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It’s Wet Up North (and cold, and freezing and life threatening!)

You’ll remember quite some months ago I had a few days on a BOSIET course where I was thrown into a range of real life situations, each one involving water. That course was to prepare me for a spot of photography on the high seas, an event that took place in December, and probably the reason I’ve taken so long to recover!
In all seriousness, this was an incredible opportunity to show my client’s product being used in extreme locations by real everyday people. I say everyday but there’s nothing mediocre about the people that work out there on the North Sea, they all have balls of steel and all carry out precision work in the harshest of environments.

From Amsterdam with Camera in Hand

Waiting for the helicopter flight out to the North Sea and the pared down kit!

To join them we first had to fly to Amsterdam, no time to stop and relax as we were then off to a heliport at Den Helder. The helicopter took us directly to the deep-water pipe laying ship in the North Sea, plonked us down and left us to it. With a team of great guys around me I felt completely secure but a little in the way even with my camera kit pared down to fit in the helicopter!

Helicopter on the ships helipad in the North Sea – our only means of transport on & off!

View from the helicopter over the North Sea enroute to the pipe-laying vessel

It was pretty amazing seeing life from the other side, watching what these people have to do every single day. The ship has to be kept at the exact same point regardless of the tides and the waves, to put it in perspective it’s a bit like trying to thread a needle while riding a quad bike over tough terrain.

The pipes being fed into the sea off the back of the pipe-laying ship.

Precision Work in Rough Conditions

Just one slip up can cause major issues as if there’s a problem with the pipes disaster happens. It’s a huge responsibility and one not to be taken lightly, I felt quite humbled that I was allowed on board. The weather was dire but I was told the conditions were actually a lot better than of late as it’s bad weather that delays and disrupts the schedules. The waves were crashing the rain was falling and I thanked my lucky stars that this was the worst I would see it at. Others are not so lucky.

Muster stations on the deep water pipe-laying vessel.

I think I’ve managed to capture some of the personalities behind the characters with the portrait shots I took. You can see for yourself when they are released, in the meantime here are a few ‘behind-the-scenes’ shots with the Iphone 5 & Nokia Lumia 1020.

Panoramic view of the ships helipad.

And a quick video of the heli flight out to the pipe-laying ship out in the North Sea – enjoy the view, without the nausea!

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