Salam w.b.t and
hello all,
I hope that whoever
come across my pit stop is doing well. I don’t know you, but I wish you very
well in whatever you are in now.
I am now at the rig,
but this time it is not yet at the ocean. I will explain the details in a bit.
As you all know, I
was in Doha from early May until July 2nd. Before going to the rig, I had to go
through several processes - quarantine, swab test, then depart to Ras Laffan to
get to the rig. I went to quarantine on 30th June until 2nd July at Crowne Plaza.
It was 4 of us planned together, unfortunately one of the crew result is
reactive. It is not positive, but reactive so as a precaution measure, he needs
to be quarantined for 14 days to be sure. So he cannot join us for this job.
It was first time I
quarantined at Crowne Plaza, it was really sophisticated hotel, 5 stars maybe.
Well, I don’t know. See the video below, I took it after I checked in.
The meals are all
provided, so I received the menus and I can order it and they will send it to
the room. Similarly, laundry I just dropped it outside the room and they sent
it after washing. Good thing also it has a bath tub, and I haven't dip in the
bath tub for some time. It was 3 days of pampering.
Then, departed to
Ras Laffan by bus on July 3rd. The rig name is Emerald Driller, its operation
has been suspended from March due to Covid19 and the rig sailed back to the
port. Now, it is at the port since March. The operation will resume and the
client requires all personnel and equipment onboard before sailing. When I
arrived at the rig, it was horrible because upon arrival at the rig onboard
area, observed the height of the port wall that we have to climb down is nearly
60-70ft before reaching the flat ground, and need to climb back up to the rig
nearly 100ft height, of scaffolded stairs. All while carrying nearly 20kgs
offshore bag and laptop bag during mid-day.
I had to do twice.
First to send the bag to the accommodation and then go back to the training
center for safety briefing. Second time after finish the training, paperwork
etc. then go to the accommodation for good. It was horrible because it all
happened in the afternoon between 10am to 12pm, and summer. Hot and humid,
really bad. I was disoriented for the rest of the day, body especially
shoulders hurt really bad, headache, nausea, hot, sweating and all. Also, for
the first 2-3 days I thought the A/C in my room was not working, so I slept and
sweating. It was really bad. On top of that, the water from the tap at this rig
is yellow in colour. It looks like rust or urine colour. I know already because
this is what I experienced last year. So, from the 5 stars hotel of Crowne
Plaza to zero star of the rig.
 |
| These are the bags and laptop bag (not in the picture) I had to carry myself |
This is my hitch
after 2 months of idle. Not a great start though.
Today is my sixth
day here and this job probably will be 2-3 weeks, I hope 1 month so I can cover
the salary cut I had last month and idle time for two months. Will see how it
goes.
Alright, it is
nearly 5pm here and I want to go for dinner. I will update again sometime soon.
Also, I am working on something but I don’t want to share about it yet as it is
still early. I will share it when I am ready, let me know if I forgot.
Thank you for
reading all.
Take care and Salam
w.b.t.
P/S - Remember in my
previous entries in May, I mentioned in the footnote that my company does not
mention about Mental Health right? This time, the managers mentioned it.
Although not in a specific meeting discussing about mental health awareness,
they started mention it now in the job meeting. That’s a good start.
