Esvagt news 3 2010

NO. 3. 2010. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

FRB 15C adapted to the sea windmills Sea windmills are an increasing energy resource so ESVAGT has developed the FRB’s so that they are now available in a special version suitable for windmills. The development has been carried out together with Vestas.

Johnny Jensen (right) working on the new bow for the FRB’s, while Ole Andersen (left) and Bjarne Mikkelsen are watching.

It is not only in Hollywood that a new nose may be carrier boosting.

This can happen in this part of the world as well where the FRB 15C in versions 65 and 66 have got a new profile.

- Boat landings at the platforms of the sea windmills must be done safely, says Ole Andersen, one of the founders of ESVAGT: - We have cooperated with Vestas on the construction of a new bow which enables the boat to slide up and down while people are embarking and disembarking on the platform. The bow is made of soft foam stuffed into a strong cover made of rubber. According to Service Manager Bjarne Mikkelsen it is to

be considered as a crown that is put on a tooth.

- It is fitted on the outside of the existing bow, but it was exciting for us to see if we had made it strong enough and satisfactory fitted to the boat with the heavy loads it is exposed to from the sea. Fortunately we succeeded and it has already been tested and SOLAS approved, he says.

New engines The new bow is not the only thing that has been changed in the FRBs. The 5-cylinder Volvo diesel engines now have increased HP covering a span from 140 to 220 HP, where they used to cover a span from 130 to 190 HP.

This gives a better acceleration. At the same time the navigating handle is now electronically controlled and built into a water proof steel box: - In this way we avoid corrosion of the cables as the material no longer is exposed to salt water. Servicing will be easier, and we must say that Volvo has done all we have asked from them in their continued development of the engines, says Bjarne Mikkelsen.

Other changes include new led-search lamps and an aluminium bottom frame meant for 300 kg heavy tool boxes – something that was asked for and developed in cooperation with Vestas. n

Editorial

The year 2010 has been a year full of challenges for everyone in ESVAGT. We have, among other things, been in Greenland for the first time with two vessels and received incredibly impressive feedback from the customer. The work in Greenland gave us valuable insight into the conditions that apply when we are operating in the Arctic regions. We have also been – and still are – in Egypt. There the challenges are of a different nature, and again it is instructive for us.

Despite the very difficult market conditions at the beginning of the year, we still end the year with good average fleet utilization as a whole following full deployment during 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarter. We also took delivery of another two C-types from ASL Shipyard in Singapore, and we just started a 5-year contract in the offshore windmill segment.

The tasks in Greenland as well as in Egypt have focussed on oil spill preparedness.

ESVAGT’s more than 20 years’ experience in this field has benefitted us enormously, and at the same time we have managed to get even more crew members trained in oil spill control and in the application of the most recent technology in this area.

The Fast Rescue Boat (FRB) has always been of the greatest importance for the execution of our Emergency Response & Rescue Vessel (ERRV) preparedness. In order to ensure the best suited FRB for the purpose we at an early stage chose to invest in the development of our own FRB 15C. In this way we have been able to continously modify the FRB so that it would include the experience we have gained at sea.

The ability to create solutions based on practical experience has also helped us to get inside the offshore wind segment. You could argue that the offshore wind segment is a new area for us, but it is at thr same time a

matter of applying our more than 25 years´ experience of safe transfer of people at sea.

The FRB 15C has been modified with a special bow so that we can safely dock at the offshore wind mill installations. This is an area we expect a lot from and that complements our other business areas.

The expectations for 2011 are considerable. As far as the market is concerned, it is our expectation that it will become as challenging at the same level as 2010. It is to a very high degree a question of seeing and then exploiting the options that may present themselves. We are ready and will continue to always focus on becoming even better at what we are doing.

Thank you for all your cooperation during the past year and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to everybody. n Søren Nørgaard Thomsen

Customers give credit to ESVAGT for safety and professional strength A survey on customer satisfaction demonstrates that the ESVAGT core competences are appreciated by the customers. No area obtained poor scores – but there is still room for improvements.

