Following Stena Drilling’s success using the On The Rig (OTR) OTR simulator for reactivation of its semi-submersible, the Stena Don, the company has rolled out the approach across its drillships.
Stuart Greener, Operations Manager at Stena Drilling explains: “We’ve used the Drilling Systems’ OTR simulator as part of the reactivation on a number of Drillships including the Drillmax, Forth and Icemax and are currently getting ready to install the OTR system on Spey and Carron.
“We’ve taken this approach following an extremely successful pilot project with the Stella Don. The Stena Don had been in a warm stack situation from November 2016 with reduced crews. After securing a major contract, we needed to reactivate the rig in March 2018 and had new personnel joining some of the existing Stena Don crew. Quality, safety and performance are our top priority so we want to ensure all of our personnel are fully competent and able to cope with any eventuality.
“Together with Drilling Systems we developed a three phased approach to preparing our drilling and lifting teams. We used Drilling Systems’ mobile OTR simulator, which can be located on the rig itself and realistically mirrors drilling and well control operations, alongside individual coaching sessions. This meant the crew could familiarize themselves with well control situations / procedures, as well as operational running of equipment in a controlled, safe environment. We were also able to test a wider range of high-risk operational scenarios which could never be replicated on the job. Because the functions and graphics are very representational of the actual Cyberbase system, crew members gain experience and confidence and are better prepared for the real thing.
“As the OTR system can also be operated without an instructor, we’ve kept it in-situ to enable continuous training and development for the crew. The Stena Don project helped us test and verify our crews’ skill levels in a safe, fast and highly effective way and by rolling out the approach to our other Drillships we can give our clients assurance that we are operating at the highest levels of safety and competency.”