eSea 22 - One World, Many Cultures
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Transcript of eSea 22 - One World, Many Cultures
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 2 2 / 2 0 1 5
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
22
ombord · a bordo · on board- one world, many cultures
Any Questions? > Eva-lution >Brightest Africa > ET Phone Home but what’s a phone? > The Cowboy and the Oilman >Poachers to Gamekeepers > Snap Happy >Simplicity is king >
3
2015 is the year of the vote – at every turn
there seems to be election fever, Nigeria, the
UK, Denmark shortly and then the razzmatazz
of the US Presidential. Even the election for
a global sporting post, the guy who decides,
only for the good of the game, to play football
in temperatures that would crisp pizzas, drew
world attention.
What’s different with all these elections is
that we have a growing awareness of their
significances – perhaps it is because we have
world news on our laptops that we take
more than a passing interest in the changing
fortunes of Goodluck Jonathan and that of
Sepp Blatter. People who couldn’t care if
never saw a soccer match were drawn into
the drama, forced to formulate an opinion.
Perhaps it is because we are so multicultural
today, in that we know someone for whom the
vote matters.
This eSea is even more multicultural than
normal, in its own small way it breaks
down some barriers so that faces, lifestyles
and stories from far away become part of
a local conversation. Multiculturalism is a
new science and we talk to a professor who
embodies the need to break down barriers
through international understanding. Sandi’s
an American married to a Portuguese,
teaching Brazilian and Portuguese studies to
Danes. In this issue she tells us about a field
study that took a lucky thirteen students to
Rio.
We hear why the election in Nigeria offers
even those who might be deemed opponents, a
chance of something completely different and
from the same country a story which causes
us to refocus on the availability of basics
like tap water and power. Chidozie recalls
the post-university year when he was sent
upcountry to teach physics to children who
had never seen a light bulb, about electricity.
At the other end of the scale Eva in the Danish
energy port of Esbjerg, is logging off from a
long career, one that has gone from heavy
clunky typewriters to sleek touchscreens.
In four decades she’s witnessed and enjoyed
more change than the remote Nigerian village
has experienced in four centuries. But with
multiculturalism this is where the next big
acceleration will come.
Technicians will roll out the most
unimaginable devices for this generation
of teenagers and that generation will be
more diverse than ever before. The need to
inform, educate and train has never been
so crucial - it is a good job that top teachers
and instructors don’t need to face the
interruptions of an election process. There’s
a lot to be said for consistency and constant
care.
editorialRichard [email protected]
Modern companies with global ambitions don’t have an export department, they export themselves.
Maersk Training is an
example of the today’s
business profile – a company
exporting not goods or
services but by establishing
in-situ facilities around the
world. These facilities need to
adapt to and blend in with the
local environment and that
naturally crosses many cultural
boundaries. It is these boundaries
that the university students were
striving to identify.
The training centre in Rio de
Janeiro was one of several
Danish companies in Brazil that
responded to a request from the
University of Copenhagen when
they launched a restructured
Alguma Pergunta Eventuelle spørgsmål
Any Questions?
4
5
B.A. programme within the
Department of Portuguese and
Brazilian Studies.
For the first time the department
wanted to get students out into
the field to examine at first hand
the issues that arise in multi-
cultural business ventures.
Thirteen Danes joined a group of
Brazilian students for two weeks
in order to gather background
to address the type of problems
you might encounter in an inter/
multicultural work environment.
They interviewed people
throughout organisations, from
the top to the bottom.
CLEAR HERE, CONFUSION THEREThe field trip to Rio in April was
part of a bigger programme, the
‘Problem-based Team Project’ and
the professors behind it, Sandi
Michele de Oliveira and Georg
Wink were on hand to guide and
observe this pilot course.
‘Bringing both the university
and business partners on board
and figuring out the logistics of
this pilot project was quite a job
for the two of us, but we were
very pleased with the students'
engagement at the companies,’
says Sandi. ‘We are now waiting
for the students’ business reports
with recommendations for the
partner companies.’
Professor Sandi and her
colleague Georg are perfect
examples of cultural diversity –
she’s an American married to a
Portuguese, teaching in a Danish
University. Georg is German
married to a Brazilian teaching
Portuguese in Denmark.
One of the issues to arise was
the team-building aspect –
how do you go about building
an international collaborative
team? It was something the
students themselves immediately
experienced since they had
quickly to find common ground
with their Brazilian counterparts
from the Rio de Janeiro State
University. As Sandi put it, ‘the
students were being trained to
take a multifaceted approach
to the analysis of issues in
multicultural communication?’
Another request that arose was
how best to construct a customer
survey aimed at different cultural
backgrounds. ‘This one company
wanted to see why questions that
worked well in one environment,
lead to potential confusion in
another,’ said Sandi.