We are safe in our jobs – and we are good at carrying out our work.

This was the bottom line of the score card when ESVAGT received the replies from the survey of customer satisfaction that external suppliers have made among all the ESVAGT customers with long agreements.

Ib Hansen, Chartering Manager in ESVAGT, is very satisfied with the result: - We obtained a total score of 5.05 points out of a maximum of 6, and that is very satisfactory to us.

I’m especially pleased with two things: Firstly we have no areas where we are judged to perform below the level of satisfactory.

That tells me that we have a high bottom level.

And secondly I’m pleased that we get the highest score for craftsmanship and safety – i.e. that we are seen as professionally competent, and safe in our work. These are the two absolute core areas in ESVAGT, so it is important to us that we have a high score in these fields, he says.

The dialogue is improving The customer satisfaction survey included all parts of the ESVAGT working areas: from an assessment of the work onshore to opera2

tions on the sea; from safety levels and understanding of the customer’s task to values such as humility, honesty and respect.

The survey was not made in order to get an occasion for patting oneself on the back.

The choice of customers was consequently not selective, but included all customers with long agreements (agreement with duration of more than one year, (the editor)).

- We are going to use the satisfaction survey to become better at the work we are doing and to become better at meeting the customers’ needs. Doing this, we will also catch things in our cooperation that have come off less well or things that have been extremely successful.

It gives us an opportunity of entering into a dialogue with our customers about the challenges with a view of improving and sustaining our cooperation, Ib Hansen points out.

We are to perfect our knowledge The replies were divided into figures (see facts box) and a section with comments. This enables us to use the replies effectively: - We can see how every individual customer has reacted. When we know what they think of us it is easier for us to improve.

We are going to use it constructively with the customer and that is where the comments come in very useful. E.g. we ask them how we can improve – it gives rise to requests and comments, both at our operational level and to our superior, tactical approach. In this way we can see what the customers expect, and we are going to do what we can to improve on all future contacts, he says. n

FACTS: A total of 29 customers were asked what they thought about ESVAGT on a scale from 1 to 6 in 35 different categories.

Score 1 was “unsatisfactory/disagree” and score 6 was “extremely satisfactory/ agree”. So scores 1, 2 and 3 were various degrees of dissatisfaction whereas 4 was satisfactory and 5 and 6 were better and best. 24 customers replied, which gives a reply rate of 83%.

The highest score was for craftsmanship – 5.26 points and safety with 5.19. The lowest score was direction with 4.57 points.

NO. 3. 2010. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

Vestas and ESVAGT cooperating on a presentation of windmills ESVAGT has demonstrated the Vestas concept for windmills for customers in the Netherlands.

Vestas stakes unyieldingly on windmills at sea, and the Danish windmill producer makes use of ESVAGT to differentiate from its competitors.

When the purchasers of windmills are considering to buy a mill from Vestas or one of the other producers, the method of support is an important parameter. In this connection the ESVAGT support concept with hotel ships and use of FRB to carry technicians around in the sea windmill park has played an important role, and it was this setup that was demonstrated when ESVAGT showed Vestas’ potential customers how they cope with the task at IJmuiden in the Netherlands: - Vestas had asked us to help with a presentation of how our support is working. The customers know windmills – but they do not have this feeling with the offshore activities.

So they have to come out with an FRB, see the environment and get a feeling of the nature of the work. That was one part of the task, says Thomas Fauerby, Chartering Assistant Manager in ESVAGT:

- The other part is about showing the customers how we and Vestas are moving in a new direction in the servicing of a windmill park. We do not use crew boats to launch the technicians onto the mills, but a mother ship in the middle of the park from where we transport them to and from the mills by an FRB. This is a far more effective and time saving method, which is thus contributing to the support of a business area with Vestas, he says.

