The Claymore Platform in the North Sea is now owned by Talisman. It is in fact two platforms, one for accommodation and one for drilling and processing. picture #86 shows the accommodation side.
Picture added on 30 October 2006
Comments:
Wow what more can I say, what a awesome picture. It must be amazing to be on the rig or even get close to it.
This was were I began my offshore career May 1989, hated it! Almost 20 years on were am I... still gainfully employed offshore. Made some great friends during this time.
I was on the Claymore in 1991, and it was a total dump, which it probably still is. It was the rust that was holding the thing together!! Lesson's have obviously been learned with the arrival of the seperate accommodation module!!
Added by Ronny Watson on 27 February 2009.
I hope it's not rust that's holding the Claymore together as my husband works there and I would not like to think that it is any more dangerous than it has to be!
Added by Moejo on 29 April 2009.
The production platform is old and a bit rusty (the slogan "step up for Safety" on the bridge link ought to read "step back to the past") but the CAP is fine... Before I was sent there, I asked around and got two sets of answers: those there before the early 90's hated, those after the accomdation platform was installed said it was fine.
Oh my go this picure brings back so many memories, this was my very first experience of time offshore but not on the platform - I used to work on the standby ship that use to support it. She was called the Cam Ranger before they got taken over by Viking... I was at the Claymore way back in 1993, the platform had a man overboard off the south west flare boom on wed 15th Dec 93, a date I will never forget his name was willie and he lived in Greenock..... it was a tough day but one we all learned from.... best regards to all who still work off shore. After I left Viking I went onto the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and became a deck officer. I did this for 7 more years before I decided to move to Australia.... I no longer work offshore as I broke my back in three places, but hey we still have the memories to all those who wait for your loved ones, your are so dedicated and deserve a medal for waiting for us for all that time but they will be home and the wait is worth it take care.
Added by Stewart Taylor, formerly Stewart Kirby on 23 May 2010.
As others have said, what memories. Was barely 18 when I flew out for the first time, and remembering "what the hell have I got myself into?". I was on Bawden rig 41 from 79-81 (the other rig was rig 40). Many a good memory of rough weather, hard work, rowdy weeks in Aberdeen, and attempts to kill my liver. The good ol' days. Must have liked it, still in the oilfield today. Thanks for keeping my alive back them Oxy/Bawden.
I worked for James Scott for 23 years. Claymore was my first trip offshore in October 1976 and I discovered I liked the life. This is the platform where my knowledge of arc welders and plant maintenance was first used by Scott's supervision and ever after I was always used as TL, plantman and welding spark on hookups. As such, I was a bit of a hybrid, not really a part of Scott's work crews nor the main contractors either. Still, I made some good friends here who I often worked with on different platforms over the next 23 years. The kind of lads it was ALWAYS a pleasure to see again. Cant remember much of the day to day routines though. Must have been content to be there though 'cos I stayed for 3 years. If anybody remembers the Sedco accomodation barge being hurriedly withdrawn from the field, it was down to me!! Long winded story, but one day the barge lecky hadn't turned up for his trip so the barge engineer (in a previous incarnation I had been a marine spark) asked me to investigate duff insulation readings on the pod motors. I was decommissioning the temporary accomodation on the barge at the time prior to the barge leaving the field at the end of its contract. Me and Stan Ramsey went down to the drive pod, entered it by torchlight and stepped into 6 inches of water above the top walkway. To anybody who knows about these things, I should have been able to descend 20 feet to the bottom of the pod. Panic stations when I told the engineer. He immediately sent his own engineering crew to inspect this and the other 3 pods and they found another 2 pods totally flooded!! The barge hadn't moved under its power for about 2 years up to this time, and obviously had never been inspected for along time. The barge was almost immediately taken under tow, with me still aboard, to Peterhead (3 day stormy tow) where it was berthed ready to have the flooded pods lifted out. Eventually, a 15ton mobile crane (got wrecked in the process) assembled an 120 ton crawler crane on the mole to lift out the flooded pods. Went to bed that night, got up in the a.m. wandered outside and asked where the 120ton crane was. Couldn't believe it when I was told that it had overbalanced when trying to lift the first pod out of the pontoon, and finshed up on the the bottom in 90 feet of water. Apparantley, the engineer who was given the task of pod removal hadn't taken into account the weight of the flood water contained within the pod. I've had some funny experiences like this one, so odd in fact, that sometimes they sound to be too fantastic to be true. But TRUE, they certainly are. Dunno about you lot, but I love to hear this kind of reminiscence. Maybe later!!
A further word on this story of the flooded drive pods. See picture #1021 for a couple of thruster pods already removed from another Sedco 700 series barge.
I'm researching for a story. Can anyone tell me, what is the accommodation like? Spacious, pokey? How long is that walkway? It looks terrifying. How high above sea is it? It's hard to tell from the pictures. What is it like in rough weather? You can email me with your stories if you like. All will be treated with confidence, I just want to put my readers 'out there'. Thank you so much.
I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone on the Claymore for donating to my daughters trust fund (www.oliviastory.co.uk) I hope someone from there sees this as I don't have an email address to pass it on. Very appreciated and I would like to pass on my thanks. If someone could do this for me, i'd be very grateful. Mike
Added by ReD on 11 September 2008.