Competent transfer enhances profitability of wind turbines offshore The ESVAGT method of transferring people to wind turbines off-shore is in great demand. Both because it is safe and because it saves money and makes the consumption of time more effective.

55,000 transfers at sea since 1994 – 6,000 of these just in the first six months of 2011.

Not even modesty can hide that over the years ESVAGT has built up considerable compe-tence in having people transferred from a vessel to something else – a drilling rig, another vessel, a platform or a wind turbine for example.

Precisely the competence just mentioned is very active right now, for wind turbines off-shore is a fast growing market. Transfers to

wind turbines offshore takes up so much room in ESVAGT’s conscience that the compa-ny has made special design on the bows of the FRB’s that work in this segment.

At the moment ”Esvagt Supporter” is working in Belgium and ”Esvagt Beta” in the German sector to demonstrate ESVAGT’s competence in the wind farm sector. On this we have already received positive responses.

But it is not only safety of the transfer that is ESVAGT’s strength.

Ole Ditlev Nielsen, Chief Operations Offic-er, can point out several other elements in ESVAGT’s work that make it attractive to choose a service vessel stationed in the wind park rather than for example using land-based vessels:

Continues page 2

NO. 2. 2011. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

2

Editorial

Continued from page 1

Summertime is normally vacation time, and here things are a bit quiet. Whether it is due to the weather and the summer that never arrived, or it is due to somehing else – I will leave unanswered. The fact is that we this summer in ESVAGT have been busy.

During the summer, our vessels have been employed very well and solved several interesting jobs – and that with positive feed-back from our customers as well.

We have had vessels rebuild prepared for new, longer-term contracts and have started well on these new contracts.

Finally, we have reached a solution in Spain with the last of the two delayed new buildings. New building HNO-160 has been moved to another shipbuilding yard, where

the completion is now progressing well. At the same time all other vessels under con-struction are progressing in line with the schedule. So all in all, a summer where it has been difficult to be completely dissatisfied, despite the lack of good weather.

Offshore “wind” is a segment that many people talk about, and when it comes to how people are transferred to wind turbines located far from land, there are also many suggestions how this could be done.

ESVAGT has the solution how it can be done in an effective, quick and not least safe way. “Esvagt Supporter” is already at a five-year contract at a wind farm and is daily trans-ferring maintenance crews.

The transfers are via STB (Safe Transfer Boat) specifically designed for this purpose, which is part of the secret for solving the task. And then we have the people with the experi-ence about how such an operation should be handled as we have handled such operations for the past 25 years.

“Esvagt Beta” has also in recent months worked in the wind farm segment and demonstrated to the German sector, how this should be done. Therefore, while all transfer possibilities continue to be discussed, ESVAGT just do what we do best – we deliver. n

Søren Nørgaard Thomsen

The ESVAGT model for transfer of people to the wind farm offshore is extremely good.

Quicker better and more profitable

”Esvagt Supporter” is servicing an offshore wind farm at Bligh Bank for Vestas off the Bel-gian coast, and the method of having a ves-sel positioned in the middle of the farm has many advantages, says Master Henrik Baun-søe:

- Our position enables the transfer of peo-ple during even very short weather windows. Avoiding a considerably longer transport from the harbour to the park, which takes time and is dependant on the weather, we become more effective, says Henrik Baunsøe.

Besides the position in the middle of the farm, it is an advantage in emergency situa-tions.

Every evening we receive a plan from Vestas about what we are going to do the next day – but it can be changed quickly if a problem should occur. Another advantage of our model is that we have space for quite a lot of spare parts so that we can perform unforeseen tasks much quicker, which is essential in this trade. You have to remember that "uptime" is very important to the inves-tors. Actually it is calculated in pro thousand and if we can repair a wind turbine and get it back to work in one, two or three hours, it is a direct improvement to the bottom line, says Henrik Baunsøe.

The bow of ESVAGT’s latest generation of FRB’s has been adapted so that a safe haven is made for the technicians between the boat and the wind turbine platform.