The presentation that took two days was at the same time an opportunity for ESVAGT to demonstrate the newly modified FRB’s and do the first test voyages together with Vestas. n

”Esvagt Protector” reaches 15 years without LTI The birth certificate may say something else – but the group 3 vessels are still doing good and important work. ”Esvagt Protector” has now reached 15 years without any LTI – by and large for Maersk Oil through all the years. Thus yet another group 3 ship reaches a milestone safety wise. It is an indication that small vessels with small crews are able to do something special, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ Manager in ESVAGT: - The birth certificate says that those vessels are on their way out – but reality is far from that view. One of the reasons is the

composition of people on these vessels. We see quite often that small crews on small vessels are doing very well when it comes to routine and experience and usually there is a very strong feeling of companionship and fine cooperation onboard these vessels. The culture is strong. This applies to safety culture as well, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. n

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The number of near misses has increased – fortunately so!

The near miss incidents at ESVAGT have been reported in larger numbers in 2010 than in 2009. However, this is not an indication that the workplace has become more dangerous – rather the opposite.

As of 1 December 2010 there have been 183 reported near miss incidents. That is more compared with 2009 where there were 142 for the whole year.

Does this imply that ESVAGT has become a more unsafe workplace?

Far from, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ Manager in ESVAGT: - The 142 incidents in 2009 were probably not a realistic picture of how things were. 200 incidents would have been a more accurate figure. This year I think we are close to the real number, for the awareness of the incidents and the understanding of reporting them has improved a lot. And that is a very good thing, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

Concurrently with the near misses, ESVAGT also registers the number of ‘observations’. Observations are when something is discovered that might lead to an incident prior to becoming an incident. The number of observations has gone up from 779 in 2009 to 1350 in 2010: - Observations are good because they are expressions of the fact that people have noticed a risk before anyone gets hurt. Perhaps somebody notices that there are always some rags on the stairs when work is carried out there – and that they might eventually cause somebody to fall. It is better to observe a risk than to report a fall, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

Tangible things are reported But what happens when a near miss is reported? One example from August will illustrate this very well: A colleague on “Esvagt Observer” inspected the FRB after the drills had been completed.

While the boat was resting safely on the boat craddle, he plugged in the charging cable and did his check. On his way back, he was in too much of a hurry and with his thoughts elsewhere – he lost balance on the ladder and fell about 1½ metre down. A bruised knee and a strained ligament were the sad results.

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A commonplace incident that might just as well have taken place in an electrician’s company or in a smith’s workshop onshore.

But in ESVAGT the core competence and culture are “safety” and therefore it was not just a colleague’s ligament that were strained – at the same time it was also an option for us to do something to secure the access conditions to the boats on all other vessels.:

A near miss way through the system The incident with the bruised knee was reported and started a chain reaction. First the vessel was analysed. The ladder – was it good enough? Yes, it had been approved.

Then the subject was taken up at safety meetings on other vessels. Response from the meetings gave rise to setting up a committee that worked out an action plan which the

- It is situations like this that demonstrates what may go wrong, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen: - We could choose to say that there was nothing especially dangerous in the job carried out, and that the personal injury was limited – now, let us get on. Seen in isolation this is probably true. But what if something even worse could have happened to him – or if it turns out that a lot of other people on other ESVAGT vessels have been too busy and been about to lose balance when they move around on this ladder. The only way to find out is to report the near miss and learn the full lesson in proportion to equipment and behaviour.

technical department is now using to define the task so that similar incidents will not happen again.

- It is easy peacy to say that you should not do this or that. But it is difficult to point out to people that they should never be in a hurry or think of something else but what they are doing. In connection with the transfer of experience some could say,“This accident took place on ”Esvagt Observer”, and we are a different type of vessel, so it could not happen here.”

Fortunately we have a feeling that our employees are strongly committed to learning the lesson from the incidents and use their new wisdom to constructively increase safety on other vessels, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. n

NO. 3. 2010. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

The Near Miss culture is to be disseminated to all employees Søfartens Arbejdsmiljøråd (Seahealth Denmark) asked a Master from ESVAGT to tell about the use of the Near Miss material as part of the safety culture.

