Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

My afternoon induction has been postponed unto next week and thus I am a man without employment for now. Hence I am able to let you know a bit more about the job.

John Holland are a tiny cog in the GLNG project and the jetty part is only a small part of their total works. Shortly they will have in the region of 7 projects on the go, all on the different sites here. To give you a rough idea of cost, the jetty contract is worth $100M and the overall GLNG is worth $5 billion (ish). So a meagre 2% of the project value! There are several main subcontractors working concurrently on the GLNG dealing with different aspects and JHG are focused primarily on the marine engineering.

The 2 existing JHG sites are fisherman’s landing (rich’s old hunting ground) and the MOF (marine off load facility). The MOF is running late due to QA issues from what I gather but I don’t want to pry too much! It matters not anyhow as the staff are all set to transfer to the jetty once the MOF is finished and seeing as the jetty is delayed starting due to the real estate not being available as yet it’s not a big concern. That said the  PM is keen to get the jetty moving forward ASAP so JHG may mobilise more manpower in due course to run concurrently.

My initial involvement will be in the temporary works for the traveller system being used to construct the trestle element of the jetty. Also I will be involved in the site set up of offices, welfare, etc. this will challenge my logistical skills as well as allow me to dabble in the commercial world by setting up some contracts with subbies. The biggest Challenge is overcoming the material transport issues as the site is on an island! There is a huge investment into temporary infra to support this (fisherman’s landing) and there are roro, lolo, and passenger facilities to accommodate the 100 plus daily return passages from the Mainland. Once on the island though there is still a 7km drive to the jetty site using haul roads (being constructed by others).

The PM and I have had a decent chat and he’s a chartered member of the ICE so is happy to do the mentoring piece and sign off DOs as required. He understands the army officer shortfalls and will push us to gain commercial experience where possible. He has also offered to assist where possible in getting me to CPD opportunities where possible.

Finally, pictures. Due to the sensitive nature of the LNG mechanical infra, Bechtel and the client have a blanket ban on photography. The HR team are going to submit a request for me to gain a photography permit but it may take some time. This shouldn’t be an issue as the jetty won’t be starting for a while and JHG are happy for me to use their images, drawings, etc. I’ll keep you posted.

Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll have been issued with my company laptop and with a bit of luck, an accompanying mobile broadband dongle! They are looking after me very well and are happy for us to have a hire car instead of the usual ute due to the growing family. I’m also getting a fuel card (to enjoy our time here) and a phone at some point soon. It’s all finally coming together!

I’ve been promised some work to get stuck into tomorrow so I’ll be looking forward to that and more so than the ride home tonight in the rain on the red rocket. Location report will be sorted tonight hopefully and definitely by tomorrow.

Until then, have a good day and I’ll keep you posted on my experience.

Roy

Afterthought – One thing that has been playing on my mind is the town of Gladstone. At the moment there is an influx of 10000 workers here (plus families in some cases) and there is a mass growth in the town and many new housing estates being built. Come 2015/16 when all this work is meant to have finished and just a small Operating/ maintenance team remain, what will happen to the towns economy? I posed his question at the Bechtel orientation/induction this morning and it hasn’t been thought about nor did there seem to be any corporate interest in it. Surely this is an environmental impact that needs to be considered? Is there value in this as a TMR?