WHY MAERSK TRAINING? ‘Being a Danish university we
started with a list of Danish
companies with interests in
Portuguese speaking countries,
and Maersk Training in Rio were
the first to respond,’ says Sandi.
What the collaborative companies
can hope to gain is an additional
insight into how to best work
in a ‘foreign’ environment. Long
gone is the old colonial approach
of talking loudly in your own
language and storming ahead
doing things just the way you
want to do them.
‘What makes companies have
different levels of success is what
their language policy is when
they get to a foreign country. The
idea that you can just send a few
people from Brazil to Denmark
or wherever to get some training
and you don’t have someone in
the ‘home’ office knowing the
foreign language is a mistake. It’s
like marriage, everyone has to
give 100%,’ Sandi points out. ‘You
can’t delegate cultural knowledge
and understanding, both sides
need to fully embrace it.’
The pilot course and fieldwork
exercise now needs to be collated
and developed but Sandi is
already convinced that it is an
important part of the students’
4th semester and is looking to the
future. The students largely fund
themselves but backing is needed
for the whole project, so Sandi and
Georg are already looking for new
co-operations, new challenges. ●
Hamburgefintsiv
There’s a relic keep somewhere in the storerooms of the adult vocational training centre AMU Vest in Esbjerg, that they can’t afford to throw out along with other out-dated office equipment. It’s an old typewriter, but one which might be called into action when someone needs a replacement for the certificate they achieved sometime in the Eighties.
The problem is that there
are only a couple of people
within the organisation who
can operate it properly. The old
typewriter requires a deft touch
that is beyond the skills of today’s
workforce.
One of the two ‘typists’ has
recently hung up her ink ribbon
and we spent a coffee break with
her as she looked back on the last
four decades of office life as seen
through technical development.
Were the good old days really the
good old days?
CLUNK CLIP TO SLICKFor Eva Krarup the biggest
change in her working life was
the advent of the computer.
Retiring early at 59 she looks back
over a career which has gone
from the clunk click of the manual
Remington to the feather-light
touch of a wireless keyboard.
Change has been good she says
highlighting the arrival of the B2B
booking portal for courses.
‘Before B2B you had to go into so
many areas and check details, it
was easy to miss something or
for errors to creep in. With the
B2B portal it is all there on one
screen, the whole story and you
can instantly see if the person is
getting what they need,’ says Eva.
Eva had worked for the
government agency for the past
26 years and before that spent
12 years making sure that the
cooperative of 200 dairies got paid
for their butter and that Danish
butter was a global product. She
recalled her first job being so long
ago that everything was done
Eva-lution
6
Hamburgefintsiv 7
on a typewriter, in duplicate, and
then posted individually to each
of the farmers.
With AMU Vest too the process
of putting people of vocational
courses was ‘traditional’ and
buzzed about the relationship
with Maersk Training through
the introduction of the B2B portal.
‘For the first time I was with
people who were able to respond
instantly. If something was wrong
with the system, and there were
of course some teething problems,
they’d say “right let’s fix it” and
it was done,’ says Eva. ‘Because
the government sector is so big
it moves slowly, we are maybe
twenty institutions. Private
companies move differently.’
She celebrated her retirement
with ‘his and hers’ iPads for her
and her husband. Still trying to
get to grips with it she observed
the difference between today’s
office and the past.
EYES SHUT, OPEN MIND‘We learnt to type, ten fingers
with our eyes shut. Today few
touch-type, they flash their
finger across the keyboard – it is
quite impressive, but as you see
with SMS’s the message is often
riddled with mistakes. Because of
spellcheck people are encouraged
to be more expressive, this is
good, in the old day’s we kept
things simple because any
error meant you had to get the
correction fluid out.’
She remembered the moment an
electric typewriter arrived with a
selective memory – ‘you pressed
one key and it wrote a standard
line, we thought it was magic.’
Life in today’s office is afar
cry from the Eighties. Today
people click ‘print’ and out of
the machine comes whatever
you want, sorted and stapled.
Previously you had to type onto
a waxed page, stenciling in
the letters (O was a particular
nightmare since it could easily
become a hole), then lifting the
fragile sheet onto a drum before
lit revolved and that one single
sheet emerged to be dried and
sorted.
Eva admits that she has never
been IT astute, but thought the
introduction courses to B2B put
her on the right track.
‘I’m not on Facebook or LinkedIn,
I’m not keen on opening my life
to all, but I can see the need, so I
might have to go on Facebook, but
with a very low profile,’ she adds. ●
B2B Booking Portal
• Tool for course bookers
• 24/7 access
• Find available Maersk
Training courses world wide
• Quickly book multiple
employees on course
• Monitor employee training
historic
Hamburgefintsiv 8
Brightest AfricaNigeria is not for the faint-hearted. It is exciting, exhausting, intimidating, but above all rewarding. In terms of the economy Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country, is potentially Africa’s Texas; in terms of cultural make-up, Africa’s Germany.