When is a near miss an incident discovered in time? A free opportunity to get wiser and avoid future accidents?

And when is the collection of near miss incidents an expression of useless pedantry, scheduled check of alibis and untimely bungling?

The answer is moving in a grey zone, but the Seahealth thinks that ESVAGT is good at finding them. Therefore Jakob Moustgaard, Master of ”Esvagt Beta”, was invited to talk to a group of representatives from the Usergroup for Nearmiss.dk on the use of near miss as part of an active safety culture: - We have good experience with the use of near miss as an active part of our safety culture. As it is with most other successful safety activities, the reason is to be found in motivation. Most things take place between the ears, says Jakob Moustgaard throbbing his index finger against his temple.

Take it in Jakob Moustgaard uses a lot of resources to ensure that the staff are motivated and dedicated when they carry out the work, and that they understand the importance of what is happening.

Part of it is ensured by always taking applications concerning near miss incidents seriously: - It should never deal with the identification of a staff member or colleague who has done something wrong. It has to be about what has happened – not the person behind the issue. I always listen to what is being reported, and we have a lot of issues on the agenda at the weekly safety meetings and we

Jakob Moustgaard, Master from "Esvagt Beta" has given a lecture on effective use of near misses in the safety work to a number of representatives from the Usergroup for nearmiss.dk.

try to spread the message to the entire organisation. In this way people can see that we listen to what they come up with, says Jakob Moustgaard.

Especially the systematized transfer of experience that ESVAGT has established is an important part of the near miss culture obtained in the company. One gets an input, deals with it and one does something about it: - If e.g. it turns out that a table leg is collapsing, but that I can put a screw into it and prevent it from happening – then it has to be reported. Suppose we have the same table in

Definition of a near miss A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage - but had the potential to do so.

Only a fortunate break in the chain of events prevented an injury, fatality or damage. Although human error is

commonly an initiating event, a faulty process or system invariably permits or compounds the harm, and should be the focus of improvement.

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

ten rooms on our 30 vessels – then it is 300 near miss incidents that are solved in one go, says Jakob Moustgaard.

And he adds: - We have a number of vessels in ESVAGT that see a large number of years without any accidents. We cannot do this on our own, only when others report what they have experienced, he says.

Common sense It is quite alright if the number of near miss reports is pretty high. It is a signal that people are aware of the safety in their everyday work.

But the number of near misses should not be held at an artificially high number by registering every time somebody sustains a tiny cut to a finger from a piece of paper or gets too much chilli sauce on the steak. Therefore an important element of the near miss culture is for the staff to understand what a near miss not is: - You must give it some thought. It is not necessarily a near miss because it was just about to happen onboard a vessel. Look at our doors e.g. You can squeeze your fingers if you put them in the doorway and close the door – we might then prevent this by fitting the kind of rubber lists that you see in homes with infants. But it does not make sense.

Another example comes from my shower cabin where the former owner of the vessel had put up a sign: Beware – the water may be hot! That kind of safety is foolish! Therefore a sensible application of the near miss culture also deals with the fact as to whether people dare to make an assessment using their common sense as to what is a real problem and what is waste of time, says Jakob Moustgaard. n

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Becoming familiar with your FRB A trip in a FRB is not fun and games – but hard work.

We joined an instruction trip for new people.

We are 10 course participants who are onboard ”Esvagt Beta” to perform pacing drills and even if we look like rescue people in our ESVAGT orange-red survival suits, and even if we technically are at work – the feeling we have is far from it. The pacing courses were established by ESVAGT when the development of the fleet made huge steps forward, and many new people were employed.

When people are to be rescued from the sea, the FRB is the one and only tool in a rescue situation that makes the difference between success and failure. To drive an FRB

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Newcomers to ESVAGT join the pacing drills to become familiar with the work and the tools required to do it.

