Bar Protector to lay up. All crew to be made redundant.

[Pugwash]

It is nice to see that DSV Bar Protector has been congratulated on this site as well as many other places on the web for its successful efforts to achieve 1000 days without an LTI. But the bad news is that this didn’t impress their parent company Saipem, enough to recognise that they have a rare asset in the vessel’s crew. No sooner had they completed their last project and returned to their home port of Schiedam, Rotterdam than they were receiving news from their London Office that they had no work for 2010 and very little in 2011 and all their jobs "were at risk".
Talks held between Saipem UK Ltd HR department and seafarers unions have done nothing to remove any uncertainty and it is understood that the Italian management are insisting on making the total crew redundant from around the second week of February 2010.
The recent upbeat predictions in the oil and gas industry seem to be having little impact on Saipem management and reports that it will cost far more to lay the vessel up compared to keeping the crew onboard is having no effect on their focus either.
It is hardly surprising therefore that Saipem’s head down unswerving manner in all this is leading some commentators to surmise that the "real" reason for the redundancies is more likely to be a desire to get rid of the largely British contracted crew and replace them with a cheap multinational alternative. If this is the case, it will be interesting to see if the vessel can repeat the success of 1000 days without an LTI, not to mention continuing with the generally accepted excellence it has displayed in all the projects it has carried out for many years.

[robin]

You are lucky because your AIS said that you are in Italy.
SAIPEM is an Italian State Company that does not like union and bad contents in the newspaper.

Contact the local newspaper using the local union representative….

Redundants? Why? SAIPEM is building new ships in Korea, China and Italy

Be stronger than SAIPEM !

[Pugwash]

Contact the local newspaper using the local union representative….

I’m afraid it has gone beyond the Italian unions now. The bad news continues as the Saipem/Sonsub office in Aberdeen is decimated by the fallof the redundancy axe. Anyone drinking in the Aberdeen pubs can’t have failed to hear the comments from offshore punters about all this! What is happening???
Analysts are saying that confidence in the sector is about to return and should move forward by the later part of this year. Whilst other companies are already starting to push things ready and waiting for the upturn, Saipem is taking a dive!
One thing though, the famous Bar Protector website has appeared again. Check it out at http://www.barprotector.com

[James McLauchlan]

One thing though, the famous Bar Protector website has appeared again. Check it out at http://www.barprotector.com

What’s that all about then? How is it the site has appeared after all this time?

Just a couple of simple questions 😉

[Rons_ROV_Links]

The last meeting regarding the redundancies has now taken place in Saipem House at Motspur Park. The reality of the situation is that ALL of the guys that make up the crew of Bar Protector are now going to be made redundant.

At the meeting, Saipem was represented by Ms Margaret Hartegan and Mrs Heather Stewart from HR. No one has appeared from the Italian management so far, however the show must go on and representing seafarers at the meeting were Mr Ian Cloake (Nautilus) Mr Peter Skelly (RMT) and the well know Wireless Operator and Nautilus Liaison Officer for Bar Protector was there too!

It’s all over bar the shouting!

[quaich]

The bad news continues as the Saipem/Sonsub office in Aberdeen is decimated by the fallof the redundancy axe. Anyone drinking in the Aberdeen pubs can’t have failed to hear the comments from offshore punters about all this!

Care to expand on this ?
I don’t get out much

[Savante]

sonsub aberdeen are actively reruiting at the moment

[RovMac]

Savante wrote:

sonsub aberdeen are actively reruiting at the moment

Not too sure if the above is true, but they do seem to have alot of work in the pipleline for the upcoming year. Unfortunaltely none of it is for the Bar Protector. They have a new DSV coming online next year, which is maybe why the Bar P is being side lined in 2010.

Unfortunate for the guys onboard who have been there from year dot, hopefully saipem will take it into account when the new projects kick off 😕

[rovnumpty]

Not a hope in hell.

They aren’t spanish riggers.

[Nigel]

Even the Spanish lads were not immune from the executioner’s axe. Some of them had been with the company since the days of Brown & Root, yet they had their contracts terminated with just 60 days pay in lieu of notice.

[Benito Mussolini]

What a bloody mess.
Nobody knows what is happening in the office of Saipem. It is all connected with very bad management. It is bad for Italy when we have these people in the office that are useless. They go on a big barge and then come into the office and shout at everybody because they think they are really superior to everyone else. Then they make a big decision that is a mistake and they don’t want to change there minds because they will look really stupid. But the big problem is that it is peoples jobs that are lost. Saipem will start to lose the good name soon. These stupid managers need to be sacked!

[Savante]

apologies macrov, my minsunderstanding-took the axe falling in aberdeen as meaning across the board. They are however recruiting at the moment – but not marine crew;

http://www.oilcareers.com/content/jobsearch/job_search.asp?topCat1=14&subCat1=289&Country=Any&JobType=&orderby=JobAd.DateExtended+DESC&SearchType=&SearchTerms=&advancedSearch=0&submit=Search

[rovnumpty]

Savante

That’s for a single position. Just seems to be advertised by every recruitment company.

I guess all applicants must be willing to relocate to London at some point in the future.

[Pugwash]

apologies macrov, my minsunderstanding-took the axe falling in aberdeen as meaning across the board

Hi Savante, when I mentioned the axe falling I was referring to the Sonsub/Saipem office in Aberdeen not a general coverage of the industry in Abz.
I am very surprised and encouraged to see how many hits this thread has attracted. Most people who have been associated with the business for any length of time or have indeed been involved on the management side of offshore projects will know what a loss it will be not to have Bar Protector as a choice of vessel anymore. She was a good ship made special by the crew on board who found a way to deal with just about everything thrown at them. Now a little bird tells me that Saipem’s plans for the BP involve looking east and employing a different crew. Read into that what you will, but I think someone at the top has made a bit of a gaff here that will be very conspicuous in a few months time.

[liddelljohn]

Very short sighted of Saipem managment , and its bound to come back and haunt them…sadly its all too common ,maybe the ship is old and a replacement is coming soon but the experienced crew would do even better on the new vessel. Instead a cheapy ,inexperienced crew of half trained ,generally incompetant people will probably be handed the keys to the new ship and then the old hands will be brought in as trouble shooters when it all goes tits up .

[Author]

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