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9
From the moment you step off
the plane you are blasted by
the heat and taxed by relentless
unscrupulous characters, usually
disguised in official uniforms.
In certain areas for certain
people, travelling without aid or
protection is extremely unwise
and advised against, yet despite
all these negatives, in the end you
get back on the plane happier for
having been there.
It’s long been a misnomer, the
Victorian expression Darkest
Africa, because here the sun not
only splits the sky but shines
out of the people. They approach
adversity with a smile. Yet they
are forceful when dealing within
themselves, so forceful that other
African nations see them as
arrogant, demanding and pushy,
hence the German connection.
NEW GOVERNMENT, NEW STARTLike Texas in the old days the rule
book here is yet to be written and
what few rules there are, people
seem to take a joy in getting round
them. Dominic Marizu has been
observing this manoeuvring
all his life and puts much of it
down to the way the society is
structured; it’s a void which
allows the rich to get richer and
the poor poorer. ‘There’s a huge
gap between the public and the
leadership, they are sacred cows
who create an empire.’
Dominic who is the Base and
Government Affairs Manager for
Indigo Drilling, thinks the recent
election is an opportunity, a true
transition point in the country’s
history. ‘There are a whole lot of
things to be fixed, it won’t happen
overnight. This country is easy to
fix, but it needs processes to be
put into place.’
He looks back twenty years to
a time when Port Harcourt was
much smaller, but still had trouble
with its infrastructure. ‘We have
millions more people living here
now, but the roads, the water,
the electricity, haven’t moved
with the times.’ Most people, and
large companies, have to rely on
9
Hamburgefintsiv
boreholes for water and back-up
generators to click into action so
frequently that conversations and
life don’t hesitate for a moment
when the lights go out.
To put Port Harcourt in
prospective, ask yourself where
is it? It’s a dot on the map of West
Africa, about half way along the
Nigerian coastline. It is a dot of
about five million people, the same
as the population of Denmark.
Currently Nigeria is growing by
a dot a year, five million people. It
is now is about 175 million, twice
the size of the second largest
African country.
THE BUCK, AND METRO, STOPS HEREAt one stage Port Harcourt had
a dream of moving ahead of the
times. The River’s State which
it dominates is the delta of the
Niger River and the gateway
to the Nigerian offshore oil
industry. Onshore there are only
three refineries and these are
pretty dysfunctional, so what
oil is brought up needs to be
transported to other countries
before being reimported. It is
a financial mis-match which
appears to be to no one’s benefit,
although you’ve got to expect
someone somewhere is syphoning
off a slice of the action.
In May a lack of petrol was
causing an acute shortage at the
pumps. People pushed their cars
to as close as they could to any
station rumoured to be a potential
source – Nigerians hot and noisy,
can be cool and patient.
Those wanting transportation are
going to have to be very patient
in waiting for the 21st Century
overhead monorail railway.
Currently it has spent 100% of its
budget but has only made 20%
of its journey. The rail stops at
Government House, and so does
the buck. With a new government
the white concrete line might now
be a white concrete elephant.
White is quite a sales point in the
fashion industry, but because of
the dust and dirt not in fabrics – to
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Hamburgefintsiv 1111
Hamburgefintsiv 12
a man, and woman, the manikin
dummies on the steps of the
roadside stores are Caucasian, a
strange contrast to downtown
Svendborg where black is a la
mode. The other difference is that
at the end of the day you might
well see a tailor heading home.
You know his profession because
balanced on his head is his means
of livelihood, a hand-cranked
Singer sewing machine.
PISTOLS NOT PAC-MANBalance is important to Nigerians,
on one hand a fragile financial
existence on the other the
uncertainly of tomorrow. In one
camp they are Muslims and in
a smaller one, Christians, both
devout and wearing their faiths
openly. You’ll be wished ‘Happy
Sunday’ as if it were Christmas
and on their way to church they
are dressed as smart as any bridal
party. They are joyous to the point
where you think life must be
flawless, but no.
If Nigeria has one predominant
industry it is in security. From
hotel gatepost to bedroom
door you might pass six or
seven guards, some so youthful
that elsewhere they would
have Nintendo as a constant
companion, not a pistol. The
private security industry extends
to transportation, many foreign
companies insisting on armed
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Hamburgefintsiv 13
protection for staff between
workplace and home, hotel and
airport. To cater for this you buy
a white Toyota pickup, stick a
highway patrol flashing sign on
the roof, install a siren, buy a
licence and then hire a handful
of policemen/soldiers. You can
then drive up the wrong side of
a dual carriageway, splitting the
oncoming traffic like filleting a
fish, without any fear.
What is most remarkable is the
manner in which the locals accept
this. They could quite justifiably
see this as an intrusion, an alien
culture steamrollering over their
own, but no. Like the two guys
we passed trying unaided to lift
their car out of a pothole, which
was more of a bottomless pit. Life
is what it is in Nigeria, so make
the best of it. They were laughing.