And they now have: Asger Sørensen emphasized the challenge it is to be left with all the responsibility yourself: - We have been allowed to try it all and carry the responsibility that everything turns out successfully. Practicing is a good thing, for one day – when we are really in for it - we will be in charge ourselves.

is craftsmanship that has to be learnt. In the obligatory basic courses in FRB handling the course centres have no possibility to train the element that has top priority – i.e. the launching and recovery of an FRB from a mother vessel. As a consequence ESVAGT introduced this additional course so that new staff members would be better dressed to handle the task of preparedness.

The FRBs are an ESVAGT tool that can move at a speed of 33 knots (60 km/h), and the possibilities of being injured are ample if one does not stick to the ESVAGT procedures to the letter.

NO. 3. 2010. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

Quotation: ”They learn to hook on and hook off, go through all the procedures and continue till they cannot possibly do more – and then we do it all over again. It will not be when I am on duty that they get an early finish”.

Master on ”Esvag Beta”, Jakob Moustgaard.

Concentration during lessons in the use of the FRB.

Theory – and a lot of practice Ten of us are newly employed with ESVAGT and are going through the pacing course as part of the basic training prior to our first signing on in ESVAGT. The pacing drill is about learning to place the FRB’s correctly in relation to the mother vessel, to hook on and hook off, get out and into the water correctly.

Instruction of the course participants in the use of the FRB

First they learn on a theoretical level, but it is on the water that they really learn. So we use theory – and a lot of practice, says John Underberg, instructor, who is holding on to the gunwale of the mother vessel with a cup of warm coffee nearby, while the course participants are entering the FRB to practice in shifts: - When they have spent the entire day on the water, it begins to help. It will take a rather long time till it all becomes routine, however, practice makes perfect, says John Underberg.

Focus on the job During the day, the initial enthusiasm with the wild gas handle comes down somewhat.

It is replaced by concentration and focus to find the rhythm in the routine – and cold feet and red noses. Naturally the Grådyb waters are not the Barent Sea in a blizzard, but a day in November like this, the high winds will certainly pull all the warmth out of your body. ”If anyone is cold, they can come up to me and be warmed again”.

The captain sarcastically reports over the radio and makes an offer to have the backside warmed, and the scorn has the effect wanted – we find the energy to make another two trips.

And energy is required when most of the day has been spent on pacing with the FRB’s and do drills with two ruthless instructors: two or three people at a time into the boat, together with Lars Dahl or Ryan Aarestrup,

One team are docking while the next team are watching with great interest.

our instructors, - stick to the procedure – a signal to Brian Smith at the davit, start the engine, turn the rudder, down into the water, race up the engine, get away from the bow, up in a hurry, turn around, ask for permission to dock, catch the line for the davit and do it all over again.

Hard work – but it does work! n

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His interest for people pulled him ashore Hans Richard Pedersen, Fleet Personnel Manager, is pleased with the dialogue and the close contact with the many people employed by ESVAGT. To create something, to mark the development and influence it – this were three reasons why Hans Richard Pedersen in 2000 accepted the offer to change his job as a Master to become Fleet Personnel Manager in ESVAGT. But the most important thing was that the Zealander, who is 42 today, would be able to work more with people and developing them: - I’m genuinely interested in people, and I always take it for granted that people want to do the best they can. It may seem a bit naïve now and then, but I think that I will not be disappointed from having this attitude. It was the possibility to be able to use that part of myself even more that made the offer attractive for me – there are so many fantastic people here, says Hans Richard Pedersen.

My

– and yours!

ESVAGT is a workplace where many people with different backgrounds and education have their daily lives.

But do we all know what each of us really work with? And how we got there?

ESVAGT News gives us a possibility of saying hallo to each other. With the series of articles “My ESVAGT”, we want to portray your colleagues – and maybe you, too!

