Just a few thoughts a few yards off Ninian Central Platform, North Sea

So, here we are again. Just a few yards off one of the giants of the North Sea, the Ninian Central Platform. Not that looks as huge as it used to be these days, because there's a few even bigger ones around now.
At the time it was constructed though, in 1978 in Loch Kishorn, Scotland, it was the biggest moveable thing ever produced by man. Around 600.000 tonne of steel and concrete was tied together before the final product was towed out to the Ninian field quite a bit north on the UK sector. Up there just east of the northernmost tip of Shetland, according to this map. As soon as it was positioned and grounded at it's resting place it obviously lost it's record... as it was no longer moveable to anyone, unless you pick it to pieces of course. Looks like they have to at least start think about just that...
But OK, to be fair I have seen a lot of stuff mounted out here that looks a bit worse than this one. Just saying. We were at a rig a couple of days ago, or maybe it was yesterday. It really looked like something you would never like to spend too much time on board, to be honest.
You might even get lucky enough to see snaps some day, but being developed by me you know the film could end up in any way. As in we might see nothing at all, on a bad day. I will try, though. My very best, as it happens.

"Us and them" The Subsea Viking and the "Clair" platform out at sea, somewhere.

I was just out snapping a couple of snaps into the pinch black night, as well. With the 50mm Summicron I mentioned a few days ago. Attached it to the M6 and all, since the M3 thing ran out of film a bit earlier today after joining me for a short trip outside where I pointed the thing towards the fog as the Ninian platform slowly became more visible. They might be just a waste of film again, but you never know. Do you?
Well, snapped it up in the pinch black night I did, but maybe it was worth the hassle. You see, it has a quite impressive gas flame going, the Ninian platform. They need to burn off the stuff in a controlled manner, you see, just to keep things on the safe side.

The "Clair" platform again. They seem to kind of hanging in free air, up there. I guess we're better off with our feet planted onto a solid ship deck! :)

Last rumors indicating we are going westwards quite soon, to a more familiar place for us, which would be west of Shetland where the ship has stayed more or less stuck for the last 14 years or so. If there were prizes put up for people working in bad areas in the world my guess is that the guys working in the oil industry over there would take it home, easily. It's a bad, bad place. All the low pressures on the northern hemisphere seems to either be invented in that area, or if they by some odd chance came from further west they certainly hit the place pretty spot on, each and every time. It's one of them places that really takes it's toll, both on infrastructure, equipment and the people working out there. A rough place in the North Atlantic Ocean it is, at them oilfields we're trying to maintain as well as we possibly can.

Some rig. I don't have a clue which one. Something placed on the UK sector, at least.