Only a corrupt westerner would
think, ‘maybe it wasn’t their car.’ ●
Multi-mannequin
We’ve more than touched
on multiculturalism in this
issue, but here’s a strange
transposition. In Port Harcourt,
Nigeria the numerous roadside
clothes shops use, almost
exclusively, white, yet in
Svendborg, Denmark, the
models standing silently in the
high streets are mostly dark. Is
there some strange hidden logic
or mysterious marketing ploy?
What do you think? We’d love
to hear your view.
13
Graduates in Nigeria are required to do a year’s public service after their university careers are complete; spells in the army, police and welfare sections are a stark contrast to all the studying, but for engineering graduate Chidozie Uzoma Ukonu, the challenge was extra testing.
Chidozie had been assigned to
teach in a remote part of the
country, so remote that it was
without piped water, sanitization
or electricity. ‘One of my subjects
was physics and part of the
course was all about electricity.
But how do you explain electricity
to kids who’d never seen a light
bulb?’ he recalls.
His mother came up with the
answer - let them experience it
by hiring a generator. ‘Seeing is
believing,’ she said. Unfortunately
the hire charge was beyond the
budget of the country school so
Chidozie asked around and heard
of man in a village on the other
side of the mountain who not
only had a generator, but also a
television. This he generously
shared with the whole village by
having it face out to the street
from his veranda.
MOUNTAIN OF KNOWLEDGEThe class trekked over the
mountain for an introduction
to electricity. For them it was a
journey beyond the boundary of
their world, it was an ET moment
– a jump into another universe.
‘I could often show them things
but that wasn’t always the
answer, like when I talked about
my mobile phone saying that I
could talk to people around the
world, except here in the remote
village where there was no
signal,’ he says.
It was a bit of a ‘so what’ moment
but Chidozie marks that year
down as one of the best of his
life, even now when he heads
the new Maersk Training centre
in Port Harcourt. Here he was
struggling with electricity, not
as an educational concept, but
simply supply. Port Harcourt
doesn’t have power cuts, it has
blinks. Frequent and short, they
are so much a part of the daily
lives of everyone that they carry
on without flinching. Computers
need to have battery back-up to
avoid constantly losing work.
ONE COUNTRY, TWO WORLDSAnother aspect of daily life in Port
Harcourt is the traffic. Eight to ten
in the morning and late afternoon
are so busy that many roads grind
to a halt. Chidozie’s plan is to
start courses early and build in
breakfast and then get everyone
back to their hotels in the
afternoon. It’s a ploy that should
be particularly effective in the
rainy season when the roads are
dramatically reduced in width,
this is after all the Rivers State.
Nigeria is a country of two worlds,
Chidozie’s biggest role, along with
the rest of his fellow graduates, is
in merging them. What has taken
the western world centuries,
they must achieve in a working
lifetime. Chidozie smiles, ‘It’s a
challenge,’ but somehow you feel
he and his team are going to climb
over another mountain. ●
ET Phone Homebut what’s a phone?
14
Hamburgefintsiv 1515
Hamburgefintsiv 16
Above ground vs below ground, offshore vs onshore, cows vs horses, home vs away, IADC vs IWCF – they are all questions or situations that Cliff Wall has had to face in his working life.
An oilman for 35 years, the
cows verses horses scenario
is down to the fact that home to
Cliff is a ranch a little over 200
miles from Houston in Texas. ‘It’s
a small place, just 70 acres and we
have had, or do have, cows, sheep,
goats donkeys and presently one
pony,’ he tells us.
‘Right now livestock prices are
so high I can hardly afford to buy
cows, or feed them. I never could
make money at ranching, so I’m a
driller first.’
The conundrum for Cliff is that
high fodder prices and low oil
prices have created a totally
diverse market situation in both
industries. Seventy acres is small
in terms of Texan ranching, it’s no
South Fork. At 28 hectares Cliff’s
ranch would be seen as a medium
size farm within the European
Union - its 40 soccer fields.
MENDING FENCESOil and ranching mixed effectively
in the TV series Dallas, but much
as it was nice for Bobby Ewing
and Cliff Barnes to go out and ride
for two days to fix a fence, the real
money was created when he sat
behind a desk. The current barrel
price has resulted in rigs being
moth-balled, plans shelved and
Cliff Wall, temporally out of one of
his jobs.
‘My last position was rig
superintendent, basically a
floating superintendent for
Diamond Offshore. Diamond
The Cowboy and the OilmanCliff’s at home on the ranch and the rig
16
17The two latest additions to the Wall ranch, a lamb and a grandson
got hit hard down in Brazil and
Mexico and lost a lot of their
contracts. It is always a shock to
get laid off, but it wasn’t entirely
unexpected with what had
happened to Diamond,’ says Cliff.