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Fleet Personel Manager Hans Richard Pedersen Extensive development Since he went ashore, Hans Richard Pedersen has been a very active part of a company in a strong growth phase. ESVAGT had 110 men and 12 vessels when in October 2000 he became responsible for the staff offshore.

Today there are 550 employees on 31 vessels: - It has been a turbulent period with a lot of positive development and considerable challenges. That also applies to our own department where we work today in a completely different way than at the beginning.

Those days there was time to offer a helping hand with taking care of the telephone at reception or go down to the harbour and help with a vessel – there was a feeling of a crusading spirit coming from the ESVAGT spirit that was already strong in those years.

Today we are at a different level where we are an international company with the options and duties that this requires, but basically ESVAGT is what we are and what we make out of it. To a very high degree it is a matter of sticking to the values, he says.

NO. 3. 2010. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

Open dialogue One of the tasks has been to ensure that the ESVAGT spirit remains intact over time. This is done for example by ensuring the preservation of close contacts between offshore and onshore – this applies to a large organisation as well.

This is why Hans Richard Pedersen appreciates the experience he gained himself when he was offshore: - I have tried both and have for example been involved in the rescue of a person who fell into the water from a platform and in the evacuation of ”Schieborg”. That we, onshore, know the work offshore means a lot to the

dialogue with people out there, Hans Richard Pedersen points out: - When for example we work so much with safety as is the case, we need an open and honest dialogue both ways. Therefore it is a good thing to have been working on both sides, he says.

The open dialogue also means that one is supposed to have a certain armor when the tasks are to be solved: - Somehow most of the tasks get our department involved, and being here we sometimes feel on the receiving end of several sustained bashings. If anything happens, it is most often us in crewing that

our seamen contact as this is the most natural place for them to apply. Then we have to come up with an answer or communicate their message on in the organisation. But I do like this part of the job as well. Often it is a question of creating an understanding and inform in an honest way. If one can come up with a proper explanation, then it is easier for people to accept why things are as they are, says Hans Richard Pedersen. n

FACTS: In private it is also the wet element that is pulling in Hans Richard Pedersen. He is a leisure scopa diver with a 2-star certification, and loves diving among wrecks, going under-water hunting or diving just for the fun at home or abroad.

Besides he is a keen skier, and the warm months of the year he spends with his family often on trips in the caravan.

Hans Richard is married to Gitte who is a student teacher, and they have three children, two of whom are still living in the family house at Hjerting.

Increased focus on management style has given higher satisfaction An engagement survey shows that it pays to have achievement areas to make the working climate even better. The staff are now more satisfied with their Managers than they were last year.

The ESVAGT staff have become more pleased with their Managers in the past year.

This is one of the conclusions of the engagement survey that ESVAGT has carried out among the employees, and it is a development that pleases Nick Vejlgaard Ørskov, HR Manager: - We have focussed a lot on management style on the vessels, and this has been an asset to the company, he says Management and the development of managers have been subject to a lot of attention in the company, e.g. one of the topics, among other things, was the handling of conflicts at a Master seminar.

- The Masters on the vessels are the daily management, and both they and us from onshore have continued focus on further development of managerial competences – also in 2011, says Nick Vejlgaard Ørskov.

A fine result In the survey there was good progress on several of the questions of how satisfied the employees were with their daily management. The phrase ‘My manager gives me rele-

Four items for the future: The ESVAGT management has defined four achievement areas for the coming year in order to strengthen staff satisfaction: * To work more intensively with communication and visible management. * All 75 engagement survey-reports are to be looked at by the individual manager. * People should be proud to be an ESVAGT employee. * Focus on positive achievements and good experience everyday.

vant feedback’ had approval from 84% of the respondents against 71% in 2009.

‘My manager is good at giving credit and recognition’ went from an approval of 73% up to 85%.

‘We have an open dialogue’ was backed by 85% against 76% last year and ‘My manager uses and exploits my potentials’ rose from 66% to 75%.