- Our primary competence is safe transfer, and this is of course the starting point for what we are doing. But our solution has turned out to be advantageous in other areas as well. We can for example offer more uptime at the wind turbines because we are in the field already and have spare parts onboard, and nobody has to wait for the next boat or the next weather window, says Ole Ditlev Nielsen.Less sea sickness and higher effectivenessAnother plus in ESVAGT’s favour is the time on board the vessels. The ESVAGT vessels are in the field, so that the time for transport is shortened enormously, which saves on salary costs and working hours. Moreover, the ves-

sels that are used as basis for the technicians are larger, so that there is reduced tendency for seasickness among the technicians who are to be transported around. Both aspects give more effective working hours.

- Besides that we have access to the Inter-net on the vessels, which is in great demand. It offers an opportunity of adjusting the wind turbines from the vessel, and the possibility of having proper office facilities is something we have received a lot of positive responses on.

The ESVAGT wind turbine transfer was developed in close contact with Vestas, who consider the concept behind the method as a plus to the wind farm owners, says Ole Ditlev Nielsen. n

3

Talisman, the Canadian oil company that has some activities in the North Sea, has char-tered two ESVAGT vessels to service Talisman’s Norwegian department in the southern part of the Norwegian offshore sector.

New contract for ”Esvagt Don” and ”Esvagt Dee”ESVAGT has entered into an agreement with the Canadian oil company Talisman.

ESVAGT has a good grip in Norwegian companiesTalisman Norway is yet another Norwe-gian operator on ESVAGT’s customer list. ESVAGT has previously carried and is car-rying out work for Statoil, Det Norske, Total, Wintershall, Esso Norway, MLS, Dong Norway and Conoco Phillips Norway.

Facts:

Fine audit with TalismanIn connection with the mentioned con-tract Talisman Norway has audited its new Danish cooperation partner.

This was partly undertaken on board the vessels and in the offices, and Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ Manager, was pleased with the visit:

- The audit went very well and in a good spirit with an open dialogue and a satisfactory result. There were positive observations from both sides, and we got some useful inputs that we will now work on in our current improvements, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

”Esvagt Don” and ”Esvagt Dee” are going to service Talisman, but as ”Esvagt Don” is work-ing in Greenland at the moment, it will be

”Esvagt Connector” that performs the duty to begin with until ”Esvagt Don” returns from Greenland.

”Esvagt Dee” is lying in the Varg field where it performs standby and supplies first line oil spill preparedness – so ”Esvagt Dee” will be the first in the field that can mobilize oil spill equipment by using oil spill booms. ”Esvagt Dee” is furthermore equipped with fire fight-ing equipment; other tasks will be to transfer people and transport goods between the var-ious fields.

”Esvagt Don” is going to operate in the Yme field where it will work on standby.

Norway takes up a lot of our activitiesNever before has ESVAGT had a long duration contract with Talisman, and Ib Hansen, Char-tering Manager, sees the task as yet more proof that ESVAGT is a player in the Norwe-gian market that you can count on:

- I think we are reaping the benefits of having had standby operations in the Norwegian market since 2004 and have established a good reputation. We are fully accepted as operators in the Norwegian market with all the large Norwegian companies, and to us Norway is the largest single market with about 15 ESVAGT vessels in operation, says Ib Hansen.

The contracts commenced mid July and is for three years plus a two one-year option. n

NO. 2. 2011. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

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During the summer the Navy inspection ves-sel ”Vædderen” asked if ”Esvagt Capella” would like to cooperate with regard to vari-ous drills.

”Vædderen” had changed the crew and wanted the new people to get into the rythm again – and ”Esvagt Capella” would be pleased to join.

The first of three drills was an evacuation of a patient by helicopter where the “Esvagt Capella” was more observant than participat-ing.

The second drill was more interesting, says Henrik Ostermann, Master of ”Esvagt Capella”:

- Here the set-up was a fire in the bow thruster room. A person was reported missing, the vessel’s smoke diving team had run out of air in the cylinders and ”Esvagt Capella”s fire pumps were in a doubtful state. "Vædderen” sent two boats with seven people, a smoke diving team, a medic and a commander. The drill went well and with good cooperation between the two crews, he says.

”Esvagt Capella” training with the NavyFire, evacuation and man over board drills trained in cooperation between ESVAGT and the Danish Navy.