Going where the work is, where
the oil may be, has always been
Cliff’s work pattern, he’s worked
in just about every drilling
theatre around the world since he
started as a 19 year old in 1980. It
has been three and a half decades
of change and no less in the area
of training.
‘Looking at safety and behavioural
performances in them days,
the company I was working for
actually budgeted for lost time
injuries! I think the behavioural-
based training came about when
the oil companies realised that
this was coming off the top, off
their profit, and that’s when we
started seeing a big change,’ he
observes.
One of the changes has been the
certification demands for Well
Control.
‘When I started my job search,
drilling superintendent, drilling
supervisors, tourpusher, the
majority of them required IWCF. I
could see that I’d have to pay for
this out of my own pocket, but
online I saw this opportunity from
Maersk Training,’ he says.
‘IWCF PLEASE!’The opportunity was to join a pilot
course at Maersk Training’s new
facility in Houston for IWCF. Cliff
took away from it more than the
treasured certificate which will
open job opportunities across
the world – ‘Kim (Kim Laursen,
chief instructor) really knew his
stuff. I’ve been in the industry
about as long as he’s been alive
but he taught me two things
about pressure and force that I’ve
never used before. They are great
takeaways.’
‘Completing the course opens
up opportunities, especially
in the North Sea, I’ve worked
there before – they are asking
specifically for IWCF. I’m open to
anything, but I want to finish out
my career with an independent
company as a supervisor or
superintendent. I’m going to work
til I die, if you get 100 days off a
year and they are paying you a
full year’s salary, that’s a good
win/win in my book.’
The oil business has taken Cliff
all around the world but for
wife Roberta the ex-pat lifestyle
was demanding and now back
in Texas her demands are
dominated by six grandchildren,
‘and taking care of me’, says Cliff.
The money earned will help
run the ranch and keep the six
grandchildren happy. As Cliff
mused, ‘You might as well spend
it; I’ve never seen an armoured
car following behind a hearse.’ ●
IADC vs IWCF
You like potato
and I like potahto
You like tomato
and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto,
Tomato, tomahto.
Let's call the whole thing off
IADC or IWCF, what does it
matter? They are the two
internationally recognised
standards for competency in
Well Control, one favoured by
American companies, the other
European.
So what exactly are the
differences. In truth the aim is
the same, to bring a high level
of safety behaviour and correct
action in preventing blowouts
and mitigating well control
problems.
17
Hamburgefintsiv 18
Poachers to Gamekeepers
They are an ocean apart and they have made the same transition, from poacher to gamekeeper, but crane
instructors Lasse and Ernest are united in an ambition to raise standards.
18
19
North Atlantic Tale
For Lasse Dam Rømhild
stepping out of the helicopter
onto the helideck of Maersk
Resolute was like coming home.
Eighteen months ago he would
have been getting read for a four-
week stint as a crane driver,
this time he was back to test
his former colleagues and prove
them competent, or otherwise, for
work.
‘On Resolute, my old rig, it was
quite professional, great to see
so many old faces and friends but
when the testing started it was
the sole focus,’ Lasse says. ‘It was
a really good experience. Luckily I
didn’t have to make any negative
decisions, they were all very
good.’
For Lasse the transition from
crane driver to instructor was
more than he’d anticipated. He’d
worked as a consultant at Maersk
Training in Svendborg, but the
full crossover involved a lot more
time.
‘It was quite difficult because even
although you think you know a lot
there are a large number of rules
and regulations you are aware of
but without knowing precisely. I
had to do a lot of studying up,’ he
says.
LIKE COMING HOMEHe developed the workload that
now sees him regularly flying out
to rigs and assessing operators
and on occasions conducting
training. He can assess two
people in a 12 hours shift but it
depends on the weather, since
there has to be a minimum of five
lifts on and off a vessel. Then there
is a written test, which takes an
hour. That is, for many the most
difficult part and it requires an
80% pass mark.
Going back offshore is ‘like coming
home’ Lasse says he’s lucky
because his wife understands
the importance of enjoying your
job. There is an added bonus he
says since his wife is currently
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Hamburgefintsiv
studying, ‘so she gets peace and
quiet to get on with it.’
We caught up with Lasse when
he was on Maersk Resolve and
his timetable of assessing is so
full that he will be dropping in
on rigs all over the North Sea
for the foreseeable future. The
only downside is that life is now
dependent on the weather.
‘When I was on Resolute a fog
came down and the guys I was to
assess were stuck in Esbjerg, it
was an extra weekend away,’ he
noted.
South Atlantic Story
Ernest Wami’s workplace is
considerable, from the Ivory
Coast to southern Africa, a stretch
of coastline that would reach
from Stavanger to Gibraltar in
European terms.
His message is equally formidable.
Step off a plane virtually
anywhere in West Africa and
beyond the blast of warmth,
one common feeling is the lack
of regard for personal safety.