At the same time the share of employees who were in agreement with the statement of being on good terms with their managers went up from 82% to 90%. It was impressively high and is even better now. We are proud of that and basically we can see that after a tough period with a financial crisis we are still making progress on two of the three main pillars we measure, says Nick Vejlgaard Ørskov.

n 9

”Esvagt Connector” and ”Esvagt Dee” to Egypt Statoil Egypt has chartered ”Esvagt Dee” and ”Esvagt Connector” for oil spill emergency preparedness and standby work in the Mediterranean.

”Esvagt Connector” were very pleased to swap the work in Greenland with the work in the Mediterranean based in Abu Qir in Egypt, just as the dark season is beginning and making the Greenland waters colder and rougher. ”Esvagt Dee” is already in place in the Mediterranean where it carries out oil spill emergency preparedness and standby work for Statoil Egypt, and ”Esvagt Connector” has also left for the warmer waters to do more of the same work.

The new agreement is an outcome of the blow out in the Mexican Golf, says Thomas Fauerby, Chartering Assistant Manager in ESVAGT: - The awareness level in the Mediterranean has been raised after what happened in the Mexican Golf. Especially the oil spill emergency preparedness has to be increased, and this is a plus for a company such as ours that has a well-documented performance. We can give a helping hand and ensure that there will not be similar environmental disasters in case of an accident.

”Esvagt Dee” and ”Esvagt Connector” are in Egypt together with the drilling vessel ”Discoverer Americas” where they are to carry out standby work and oil spill emergency preparedness – something that is being practiced here where containment booms have been put out.

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That is why we were selected for the task says Thomas Fauerby. “Esvagt Dee” and ”Esvagt Connector” are to work alongside the drilling vessel ”Discoverer Americas” that Statoil had originally chartered for drilling operations in the Mexican Golf. But as a consequence of the drill stop, they preferred to move the drilling vessel to Egypt. n

NO. 3. 2010. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

An exact copy of boat landing is to strengthen training ESVAGT is using a copy of the windmill boat landing to optimize the training of the employees who are going to work on the sea windmill park at Bligh Bank.

Earlier this year ESVAGT entered into a 5-year contract with Vestas for the servicing of the sea windmill park at Bligh Bank.

In the park ESVAGT is to transfer technicians and other staff to the windmills via FRB, and this work has to be carried out as safely as all other transfers. Therefore ESVAGT has constructed an exact copy of a boat landing as they are on a windmill in the windmill park.

The ’Mock-up’ (the technical jargon for it) can be fitted onto ”Esvagt Alpha” that in this way becomes training ground for the drills, says John Mejer, Operation Manager in ESVAGT: - A mock-up has been constructed to increase the routine and improve the training for the tasks lying ahead, he says: - The boat landings are unique in each park. In order to give ourselves the best possibilities to optimize the training, we need an exact copy of the boat landings. In this way we know that everything is alright and that most situations have been tried.

A new mock-up for the next park The copy of the boat landing can be fitted onto the crewchange vessel ”Esvagt Alpha”.

The model has already been tested a couple of times in different weather conditions, and the training works: - It definitely works. There are several aspects to the training: one aspect is to enter into the boat landings, but we also have to do it with the new boats where the bow has been reshaped. The new bow requires that you have to be a little bit more precise, take wind and weather into account and use it actively to get in correctly, says John P. Mejer.

ESVAGT is among the few companies that use the sea actively for the transfer of people.

The method is the same as the one ESVAGT has used through many years of work offshore: - We use this method every day – technique and concept have been transferred. The transfer is the same, but it requires that you

have the boat and people, who understand maritime customs, says John P. Mejer.

The copy of the Blight Bank mills will be repeated in other parks when required: - Most certainly. Mock-ups will have to be made every time. It is an expression of the fact that we work seriously. This is the way we want to work because the result is that we have the boat and optimized training for precisely the work that has to be carried out, says John Mejer. n

Economy and relations in a seminar for masters A master seminar focussed on risk assessment, the importance of relations for communication, the coming year and everyday economy.