The third set-up took place on the way back to ”Vædderen” after having completed the fire extinction. Here one of the crew mem-bers from ”Vædderen” fell into the water and

”Esvagt Capella”s FRB was asked to assist.- We handled the task in the usual ESVAGT

manner, and apparantly the Navy wanted to study our way of doing it. We thank the Navy for borrowing the photos.

I think they learnt something from our rescue procedure that they could use, says Henrik Ostermann.

All in all it was a fine drilling experience where both crews learnt a lot. From “Væd-deren” we have received a wish to do the drill once again. n

The Navy team are getting ready for the drill between the Navy’s ”Vædderen” and ”Esvagt Capella”.

5

New ship building yard will deliver X-bow-vessel in October 2012After 18 months of negotiations, ESVAGT has chosen to stick to the agreement for the building of the ”HNO-160”, the sister vessel to ”Esvagt Bergen”. ESVAGT has requested – and got – a new ship building yard to complete the project.Your word is our bond, and when ESVAGT promises something then you can count on it.

This has been good company policy in the shipping company for many years, and it is going to be like this for many more years to come.

But in the case of the ”HNO-160”, as it is called until its naming ceremony, it has been more than difficult for ESVAGT to deliver what the company had promised.

When ESVAGT won the contract for deliv-ery of two vessels to Statoil in 2007, the order for building the sister vessels ”Esvagt Bergen” and the ”HNO-160” was subsequently placed with the FNM ship building yard in Vigo, Spain.

The vessels, which are of the Ulstein X-bow-design, were considerably delayed, however. ”Esvagt Bergen” has been delivered, but the ”HNO-160” that should have been delivered in the summer 2009 has been delayed so much that it was in fact possible for ESVAGT to cancel the agreement with the ship building yard in spring 2010. But ESVAGT did not do that. In stead the company has struggled over the past 18 months to have a new agreement drawn up, says Kristian Ole Jakobsen, Chief Technical Officer in ESVAGT:

- We are to deliver two vessels to Statoil and that is our primary focus. We work accord-ing to the principle that we keep our promis-es. Therefore we have invested a lot of energy to stick to the agreement with the Spaniards so that we can get our vessel, he says.

New terms Most of the other agreements that the FNM ship building yard have had, have been can-celled, according to Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

But after 18 months of renegotiation, ESVAGT has renewed its agreement:

- In order to avoid bankruptcy in the old ship building yard, which would have given us considerable problems, we have had to pay somewhat more for the agreement. On the other hand we have ensured that another ship building yard will be entrusted with the task. We require better security that we will get the vessel that the customer requires, says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

Not only the fact that ESVAGT has been forced to pay more, the regional politicians have made great efforts, and banks, the gov-ernment, trade unions and about 400 sub-suppliers have accepted the new terms. And most important of all, Statoil has accepted a new deadline.

- In this way joint efforts should result in delivery of a vessel to Statoil as agreed and in retaining as many workplaces as possible in the local area, says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

A nice feelingSince 29 June Astilleros Armón, also a Vigo-based ship building yard, has been working on the task of completing the ”HNO-160” pro-ject, and the yard is working hard to do so:

- We have a completely new feeling that something is happening now. I can see that up to 90 people are working on the construc-tion at the same time, and the people we are in dialogue with are competent, knowledgea-ble and dedicated. So far they are ahead the limits of the time schedule, says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

It says that there will be a sea trial mid-August next year. Whether it will happen at that time or not is always uncertain, and the 18 months’ delay is of no help:

- 18 months where activities have stopped in a ship building yard is bad. There is rust that has to be removed, things that have to be repaired and tidied up and a lot of technical equipment that will have to be tested. But we hope that they can cope. We have a very good feeling about it, says Kristian Ole Jakobsen. n

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It is never possible to tell how a sketch or a drawing will come to work in reality.

But in the case of ”Esvagt Bergen” that is ESVAGT’s first vessel with the X-bow-design we can breathe a sigh of relief: the vessel is a good place to work and the design functions appropriately.

Jesper Møhring Madsen, Master of ”Esvagt Bergen” cannot find any major obsta-cles that are still in need of being removed:

- The mast is up and the bottom paint is down, so it cannot be too bad, as he says.

