SUPPORT AT SEA

Seal with stomach pain By now, the rumour must have spread among the North Sea seals that ESVAGT vessels are a safe harbour when one is a seal and in distress at sea.

About 260 kilometres from the coast, the crew on ”Esvagt Christina” were visited by a young grey seal. The seal was circling the vessel looking tired but otherwise OK. The crew assisted the seal on board, where it was quick to make itself comfortable on the deck. According to Frits Strøm from ”Esvagt Christina” the seal had simply overeaten – it spent the day relaxing, having forty winks and making a mess on the deck.

The seal was taken all the way to Esbjerg where it was temporarily nursed at the Fishery and Maritime Museum before it was given back to its familiar element in the North Sea. A couple of years ago ”Esvagt Charlie” took another tired grey seal on board.

Adgangsvejen 1 DK-6700 Esbjerg Phone: +45 3398 7700 Website: www.esvagt.dk Email: mail@esvagt.dk