Bill's Excellent Adventure out to the ABOT

Yesterday, I went on a real adventure.

I was in Basra (in the south of Iraq) visiting my officers who work down here.

One of the contracts that we administer is for the repairs of the Al Basra Offshore Terminal, or “ABOT”. This is an oil platform about 14 miles off the shore in the Persian Gulf. This is where huge oil tankers come to in order to get filled with oil. Iraq exports 95% of its oil through the ABOT.

Yesterday, I was able to visit the ABOT and get a tour.

The day started with us climbing on board a British Sea Stallion helicopter which took us out over the Gulf and landed on board of the USS Dubuque. A US Navy ship that is capable of amphibious landing for Marines and has a huge landing area for the helicopter.

When we got on board, we were meet by the ship’s Captain and a Navy Commodore, who is responsible for all Navy operations in the immediate area. These men welcomed us on board by treating us to lunch in the Captain’s private dining room. It was like being at a fancy restaurant. China plates, real silverware, and stewards who asked if we wanted the “chicken or the salmon”. Quite a treat after 10 months in the dining facilities in the IZ.

From there, we descended down a gangblank and on to a 36 foot boat for a 20 minute ride out to the ABOT.

The ABOT is essentially several platforms that are connected by gang blanks and the tanker ships dock to the ABOT in order to get filled with oil. The oil is delivered by 48 under sea inch pipes that come from the oil fields. These pipes are then connected to the ships and pump oil to them at a rate of 6,000 barrels of oil an hour! Even at that rate, it takes the tanks over a day and a half to get filled because these tanker ships hold over 2 millions gallons of oil!

You can get a sense of how much oil I'm talking about when you look at the pictures below of the two tankers. The two ships are the same size, but one is very high in the water because it is empty, while the other is very low in the water because it is full of oil.

I was told that from end to end the ABOT is just about a mile long. And we walked on every inch of it. Walking around felt like walking on a sky scrapper and I got a vertigo if I happened to look down and realize that the only thing between me and the open water was a metal grate. Of course the workers on the ABOT are walking around like they are in the middle of their living rooms. And I actually saw a group of people jogging the length of the ABOT for exercise. I was too busy making sure I had 3 points of contact at all times.

The US Navy maintains a security team on the ABOT and of course these sailors set up the “Black Sheep” bar for their leisure time. The bar serves strictly non alcoholic beers but it does offer a great view of the water.

It was great to see the ocean again. It has been over a year since I’ve been to the beach so it was a nice way to get my batteries recharged.

All is well.