”Esvagt Bergen” is functioning as a perfect workplace‘ESVAGT’s first X-bow-vessel works as it was expected and is a very good place to work’ are the reports from the Norwegian sector, where ”Esvagt Bergen” has been chartered.

But even if he puts on more evaluating glasses, the judgement is to the benefit of

”Esvagt Bergen”- There were a few teething problems, and

some of them have not been quite remedied yet. But basically I have to say that the vessel is functioning well. The X-bow-design works fine and for sailing it is especially good. We have had no spray coming in, not even once, and both when sailing in rough weather and when she is idle she is easy to work with. She does not bang in the sea as a flaring bow would do.

”Esvagt Bergen”

departed from Esbjerg

in the middle of March

and lies at Slejpner

Alfa and Slejpner

Bravo and the Volve

fields in the Norwe-

gian sector about 110

nm west of Stavanger.

The vessel is a very good working plat-form to be on, and that means a lot as to how the remaining functions on the vessel are, says Jesper.

Learning from experienceWe are still at an early stage of the learning process how to operate a vessel of the size of

”Esvagt Bergen”. There are still some adjust-ments of equipment, adaptations of working processes and some more appropriate methods which all take time to get incorporated.

- It works completely as we had hoped for and the system of taking the daughter craft in aft works really well. You have to learn to assess the wave direction and angling, and that can be a little tricky. But it is a good idea that one has not got to hang in a wire in a davit on the side. It takes some risks away for us, says Jesper.

Also the daughter craft has performed as it should:

- It is a splendid boat, and it is strong enough for what it is supposed to do. It has been excellent to pull out oil booms for example.

The experience we have gained now will be good learning for the next X-bow-projects, says Jester Møhring Madsen. n

7

A lot of us have been to the emergency ward over the past 15 years. Falling down, a broken arm or a split eyebrow – that sort of thing happens to a lot of us.

But it does not happen on ”Esvagt Protec-tor” or on ”Esvagt Bravo”. Here they can cele-brate 15 years without accidents, and this is now going to be celebrated together with two other vessels who can celebrate their jubilee: ”Esvagt Alpha” with 10 years and

”Esvagt Capella” with 5 years.

Four vessels share 45 years without accidents between themFour of ESVAGT’s vessels celebrate safety red-letter days.

All four vessels’ home crews will be invited to a dinner in the autumn, as well as the crews offshore will note the red-letter day as the vessels’ club will be awarded DKK 1,000 per year without accidents.

Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ Manager, is proud of the achievements of all four vessels:

- It is only through constant focus that this kind of result can be achieved, and that is a feature we can justly be proud of, he says.

- I think that it is especially noteworthy that ”Esvagt Alpha” can celebrate 10 years without

any accidents. The vessel works with crew change, and that is a very dynamic operation pattern. Things do happen in everyday life where there are numerous different tasks and not least numerous people coming through the vessel every year. Over the ten years we have had the vessel it is about 50,000 people who have been on and off the vessel – all of them without accidents. This is a very impressive achievement, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. n

Crew change vessels give a large contact surfaceA job on a crew change vessel in ESVAGT gives solid knowledge of the entire house, says Jakob Moustgaard, Master on ”Esvagt Beta”.

If you want to get to know your colleagues offshore and onshore well, then you should go with the crew change vessel.

This is what Jakob Moustgaard, master on ”Esvagt Beta” thinks. He has become familiar with large parts of the organization through several years’ work on a crew change vessel:

- On large crew changes there are 40 new faces on board going out, and 40 others on the way back. It makes for good contact with a lot of people, he says.

The crew of the crew change vessel is on duty all the times during the change, and many eyes are directed at the crew working on the crew change vessel.

- There is considerable focus on the opera-tion both offshore and onshore. It keeps peo-ple on the move and increases communica-

tion between sea and land. But to take part in it gives good inspiration and increases one’s insight into the work of the various depart-ments in the nation-wide organization, says Jakob Moustgaard.