Three seminar dates for Masters saw a participation percent of 80 when ESVAGT invited its masters to a 3-day course at the Esbjerg Højskole.

On the first day a staff member from Søfartens Arbejdsmiljøråd (Seahealth Denmark) informed about an online system for the new risk assessment and chemical data base. After this Allan René Olesen focussed on communication and the importance of relations for it.

- We want to become better at what it takes to make our mutual operations in normal everyday life better, says Nick Vejlgaard Ørskov: - It is not always that verbal communication or the body language that is so important. It is often about the relations we have with one another. If you think that I am a fool, then what I say will presumably be understood negatively by you – even if what I say makes sense.

Therefore good relations are decisive for having a good communication in ESVAGT, Nick Vejlgaard Ørskov points out On the second day of the seminar we had a presentation of news from all departments with focus on strategic challenges in 2011, after which an economy game was used to focus on the understanding of economy.

The masters seminar is an annually recurrent event. n

11

NO. 3. 2010. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

”Esvagt The FRB’s pass a tough Cassiopeia” load test load capacity of the ESVAGT FRB 15C is vessel of the The considerably higher than standard requirements. month Massive training efforts were noticed and rewarded when the Statoil Department for Marine Operations elected ”Esvagt Cassiopeia” as the winner of the prize of the month. The reasons given were ”Esvagt Cassiopeia” demonstrated ’professional accomplishment and good follow up of the training and the drills’, which especially pleased Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, the HSEQ Manager: - It is our core competence to be good at rescuing people on the day, so we are proud to receive the honour for the huge work that our ships have invested in the training programme itself. We are very active on the sea, and it has been noticed. This is great credit to everyone on the sea, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. n

ESVAGT-NEWS PUBLISHED BY: ESVAGT A/S Adgangsvejen 1 DK-6700 Esbjerg Tlf.: +45 33 98 77 00 Fax: +45 33 98 77 05 E-mail: mail@esvagt.dk Website: www.esvagt.dk 12

The high safety margin is an advantage for ESVAGT as well as the customers.

SOLAS approval - the safety bible of the marine industry has also registered the growing average weight of the population. This has off course to be reflected in the safety approvals of equipment used in the marine industry.

The average weight of a person used to be 75 kg in SOLAS terms but has now been increased by 10% to 82.5 kg.

This means that the rescue equipment now is tested if it can carry the extra kilos.

Therefore, new tests with the ESVAGT FRB 15C have been done according to latest requirements. We passed with a large margin, as the boat originally was constructed with a safety factor of min. 10, says Chief Operations Officer Ole Ditlev Nielsen in ESVAGT. The ESVAGT FRB 15C was able to cope with a load of 7.4 tons (see picture), and that is substantial well above the SOLAS requirement. This also gives ESVAGT the advantage of being able to accommodate and lift the FRB with 15 persons all weighing 98 kg (still according to SOLAS regulations), which is more realistic of a person wearing a wet sur-

vival suit - and now also a UK requirement within the Emergency Response & Rescue Vessels industry.

More to give In general, the equipment of ESVAGT is dimensioned to be able to do more in order to give the necessary safety margin in all situations – and thus giving ESVAGT a competitive advantage: - Our experience tells us it is a very good policy to have a solid margin in the world of reality. It is for the sake of safety we have it, says Ole Ditlev Nielsen: - When you are operating rescue boats also in adverse weather, it requires a sufficient safety margin in order to perform successfully.

For example, our davits can also do mere than required, and that means we are among the very few who can lift an FRB with 15 persons on board each weighing 98 kg (UK requirement). This is an operational advantage for both the clients’ safety case and a necessity if you crew change at sea as done in ESVAGT for decades. n

EDITOR: Anette Sørensen

LAYOUT: Webservice

TEXT: Sune Falther

PRINT: Tarm Bogtryk A/S