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Mr. Charlie initiated the modern oil and gas industry 60 years ago by drilling in shallow water.
Today, the first-ever offshore drilling rig celebrates its 16th anniversary as a workplace operations and safety training facility. Giants such as Oceaneering International fill its corridors with new employees – from Houma, to Newfoundland, Canada.
Eric LeBouef of Houma said training at Mr. Charlie “allows you to be at one with the oil and gas industry.”
Working and studying through three and a half weeks of classes, LeBouef is planning to work for Oceaneering International as a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Technician.
“Training with other folks creates a spirit of teamwork, which is vital in this business,” he said.
Joining LeBouef in his classes are five Newfoundland Canadians – Eric Noftall, Chris Finn, Paul Housh, Megan McCarthy and Krista Walsh, all of whom are finishing internship requirements from the Memorial University of Newfoundland Fisheries and Marine Institute.
Noftall said the two-year program in Canada is actually part of an ROV Pilot training program offered by Oceaneering’s Canadian office.
“Some of the training we’re doing here is great refresher courses of what we initially experienced in Canada.”
Finn, who hails from LaBrador, said his instructors are “perspicacious – they have so much insight, so much of an understanding of what this industry is. ROV careers – robotic – that’s the fun part of this work.”
Housh, 21, the youngest member of the Canadian group, agreed.
“Our instructors, this staff, have such a vast knowledge, so it’s a lot of information, but that’s what makes this such a great program,” he said. “On the other hand, being down here in Louisiana, in this heat, and being away from my family, well I don’t know about that.”
McCarthy said everyone at Oceaneering “opened their doors to and for us since day one.”
“And the Mr. Charlie staff has been very nice in preparing our food. We’re getting special treatment because we don’t eat like the fellas you know,” she joked. “But while the food here is kind of spicy –I’m used to our bland food back home, I am loving this heat.
“It gets so cold at home.”
Walsh said being on Mr. Charlie is great “because all the guys think you can’t do anything. They try to take charge first. Then, when we finish the exercise, we leave them scratching their heads and curious as to how we were able to do it.
“I like the challenge of it – I’m very interested in technology.”
Walsh graduated high school 10 years ago. “I’m not afraid of being so far away from home,” she said.
Carl Gaudet, is the Oceaneering instructor on Mr. Charlie. Oceaneering employees undergo about four weeks of training, which includes work at the company’s America’s headquarters on Railroad Avenue in Morgan City.
Topics include ROV piloting, hydraulics, electronics, electrical, underwater navigation and ROV launch and recovery, all of which are simulated exercises included in the curriculum.
“These guys and gals are a great bunch, they have such a general concern for what is going on,” Gaudet said.
Much like Louisiana, Canada weather is an added hurdle tackled in training.
“We have hurricanes, but they have icebergs. They have to learn how to disconnect rigs when icebergs pass their way,” the instructor said. “It’s quite different for them, than what it is for us. Their seas are much rougher.”
Virgil Allen, president of the International Rig Museum, the group that owns and operates Mr. Charlie, said the floating rig was the first rig to be transportable, submersible and self-sufficient – allowing it to drill more than 200 oil and gas wells. It was a working Gulf Coast rig between 1954 and 1986.
“When in operation, Mr. Charlie had pontoons that were flooded to rest the rig on the sea floor at each site, which enabled safe drilling in water 14- to 40 feet deep,” Allen said.
Mr. Charlie has a complete drilling platform with a 500-ton hoist, an 1,800-horsepower mud system, blowout prevention devices, and power, water, food, waste and safety systems to accommodate up to 58 people, all supported by an innovative welded structure designed to withstand hurricane winds and waves.
The rig was designed by Alden Doc LaBorde, and built by Alexander Shipyard in New Orleans.
Allen said LaBorde was president of the Ocean Drilling & Exploration Company.
In the mid 1950s, Charles Murphy Jr. of the Murphy Oil Company in New Orleans was looking for an innovative technology that would let his small company compete with the big companies drilling offshore.
LaBorde’s design for Mr. Charlie was suitable and Murphy committed $500,000 to the deal, then began seeking additional investors.
ODECO signed the construction contract with Alexander Shipyard. The name selected for the new submersible drilling unit was Mr. Charlie – the commonly used name used for Charles Murphy’s father.
As the rig neared completion, ODECO needed a company willing to put Mr. Charlie to work. LaBorde was relieved when Shell Oil signed a contract to hire the rig to drill a series of small wells at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Allen said his group found Mr. Charlie in Amelia, after Hurricane Andrew had hit St. Mary’s coast.
He said Diamond Offshore Drilling has been training employees on Mr. Charlie since 1997.
“When the moratorium hit in 2008, however, things slowed a bit as folks started moving rigs up to Brazil and everywhere else in the world. We struggled to stay open, but we made it,” Allen said.
Oceaneering started training last year, and Diamond returned in May.
“We offer their crews a good idea of how they’re going to live while working offshore – for some it will be better, and others, it will be worse.”
Allen said everyone in the oil industry – roustabouts to ROV techs, to electricians, mechanics and medics – can train on the rig.
“Our message here is how to work safe. Everything you do offshore, you will do here first,” he said. “Our goal is this – when your employees – our students – leave here, they will be able to stop an unsafe act, if they see one happening.”
Allen said while on board Mr. Charlie, crews experience 12-hour days, starting at 6 a.m. and ending at 7 p.m.
“Our bedrooms are not dorm rooms but state rooms. They’re 8 feet wide by 14 feet long or 12 feet wide by 9 feet long. Community showers are a part of their way of life, however some of the newer rigs have more privacy.”
The rig has 20 state rooms that bunk instructors and students.
“And it’s lights out by 10:30 pm – and we mean it,” Allen said.
While Oceaneering allows its crews to utilize the corporate facilities, Diamond Offshore locks its crews on board, offering a week-on, week-off training program.
All students train in helicopter egress exercises, at a marine facility in Lafayette. Four people are first buckled into a real cockpit, completely submerged in water and must escape through the helicopter’s windows. The windows, he said, must be knocked out by the passengers.
LeBouef said he was submerged six times – two right-side up, four upside down.
“It’s a real helicopter cockpit, connected to a crane, with two doors on and two doors off. The crane releases the helicopter and the entire thing is dropped into the water.
“I was OK for the first two dunks, but after we rolled over and were upside down, it got difficult. I mean when they flip you upside down, then you also have to deal with thrashing moments, some of which are quite violent. You get completely disoriented, and there is no way to stop water rushing up your nose, even your ears start taking water in and you’ve got to get out of your seat in eight to 10 seconds.”
Walsh said egress exercises were fun, because she enjoys the water and water sports. “But I know a real-life situation will be quite different.”
Tours of Mr. Charlie are offered between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. and at 2 p.m. if weather permits. Tours are $6 for adults, $5, seniors and $4, students.
Call Allen at (985) 384-3744 or visit www.rigmuseum.com.
Newfoundland Canadians and newly hired Oceaneering International employees take a break from studying at Mr. Charlie. Pictured from left are Megan McCarthy, Krista Walsh, Eric Noftall, Chris Finn and Paul Housh. They are all graduates of the ROV program initiated by Oceaneering in Canada, at the Memorial University of Newfoundland Fisheries and Marine Institute.
