Thousands of offshore workers waiting for helicopters

All offshore helicopter traffic from airports at Stavanger, Bergen and Floro in Norway is grounded for a third day due to bad weather, Stavanger’s Aftenbladed reports.

Helicopter operators have grounded most of their aircraft due to risk of thunder and lightning.

According to the newspaper, Statoil has 2000 workers waiting onshore, hoping weather will improve, so they can go to work on offshore installations. On the other hand, as many workers are stranded offshore waiting to go home.

Data from Heliport.no shows that some aircraft did take off, but with significant delays. For example a flight from the Stavanger airport scheduled to leave at 11:30 to the Maersk Innovator drilling rig in the North Sea, left the airport at 15:09 local time.

Norwegian oil giant Statoil has issued the following message through Heliport.no today: “Due to thunder and lightning, flights are delayed until further notice. Passengers are requested to meet at ordinary check-in time.”

Offshore Energy Today has contacted DaWinci, a provider of data for Heliport.no, seeking more info. DaWinci responded, saying that there were indeed many delays from Stavanger, Bergen and Floro, adding that the weather is looking better in Bergen, with blue sky emerging, which will hopefully bring the helicopter traffic back online soon.

DaWinci shared an interesting fact. Heliport.no yesterday had an all time high page loads number: 550.000. Workers both offshore and onshore must be tired of waiting, and are constantly checking the website, hoping to see some good news.

Aftenbladet further reports that Statoil’s spokesperson has promised an extra Christmas present for those stranded offshore.

Offshore Energy Today Staff