Bourbon

When I embarked on the AHTS Ajax for the first time in 2001, my knowledge of offshore was rather limited. I had some experience with RO-RO vessels, but the departure for Africa was a new challenge for me. It is true that, at the time, I couldn’t foresee BOURBON’s strong growth and the career opportunities that meant for me and others.

I was promoted to Captain in 2003 and I have to say that “routine” has never been a part of my vocabulary since I joined BOURBON. I have worked on five different offshore vessels and worked onshore for more than one year. I was Safety Coordinator in Angola in 2003 at Kwanda base in Soyo. Job safety analyses, risk assessments, safety reporting—the safety demands of our client (ESSO) were high and the crews needed back up from shoreside to apply the ESSO method on the vessels. This contract with ESSO in Angola has had a very positive impact for BOURBON. The mobilization of all BOURBON personnel, from the vessels to the headquarters in Marseilles, proves that safety can be combined with efficiency. I am proud to have contributed to this adventure, which continues today.

DP (dynamic positioning) has become an imperative in our business. I have spent nearly two years on DP vessels in Nigeria (Erha field), which allowed me to acquire the skills of a DP operator. Different work sites, different people, but always the same priority: Safety first. On the vessels, I have always tried to involve the entire crew in this process. Every week, I conducted a safety meeting, organized the ’Captain’s minutes’ where everybody was free to discuss safety related issues, and I myself had a weekly assessment of safety performance with an indication of any failures to comply with regulations. I was pleasantly surprised by the effects of this action on crew behavior.

In the last 7 months, I have worked as Vessel Coordinator at the Kwanda base in Angola for ESSO. This experience at the logistics center for the operations has been enormously educational. I was responsible for coordinating the fleet of 12 vessels in order to ensure the offshore supply of three production units and three drilling units. I greatly appreciated the team work with the logistics department, the offshore facilities, and the vessel crews.

In December, I will assume my new position as contract manager in Luanda for Total. This is a new challenge with one of our major customers. I would like to focus on two objectives in my new duties: give priority to human contact with the vessel crews by making safety our top priority and meet our customer’s expectations at all operational levels. We have high performance vessels, skilled people and a safety management system, which are all the tools necessary to become the safety leader in the offshore industry. Our future is in our hands.