A day in my shoes
Ole Juulsgaard talks about offshore camaraderie, safety and seasickness
“No two days are ever the same,” says Ole Juulsgaard, a Vessel/Installation Superintendent at Bligh Bank. “We plan and plan, but we know we’ll have to revise half of it before the ink is dry. That’s what makes life offshore so interesting.”
“The most important thing is safety: for the crew, the environment and the machinery, in that order. The biggest challenge is the weather, which changes rapidly – and then we need to be quick to find the safest way forward.”
“We can only get into and out of the harbour two hours each side of high water. The barge needs a weather window for the transit from harbour to the site, and once we get there the sea has to be calm enough for the barge to jack up out of the water. Then before we start work we have to check the weather again…”
“We have very skilled and motivated technicians from Total Wind, and there’s a great team spirit. With 11 different nationalities it’s been a pleasure to see how well everybody works together.”
“But for some of the crew this is their first time offshore. Some people have been seasick, and some find it hard to accept that crew changes can’t always happen on the planned dates, but we always find the balance to achieve our targets.”
“On the barge we have 40 people in a small space, working and sleeping 24 hours a day. For the barge crew this is their second home. We have to respect one another. If your neighbour is asleep, for instance, you keep quiet.”
“I’ve spent more than half my life offshore since I graduated 11 years ago, so for me it’s business as usual. Either you like the offshore environment or you don’t!”
“I love to wake up in the morning knowing that work is waiting just outside the cabin door. Out here, we’re on our own. If we have a problem, we can’t just call someone to come and fix it for us – so we’d better solve it ourselves.”
“One memory I will take away from Bligh Bank is the exceptional cooperation between Pre-assembly, Installation and Commissioning. The new system masterminded by our Installation and Commissioning Manager Stefan Hoonings has saved a lot of time and left the best possible end product for our client.”
“Pre-assembly has given us state-of-the-art components to install, and in turn we have finished all the mechanical completion in one go – handing turbines over to our Commissioning colleagues usually within a day of installation. It’s a textbook example for future projects.”