Outward-looking workSafety is, as well known, ESVAGT's focal point and with so many people on board, there is always extra focus on that part of the work on the crew change vessel. It offers good insight into what is going on elsewhere in the fleet and onshore:

- We have safety meetings on board the crew change vessel. Thus the crew change vessel becomes a natural part of the meetings, and one has the opportunity of keeping up-to-date as far as what is going on in the fleet, says Jakob.

Another aspect that gives insight is the short distance to the office and the frequent contact with the land-based operation that occasionally gives exciting outward-looking tasks for customers:

- It can be a guided tour for potential or present customers or a major arrangement on board. Customers appreciate to hear some-thing about the shipping company and our jobs – directly from the seafarers – so this is a good occasion for telling sailor’s stories, says Jakob Moustgaard, who encourages his colleagues to go for the crew change vessels if they are looking for challenges and an effective way to get to know the shipping company. n

NO. 2. 2011. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

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The work consists of remaining sharpMaster Jakob Hemmet Christensen, spends a lot of time on keeping his crew trim in order to save lives. And then he is pleased to communicate the ESVAGT culture on to others – e.g. favours being happy at work: Many problems are solved easier if you make a positive approach to them – and it makes the work more entertaining, he says. One thing is that the title is Master in ESVAGT.

But to Jakob Hemmet Christensen, the 37-year-old skipper on ”Esvagt Caroline”, work is a lot more that setting the course and a speed when sailing or lie idle and wait when not.

- If I was to explain to someone what the ESVAGT task is all about, I would probably say that it is on standby. But it just does not explain what the job is. We may lie still, but there is more than enough to deal with, says Jakob Hemmet Christensen.

It is true that ”Esvagt Caroline” is on stand-by at ’Snore A’ in the Norwegian sector, 100 nm west of the island of Florø. But that does not prevent us from being active.

Jakob Hemmet Christensen is Master, indeed – but he is also lifeguard, commercial columnist and motivator:

- We are here to save lives first and fore-most. Therefore we have to be sharp on that task all the time. Secondarily we have to be good salesmen for the company and that is very close to remaining sharp as well. If we do our exercises, train and improve, it will of course keep us sharp – but it also contributes to establish ESVAGT as a company that is in control of quality and knows its stuff. We are supposed to make good PR for the company, he says.

Presentation of the cultureOne month at a time the day to day work onboard ”Esvagt Caroline” is carried out together with seven colleagues. So qualifica-tions in crew care are needed as well, and Jakob has just attended a conference to become even better at that part.

Blue book:Jakob Hemmet Christensen

Like in so many other cases there is a

Master at home as well. In Jacob’s case it

is Gitte, who takes care of the boys Mads

(2) and Andreas (9) and the house while

Daddy is at sea.

Jakob Hemmet Christensen is an

officer from 1998 and has been with

ESVAGT since – however, he had six

months where he tried the trade of an

electrician as an adult apprentice – but

he quickly came back to the sea.

Jakob Hemmet Christensen will soon

be changing vessel, by the way. He will

be moving from ”Esvagt Caroline” to the

sister vessel ”Esvagt Champion”.

ESVAGT is a workplace where many peo-ple with different backgrounds and edu-cation have their daily lives.

But do we all know what each of us really work with? And how we got there?

ESVAGT News gives us a possibility of saying hallo to each other. With the series of articles “My ESVAGT”, we want to portray your colleagues – and maybe you, too!

My

– and yours!

9

Jakob Hemmet Christensen has a firm grip of how to handle his leisure time as well. He is a keen cyclist and on average he travels 40 kilometres every day. When ESVAGT News interviewed him, he was on his way from Esbjerg to Ribe – in completely bad weather.

- I took part in a MSSM conference at Nyborg where we were presented to lectures on the social capital. It is important to focus on that part which is round the work. That will improve the working climate, Jakob Hemmet Christensen estimates.

Crew care means a lot as well as long as you have a job function where you cannot put two lines under the result at the end of the day as you can in so many other trades.

- We do not have a job that you get fin-ished, like transporting something from A to B. We are a kind of preparedness and have to be there constantly. The job is to maintain the professional qualification so that we can deliver the day it is required in earnest, says Jakob Hemmet Christensen.

Therefore the presentation of the ESVAGT culture is an important factor as well of Jakob Hemmet Christensen’s working tasks.

