RIP Brent Alpha

While out today in stormy weather, I passed the final location of the Shell Brent Alpha platform. I made two trips on this platform back in 82 arriving the first time on a Chinook helicopter. Odd and some what sad to see her again as she is being dismantled and scrapped.


*istD and SMC DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED @63mm




Her sister platforms have already been here and no longer exist.

Best regards

I'm with you on this. I was working for Bristow Helicopters at the time flying the S61N as a fairly new co-pilot. We were tasked with flying out to the Beryl, for a crew change. I asked one of my co-pilot colleagues, a somewhat laconic individual who had flown to the rig a couple of days previously, what it was like landing on this platform. At the time it was one of the largest and highest on the North Sea.

'Well,' he replied, 'let me put it this way, if you fell off the heli-deck, fear would give way to boredom on the way down.'

It was big.

And yet, when I went back some years later in another role, having been on sixth generation deep water rigs offshore Brazil it felt quite small.

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Be well, stay safe.

Brent Alpha from an old 6 x 4 print (negs long gone) taken from Bravo in the early 80's, camera was a ME super with 50 f1.7, I had to get a hot work permit direct from OIM to use it as it had a battery in it.



I also worked on the Jacket at RGC.

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Cheers
Brian.
LBA is good for you, a Lens a day helps you work, rest and play.

I remember taking crews to the Brent Field, flying out of Sumburgh at the time. I can imagine the OIM being picky about a hot work permit, especially if flaring or doing some kind of workover. Great photographs, thanks for the memories.

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Be well, stay safe.

Was this one of yours?

Bravo helipad, Statfjord in the distance.



or one of these at Kirkwall? a younger me on the left

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Cheers
Brian.
LBA is good for you, a Lens a day helps you work, rest and play.

Bravo Juliet - yep. When I left Bristows I went to work with Helikopter Services AS for six months and flew regularly to Frigg and Statfjord. After that contract went to BA Helicopters and completed my command course with them, hence me crewing Bravo Juliet.

In the background I can see the Boeing. I was moving over to that as a senior Co-pilot when the command course for the S61N came up. By the cringe, that Chinook had a bounce. Then the incident, (the brights steel connecting the rotors wasn't as robust in regards to corrosion as they thought), and it flew no more.

By the time I left aviation to work offshore with Teleco, MWD, everyone flying out and back had to wear survival suits. I was involved with the briefing videos as well, but that's another story, (RGIT related.)

Thanks for posting these, they were interesting times. As for the current state of the offshore industry, somewhat challenging to put it mildly. Some really good folk wondering what to do next.

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Be well, stay safe.

All of which stirred up memories for my wife who spent 30 years as a director secretary with Bristows. Her brother also worked for them as a licenced engineer for 40 years...

John Odlin? Still a chum of mine, Dave Smith, was the Chief Pilot, now retired. Things not so good there I regret to say. We'll PM if you know Dave.

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Be well, stay safe.

Aye - she knows John. Dave Smith less so. As she says there aren't many of the old and bold left!

Different times now. So it goes...

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Be well, stay safe.