People travel holding on to taxi
doors - from the outside, ride
in the gap between truck and
wagon and transport a roomful
of possessions on the back of
a moped. Safety doesn’t come
naturally in West Africa so
Ernest’s job in spreading the word
is a daunting one.
‘My wife is also a safety instructor
so our home culture is one of
safety. Even if it is just for a game
of football, our children will come
to us first and we do a sort of risk
assessment. I look out to see how
big the other players are,’ says
Ernest.
‘It is something that comes from
22 years working for Transocean.
They put safety as a number one
priority and it is a culture that
doesn’t end at the gate, it is one
you take home with you,’ he says.
‘In general the Nigerian safety
culture is not good.’
THE FLYING INSTRUCTORFormerly a crane operator and
deck supervisor, Ernest is now
a flying instructor with Maersk
Training in Port Harcourt,
Nigeria; his destinations are
the rigs which dot the eastern
equatorial Atlantic. The aim
of his visits is to embed safety
into a broad range of personnel.
The rules that require the
employment 50% of the workforce
from local sources means that
the acceptance of company safety
values on board is not initially
universal.
‘From the Ivory Coast to Angola
the languages on rigs switch from
English to Portuguese to French.
I teach through a translator but I
often worry that the message isn’t
getting across, particularly with
Portuguese,’ he says.
However the training period on
board matches the shift pattern
so Ernest usually gets four weeks
to positively affect the culture.
During such visits it is up to
Mrs. Wami to solely assess the
opposition football team. ●
20
Hamburgefintsiv 2121
Hamburgefintsiv 22
There’s no such thing as a bad photograph. It’s a statement at which many will scream ‘rubbish’ – but it is true. Capturing a moment in time is precious no matter how dubious the content. It’s what you do with that captured moment that makes it precious.
22
23
No social media has
changed quite as much as
photography. Twenty years ago
you went on holiday and along
with the sun-creams you took,
two, three maybe four rolls of
film. These gave you up to 36
shots per roll and when you
returned you waited for a couple
of days to see the results. These
were then sorted and put into an
album. Precious moments stored,
sometimes forgotten, mislaid, but
rarely totally lost. They remain
mementos of a time when you
had a six-pack, when tanning was
deemed safe, when flares were
fashionable.
In those days the average family
owned 2.5 cameras brought
out for special events, classic
holiday photos required a dinner
scene, view for the balcony
and someone in the pool. You
could choose between photos
or slides depending on whether
you wanted to bore your friends
individually or en masse.
Today we probably each have
2.5 picture-taking pieces of
equipment constantly about our
person. What we capture is sent
up there somewhere onto an
iCloud, we save, but in truth we
don’t understand the process.
We click and click so often that
we have turned the camera on
ourselves to create the newest
word in the language ‘the selfie’
and not content with that ‘selfies’
have developed so that the
background is part of the story.
THE QUEEN AND ITake the photo of Søren (above)
– technically it’s not a selfie,
but it represents the current
culture. Ten years ago a chance
meeting with the Queen would
have resulted in several grabbed
snaps of her descending the steps,
exclusively of her. Today she is
demoted to the background story,
‘this is me, the day the Queen saw
my back.’
Let’s analyse this picture. A photo
of the Queen walking somewhere
is what fills the society magazines
every week, it is commonplace.
Sørens’s photo is not perfect in
framing or quality but it is unique,
precious. It is real and not posed.
In eSea we try to avoid using
photographs that are posed. But
23
Hamburgefintsiv
that’s not to say that those high
quality photos where you can
virtually hear the words ‘cheese
or appelsin’ have no value. They
are a potential useful historical
document, like a wedding group.
Nice but they don’t excite.
Recently Maersk Training
issued a challenge to all those
in its worldwide group, ‘send us
your snaps, ones that capture a
moment of your working life.’
Safety and Survival instructor
Kasper Erhardt Trager somehow
retrieved a working moment from
his iPhone, early morning training
on the sea outside Esbjerg. ‘I didn’t
quite see the meaning and story
in the photograph. I took out my
iPhone, I always wrap it in plastic
bags when working, and snapped.
It was only when I looked at it
later that the stillness of the frost
in the foreground became more
important because of the menace
of the weather on the horizon.’
PHOTO LIMITFamily man Kasper could have
written this article because
he has come through the
photographic development cycle
from precious individual clicks
to rattling off photos at every
moment. ‘I’ve put a limit on the
number we can take on holidays
otherwise it just becomes
unmanageable,’ he says.
If there’s one pass-on technique
that improves photography, it is,
like comedy, it is in the timing.
Because of Photoshop framing
is no longer so important, but
content is. Look at the scene and
try and work out what is about to
happen next. A bit like Søren and
the Queen. If the photographer
had allowed her majesty one more
step, her head would have been
obscured by the railing.