Can we put healthier food on the menu?15 ESVAGT employees wish to learn more about healthier food.There is no danger of scurvy and other diseas-es from shortage of vitamins for today’s sea-men – but this does not mean that the food on board cannot have inappropriate conse-quences for your health. If you are away two or three weeks at a time and the food on board is on the fatty side then it will show on the scales.

Therefore HSEQ has now asked among the ship assistants who are in charge of the food on the ESVAGT vessels if they might be

interested in getting some inspiration for some healthier food.

- The sausages and meatballs have won a deep-rooted place in some seamen’s hearts, and that is quite OK so far, says Steffen Rud-bech Nielsen, HSEQ Manager:

- But this does not prevent us from getting inspiration for some food that is healthier and more varied. 15 ship assistants have accepted to attend the course that has not yet got any contents apart from a wish to demonstrate

that people can indeed improve their state of health.

- The overall view is about healthier food, but we will put a course programme together from inputs from the course participants as to what they want to learn about. We have got a lot a different responses already pointing in many directions, but we will succeed in putting a course plan together and promise that it will be interesting, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. n

- We sell safety, and therefore we have to lead the way and be a good example. Besides we are part of a company with a flat structure where you can put your own stamp on the work. That aspect of the culture is very important to pass on to new people and cooperation partners. And I think that a problem gets easier to solve if you make a positive approach to it – and it makes the work more entertaining, says Jakob Hemmet Christensen. n

The number of smokers in ESVAGT to go down by 10% - preferably.

Smoking stop is supported

It is now six years ago that he himself gave up smoking, so Jesper Nielsen, HSEQ Assistant Manager, knows both the urge to smoke and the struggle to stop.

So he is the right person to take the lead of an initiative that is supposed to get 10% of ESVAGT’s smokers to quit through courses, treatment or replacement products.

That it is healthy to give up does not make it easier, unfortunately, and therefore ESVAGT would like to help the smokers to take a step on the way.

- Whether it is quit-smoking courses, acu-puncture, nicotine plasters, E-cigarettes or something quite different from this does not matter – it is only a question of getting started. We would like to support them from the beginning, and then we hope that they will be able to persist on their own. In the end it is a decision made by the individual person whether he or she wants to smoke or not, says Jesper Nielsen.

So far 22 people have stated that they would like to receive support to quit smoking,

and now find the best method suited for the purpose.

- ESVAGT’s employees live at many different places so it is also a question of what kind of quitting courses you find at Skagen or at Thorshavn. But for us it is important to send a signal that we would like people to be healthier, and therefore we would like to support them getting started with a quit, says Jesper Nielsen. n

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Engineers and unskilled seamen get hurt most often

Communication should be more prominent in the working day

Engineers and unskilled seamen are the two groups of staff that most often need the first-aid equipment. Seminar is to put focus on safety.

The course ’Take leadership’ is supposed to give communication a lift in ESVAGT

This autumn the engineer seminar will focus on taking leadership.

But one condition for taking part is of course that you are able to appear at work – and therefore the first day of the seminar will be spent on finding out why marine engi-neers are among the work groups that most often need a bandage or a plaster.

- When we look at the 24 visits to the first-aid box that we had in 2010, engineers and unskilled seamen were the most frequent users, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ Manager:

- These are not incidents that have a great potential. But on the other hand they are not incidents we know anything about until they occur. We would like to focus prior to the inju-ry taking place and this is where we need more pro-active inputs from engineers.

Simply said: engineers only come when it comes to bleeding – and that is too late, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen.

Therefore the HSEQ has decided that from September each month all vessels are to report at least one near miss or RUH report

Credit to ESVAGT’s work in Greenland”Esvagt Capella” and ”Esvagt Don” are doing well in their jobs for Cairn Energy in Greenland.Credit for all tasks completed!This is the status for ”Esvagt Capella” and ”Esvagt Don” that at present are working with standby, oil spill management and ice management for the Scottish oil com-pany Cairn Energy off the coast of Green-land.

