Gulf War Hysteria sends Shock Waves among Marine Workers in the Gulf Offshore --250km North of Doha -September 11, 2002.Click picture for detailed view Doha offshore -September 11, 2002 Military build up in the Arabian sea pose a major security threat to the oil and gas installations, especially the offshore platforms. Horrific memories of the flare up of Iraqi and Kuwait oil wells during the last Iraq war following Saddam Hussain's invasion of Kuwait are still fresh in the mind of many Malayalis working in offshore platforms and the mainland. Keralamonitor.com representative spoke to a few Malayalis working on board an offshore oil and gas rig located 250 km north away from the Doha seashore. There were 72 persons on board the rig from different companies. Most of the rig crew members are Indians. The workers offshore say working in an offshore platform is like living in a VIP jail.
Sometimes temperature level can go up to 50 degree Celsius and if one adds the heat generated in the platform workers are exposed to 65 degree centigrade. Pictured here is a group of Indian and European oil sector employees. One of them is a Malayali . They are working 56 days offshore and get 28 days off. When the rest of Gulf Malayalis and Keralites were celebrating Onam, they got only one sambar for the Onasadya, says one of them. Thanks to the revolution in telecommunication technology, they are connected to the outside world through latest phones and the Internet.They get ready made food from the shore through a catering company which gives them vegetarian and non-vegetarian frozen food boxes from mainland Qatar.
Military build up in the Arabian sea pose a major security threat to the oil and gas installations, especially the offshore platforms. Horrific memories of the flare up of Iraqi and Kuwait oil wells during the last Iraq war following Saddam Hussain's invasion of Kuwait are still fresh in the mind of many Malayalis working in offshore platforms and the mainland. The US Navy warning to oil tankers that Al Qaeda has planned a series of attacks on oil tankers transiting the Gulf and Horn of Africa caused a fear psychosis among the marine community in the Gulf. In an advisory to shippers, the US Navy's Maritime Liaison Office in Bahrain said there was a serious threat to oil installations in the region.
Keralamonitor.com representative spoke to a few Malayalis working on board an offshore oil and gas rig located 250 km north away from the Doha seashore. There were 72 persons on board the rig from different companies. Most of the rig crew members are Indians. The workers offshore say working in an offshore platform is like living in a VIP jail. The payment is good, but the work in an offshore platform is tough for those who are exposed to the heat out side. The platform made of steel will be burning in hot sun. If the outside temp is 50 degree Celsius, the sheet temp will be somewhere 65 degree Celsius. But in many Gulf countries, the metrology department never give the exact temperature figures. The rig is connected to the outside world through UPSAT link.
An Indian worker photographed from an offshore oil rig situated 25 km north off the Doha seashore. Large number of Indians work in the multi billion oil and gas business of various Gulf countries. Cut off from the civilised world for more than six months period, these human beings are earning hard currency for the country. Recent reports about US plans to invade Iraq for flimsy reasons has sent shockwaves across the oil and gas sector, especially among the workers who are employed in offshore rigs, oil platforms and tankers located in the middle of the Arabian sea. Thanks to the war hysteria generated by the US administration and the recent alerts which indicated a possible terrorist attack on Oil Tankers in the Middle Eastern waters, many workers in the offshore rigs are quite concerned about the possible implications for their safety.
Pictured here is one Indian from Mumbai working as a Roustabout --working as a general helper 12 hours a day! The others are working in rig floor. From the offshore rig, the company is giving free phone call of 5 minutes in 15 days. Other calls can be made with their own money. There is also a Qatar Telecommunication microwave link to the nearest oil platform Platform.
The white collar worker on board are relatively well paid than the labourers. The unskilled workers in the offshore rigs are getting $21/day. If they appoint any local Arab employees, they have to be given all facilities and much higher salary. This economic factor is the main reason for preferring Indians, Philippinos, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis for such semi-skilled jobs by service contract firms. The offshore job is quite challenging and the company norm is to work 12 hours a day. According to one workers, this work schedule is common for offshore oil platforms in any part of the world.
"During those terrific times of Iraq war, life on board the rigs was very miserable," recollects one of them. "Some of my friends told me all stories of the war time crisis," says one. Indian workers are living away from their family for sometime. The bitter part of life is that they are far away from the mainland, totally dependent on logistic support through helicopters and speed boats. They live fara way from their family and relatives.
Doha City and the sea shore. During the previous Iraq -Kuwait war and the US military build up in the Arabian Gulf, many of the countries experienced severe bottlenecks in food supply. Most of the food and beverages including mineral water in some countries are imported from India, Europe and other Arab countries. During the war time, traders (including Keralites) created artificial food shortage and charged double or three times the price of the original goods. All food items, rice, vegetables, meat, frozen food and beverages are imported from the outside world. Since agriculture is not well developed in any of the six Gulf countries, a war can cause food prices to sky rocket, creating panic among the local and expatriate population. If this was the situation for Indians living on the mainland, imagine the situation that faced people offshore in such oil rigs. "There were several dangerous situations that they faced offshore and sometimes red alerts came for emergency evacuation from the rig even at midnights," recalls the workers (keralamonitor.com)