The other aspect is in what you
take the picture with. Phone
cameras are ever getting better,
but as you can see from the
illustration of the Four Men
of Esbjerg, they have their
limitations because the lens,
regardless of the megebytes, is
the size of a grain of rice. Keep
clicking. ●
24
Hamburgefintsiv 25
Hamburgefintsiv 26
We hope you got inspired
to take some cool offshore
pictures.
Enter the competition, and
maybe you will be featured in
the next eSea.
First prize is a gadget that
makes sure your camera is
never out of power.
Send your picture to [email protected]
Helle fully charged with the
first prize – a car power bank
and torch
eSea Photo Competition
26
27eSea library
eSeaM A R I T I M E /O I L & G A S/ W I N D/C R A N E · JA N UA RY 2013
macondo – a lesson unlearnt? the worlds most advanced offshore simulation complex >�
the most socially isolated person on planet earth? >
training to avoid skyfall >
captaining a floating town >
combating stress with underwater rugby >
11
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 1 9 / 2 0 1 4
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING 19
Hello GoodbyeWhat’s that...? >Moustache Or Madness? >Runway to Slipway >Lady in Black > RIGMAROLE* you don’t need >Rolling Back the Years >Floating Like Butterflies Stinging Like Bees >SCOTS land on MARS >Umbrella Fella >Sund of Silence >Friendly Fred & Frugal Friend >
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 2 0 / 2 0 1 5
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
20
On the move
From Diverse to Dynamic >New Day, New Horizon >Working for Transition >The Duke of Hazzard >Caso do Constant Care >Karoline’s Tartan Diary >2000 Light Years From Home >
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 2 1 / 2 0 1 5
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
21
RELAXATIONEXPECTATION
INNOVATIONDEDICATION
Remote Well Control Tower > Core Education >
Moving Forward at the Speed of Light Sockets > Taking Your Passion Into The Office >
‘Bad Day At The Office’ Curling Career Turner > Sync On Skis >Leif ends at 18 >
Houston I’ve Got No Problems >The Adventures of Katwoman >
The Seagull Has Landed >Barrels of fun – not! >
Thinking Inside The Box >
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 1 2 / 2 0 1 3
wind powerWindmills - never ending or beginning >�Poul la Cour. Father of Wind Power >Olsen band crack safe operation >The Floating Table >Bridge and Engine in Sync >Door Knobs to Safety >The North Sea Glory Story > 12
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 14 / 2 0 1 3
food
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
Don’t blame the cook >Eat meet and leave >
Triple E = 3M’s >Brazil’s oil and gender revolution >Funny Tummy
So what is the MLC 2006 all about? >Food for Thought >Blade Runners >
Playing the name game >
The Story of Ngoc
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 1 5 / 2 0 1 3
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
15
Gulf Lessons >Keep taking the tablets > What exactly is Performance Enhancement? >When BP means Better Prepared > Nintendo boys, game on >Puffed, but the magic drags on >No bang Bang >Girls Out Loud >Every Boat Tells a Story >Science - stronger than steel >All fired up >Space, the final frontier >
performance enhancement
Piracy – Søren’s Somali Story
Ngoc's Fourth Bar >Colony of hope >
Farewell Favela, So Long Shanty >Starbuster >
All Sorts Have One Aim >Knowledge Seekers >
Helsingborg to Prague, via Svendborg >Surely not >
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 1 6 / 2 0 1 4
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
16
Carload of Hopes >Revolving door >
Caught Flagging >Logomotions >
Hard Drive for Soft Skills >Perfect Pressure Performance >
Marstal - port of passion and ferry tales >Rockall - All Rock or Oil Rock? >
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 17/ 2 0 1 4
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
17
The Great Bag of China- what's the secret of good branding?
Oceans Seven >Bonus Points >'Tracy's Screen Test' >What’s a Flag State? > She’s Leaving Home >Stonehaven, home of ... >SiberianOnSafety >Recalculating... >
eSeaM A R I T I M E / O I L & G A S / W I N D / C R A N E · N O . 1 8 / 2 0 1 4
EM AGA ZINE FROM M A ERSK TR A INING
18
Jonny’s $10,000 Gamble
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
eSea 1 Instructors’ back to sea programme - Sea Time Reduction announced - Vetting for Supply - New Deepwater Horizons open up
eSea 2New Towmasters’ course gets full simulation treatment - Deepwater course piloted - Wind industry - Drill instructor gets back to the well head
eSea 3MOSAIC II announced - Offshore wind, the new challenges - West African pilots use simulator to deal with the ‘big boys’ - CraneSIM in Vietnam - Piracy through the ages
eSea 4MT launches new website - Chinese in big safety push - Rig crane put in a box - Safety and People Skills build platform emergency course - how to communicate across cultures
eSea 5Maersk Training pennant raised in Dubai - Platform crews pilot Emergency Response course - How to be best in Vetting class - Danger of computer over reliance
eSea 6MOSAIC II, the ground is broken - Rig participants up to elbows in some very special mud - Semi-sub crew learns anchor handling - West African pilots start payback
eSea 7Chinese Container crews look to safety - Rig crane simulator tested - Esbjerg’s new facilities - MOSAIC II update - DP sea-time reduction - Coffee Break with Bent Nielsen
eSea 8Titanic Edition looking back at 100 years of increased safety and improved training - the lifeboat revolution - man overboard - spreading knowledge - tomorrow’s seafarers
eLibrary
eSea 9$15million Phone call - Wrappers off MOSAIC II - 5 Year drilling package - Tomorrow’s leaders today - Family comes too - Learning in luxury - Danish Olympians teambuild
eSea 10Breaking the ice, a new route in navigation - crane simulation arrives - Newcastle’s drop in course for the high life - the silent disease, loneliness - Chinese catch safety bug
To go back in time and access articles from previous issues, simply click on the photo of the edition or use the QR code.