Cairn Energy has the rig "Leiv Eriks-son" and the drill vessel "Corovaro" to drill test wells in the search for commer-cially sustainable fields, and even if this task has not yet given the expected results, the credit to ESVAGT for its part of the enterprise is considerable:

- We have been credited for all the tasks, and when there have been special activities or procedures that Cairn Energy has asked its sub-suppliers to implement, we have not been included. Our methods are accepted and estimated to be at the same level as what Cairn Energy requires, says Ulrik Schmidt, Chartering assistant Manager.

Good experienceAlthough it seems difficult to find suffi-cient amounts of what they are looking for in the Greenlandic underground, the task for ESVAGT has already been profit-able:

- We gain very important experience in working in an area such as the Green-landic environment and surely we will profit a lot from that in the future. In recent years we have operated in many different parts of the world: e.g. the Bar-ents Sea and Egypt – and every time we learn something new about the local conditions and circumstances. This is important to us if we want to prevail as global operators, says Ulrik Schmidt.

During the period from 15 August to 13 Sep-tember, ESVAGT has carried out a staff perfor-mance review analysis and Nick Vejlgaard Ørskov, HR Manager, hopes that effects from the initiatives of last year’s analysis can be seen. Last year we ended up at a fine level, but there were areas that we could have focussed more on.

- Communication was one of the areas where there was room for further improve-ments, and we planned to do something about that this year. Consequently all Masters

(report on an unwanted incident) from the engineers.

- Already now we have received reports, so looks as if the system is working, says Steffen.

Plaster or evacuationAnother group of staff that have accidents more often than ESVAGT’s other staff are the unskilled seamen as mentioned above.

- The unskilled seamen are also the inexperienced persons. This is the way it is – if we were to tell them everything before they went to sea, they would never get there anyway. But we can increase the efforts to get them to understand the safety culture somewhat better. Therefore we will conduct three safety days for the unskilled seamen in the autumn. One has to remember that an injury occurs because one is not in control of the situation. If you cut your finger, it is because you are not in control. So you yourself do not decide if your cut is minor and only needs a plaster or that it is major and you require an evacuation, says Steffen Rudbech Nielsen. n

and office staff have joined the course ‘Take leadership’ that deals with being clear and unambiguous in their communication. The course gives tools to the individual partici-pant that can be used both in private life and for working purposes and builds quite simply on taking responsibility. So we are quite excit-ed to see if it has borne fruit, says Nick.

Later in the year all engineers in ESVAGT are to attend the course. This means that a total of 150 people will then have attended the course. n

11

Intranet for vessels developed by academy studentsESVAGT has cooperated with students from the IT department at the Business Academy SouthWest on providing Intranet for the vessels. The project is in its testing phases at the moment.

During the autumn, ESVAGT will test a newly developed intranet forum enabling ESVAGT staff to get in dialogue with one another.

The idea for intranet service stems from the staff themselves, and Helle Vind Sørensen, Recruitment & Project Officer – crewing, sees a lot of good operational functions in the new system:

- Good advices, recipes, buying and selling, news from onshore experience… there is a wide range of opportunities in such a system, and it is something that we have been miss-ing. We have by now become a large compa-ny so getting to know each other and having a social forum on the intranet has been a wish from many employees, says Helle Vind Sørensen.

The system is a little like Facebook, but in a closed environment where only ESVAGT

employees can log in. Then you can ask how others usually do a special task or if any one has a good recipe for an apple charlotte. And if you wish, you can obtain more company specific information if e.g. a newsletter is to be sent from onshore to the vessels.

First cooperation with studentsStudents from the IT-faculty at Business Aca-demy SouthWest have developed the idea.

- We made an application to the Academy in the end of 2010 to hear if they had any-thing to offer. We were so fortunate that a new group of students were starting in Janu-ary, and they were very interested in taking part in the development of the idea together with us. Ole Ditlev Nielsen and myself repre-sented ESVAGT and informed the students

what direction we had in mind with the pro-ject. Since then they continued the work, and in the end we had a winner of the project. From that moment we have worked in close cooperation with this group in order to give the project a finishing touch, says Helle Vind Sørensen.

- This is the first time that we have a dia-logue with an educational institution in town about such a project, and it has been very exciting for us. We might do this again on another occasion, she says.

