Memoirs of a GDC intern

The next part we looked at was the substructure and as Mr. Nyaga explained to me, I can just describe it as a rugged system of beams….in this case, the whole of the green part that supports the mast, the rig floor and provides a platform for installation of the other mechanical and electrical systems that are on the floor. It must be high enough just to accommodate the BOP stack below it. And while he was explaining this, somebody came and tricked me at first that he was looking for a key to open the V-door and they had to explain to me that the V-door is not really a door….that sounds funny, its just a controlled access route used by crew members to hoist pipe and equipment from the catwalk up the pipe ramp to the rig floor by pulling using the air hoist…which I really liked to operate. I remember while at Rig 4, I was nearly overpowered by a drill pipe while it was being raised and I had to trap it with a piece of rope but thanks to the unity of fellow crew members at GDC, the helped me to do it safely.

The exact type of substructure is a DZ450 that puts the drilling floor at about 10.5 m.