Hamburgefintsiv
“A soft and sweet touch of Scandinavian simplicity.
Experience style with a timeless elegance that represents freedom and a natural curiosity to explore.
A breath of fresh air for your everyday adventures.”
Some days you have to ask
yourself what are some
marketing people on? The above
text is from a single product; can
you instantly see what it might
be? If I hadn’t been part of the
buying process I would never
have guessed.
The first line might hint towards
a piece of furniture, or at the
very least a cushion. It’s not.
Is it a basic human need that
some products, no matter how
simple, require the comfort factor
of knowing its exact place of
creation? Take pillows. I can’t
quite grasp why they need to have
a little label with a flag on them,
stating Danish Design. What is
there to the design in a pillow?
Two bits of cloth sewn together
and then stuffed with something
Simplicityis king
28
29
Simplicityis king
that doesn’t hurt. Also if you want
the whole story, why is there no
Chinese flag to denote who did
the sewing and stuffing before
heading off to school? When she’s
older she can make computers
thinking what does ‘Designed in
California’ mean?
Then there’s the second line.
Perhaps it’s a diver’s watch, or
maybe a jacket with bulbous
pockets to carry maps and water
bottles. No. We’re still a long way
off.
‘LET’S BRAINSTORM’It’s at this point you start to
imagine the marketing office
and the brainstorming session
to generate the blurb. Large flip
charts everywhere with someone
bouncing about full of energy
and something else, felt marker
in hand, scribbling ‘timeless,
natural, style’ and posting it on
the wall shouting ‘experience,
elegance, explore, I love all the E’s.
This is going so well!’
There’s a fantastic book on the
art of innovation, so fantastic
and direct and focused that the
name is The Art of Innovation.
The author Tom Kelley nails the
right way to brainstorm, rule
number one, ‘don’t let the boss run
the session.’ The book details the
growth of probably the world’s
most innovative company, it’s not
Apple, Microsoft or Lego even, it
is IDEO – never heard of them?
That’s because they are always
in the background, but genius
background boys and girls. They
take problems and situations and
re-think them through from a
totally different standpoint.
They created the first Apple
mouse; they improved dental
hygiene twice over, firstly by
making tooth brushing for
kids easier with a fat easy-to-
hold handle. This dramatically
improved the young teeth and cut
down visits to dentist. Then they
worked on the toothpaste itself. A
small brand Crest wanted a new
approach, one that avoided the
contents splurging over the sink
for the next twelve hours.
IDEO came up with a flip-top and
a simple valve. The diaphragm
that stops the paste continually
coming out is now commonplace
in sauce bottles and the water
bottles of bikers. So simple, but
do you read on the side of the
ketchup? - ‘A life enhancing
moment of blissful elegance to
support and enrich your chips.’ I
think not.
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR?We’re down to the third phrase,
and I expect you are nudging your
thoughts towards an in-car air-
freshener that isn’t in the shape of
a pine tree. Wrong again.
The photograph may have given
it away at the start; all that over-
sweetened blurb, every word of
it, was for a plastic cover for an
iPhone. Yes really. Knowing this,
read the whole blurb again and
try to connect.
The really annoying thing is that
they obviously based the cost of
the item on the fees charged for
the brainstorming, not the item
itself. For 200 dkk, that’s nearly
$30, you get a bit of olive green
plastic, designed in Finland so
that if you drop your phone onto
the right surface, it might not
break. Like snow.
There remained one issue. In all
the marketing and designing they
missed out one basic function -
the plastic partially covered the
re-charging socket. This meant
that you had to remove it every
time it needed refreshing with
power.
To the company’s credit they
responded to my wife’s complaint
by immediately sending her a
different, even more expensive
cover and for free. With it came
apologies clearly not written by
the team who came up with the
marketing blurb. It read, ‘We are
sorry, thank you for pointing this
out.’
Simplicity is king. ●
Hamburgefintsiv 30
ContactEditorial issues and suggestions:Richard Lightbody - [email protected]
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