At first the project is to be tested on five vessels during the autumn, and later it will then be implemented in the entire fleet. n

NO. 2. 2011. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA

12

ESVAGT-NEWS PUBLISHED BY:ESVAGT A/SAdgangsvejen 1DK-6700 EsbjergTlf.: +45 33 98 77 00Fax: +45 33 98 77 05E-mail: mail@esvagt.dkWebsite: www.esvagt.dk

EDITOR:Anette Sørensen

TEXT:Sune Falther

LAYOUT: Webservice

PRINT:Tarm Bogtryk A/S

ESVAGT-NYT UDGIVES AF:ESVAGT A/SAdgangsvejen 1DK-6700 EsbjergTlf.: +45 33 98 77 00Fax: +45 33 98 77 05E-mail: mail@esvagt.dkWebsite: www.esvagt.dk

ANSVARSHAVENDE REDAKTØR:Anette Sørensen

TEKST:Sune Falther

LAYOUT: Webservice

TRYK:Tarm Bogtryk A/S

Clown benefited from fitness contestFiola, the hospital clown, was rewarded when the prize of DKK 10,000 was to be spent on a good cause by the winners of ESVAGT’s Fitness Challenge.

When seamen are to voteESVAGT sent 700 postal votes to the vessels to ensure that every one got an opportunity of voting in the general election.

Working every day off the Norwegian coast, on the Greenland Sea or on the North Sea is not going to prevent ESVAGT employees from being an active part of our democracy.

Lars Hedager, Receptionist, packed and sent the ballots to the vessels. n

36 teams were contesting as to who is the fit-test in the ESVAGT Fitness Challenge – and that was after running 19,754.75 kilometres, cycling 55,908 kilometres and rowing 1,513 kilometres during the five months the contest was running. The mixed team from HR and management won the contest.

The victory brought in DKK 10,000, and the team did not hesitate to donate the prize to a good cause – the Clown Association that pays for hospital clowns all over the country.

The winning team had among its participants Steffen Rudbech Nielsen, HSEQ-Manager, Jesper Nielsen, HSEQ-Assis-tant, Ib Hansen, Commercial Manager, Thomas Fauerby, Chartering Assistant, Ulrik Fahnøe Schmidt, Chartering Assistant, Søren Thomsen, Managing Director and Nick Vejlgaard Ørskov, HR Manager. n

The winners of the ESVAGT Fitness Challenge donated the prize of DKK 10,000 to the Danish hospital clowns. Fiola, the hospital clown from the pediatric ward of Sydvestjysk Sygehus at Esbjerg, received the cheque together with Amanda (7) who broke her arm the first day into her summer holidays and who could indeed need a comforting hug by the red-nosed Fiola.

Model is aground”Esvagt Preventer” is aground – but fortu-nately it is only the small copy of the ESVAGT vessel that it happened to.The building of ”Esvagt Preventer” that Harley Poulsen, the modeller, launched last year and that ESVAGT-News has fol-lowed, is put on hold.

- As it looks today the project has thoroughly run aground, says Harley Poulsen:

- I have several war ships in my order book, and next winter I will be occupied by two large projects in Navy depart-ment with "HMS Dreadnought" and "HMS Renown" in a 1:96 scale, and ”Esvagt Preventer” will have to wait till these projects have been completed.

Harley Poulsen emphasises that the project is neither dead nor abandoned:

- She has not been scrapped only shelved. She will be built for sure, but I don’t know when, says Harley Poulsen.

On http://www.wix.com/warshipmo-delsdk/warshipmodelsdk you can follow Harley’s construction of warships.

ESVAGT-NEWS PUBLISHED BY:ESVAGT A/SAdgangsvejen 1DK-6700 EsbjergTlf.: +45 33 98 77 00Fax: +45 33 98 77 05E-mail: mail@esvagt.dkWebsite: www.esvagt.dk

EDITOR:Anette Sørensen

TEXT:Sune Falther

LAYOUT: Webservice

PRINT:Tarm Bogtryk A/S

Receptionist Lars Hedager packed 700 postal votes to the employees on ESVAGTvessels.

NO. 2. 2011. SAFETY & SUPPORT AT SEA