This is the reason I have been absent from the blog for the past week. I was fortunate enough to have a chance to go to the Yetagun off-shore gas rig, located at the Andaman Sea.

Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
the driver of modern economy

We took an early flight on board a Twin Otter propeller airplane from Yangon airport to Kanbauk, a small village at Southern Myanmar. From the small airstrip in the middle of nowhere, we transferred to a chopper and flew a further 1 hour plus to the platform. Both the flights weren’t atmospherically sealed, and they were loud, we needed to wear ear muffs the entire duration. No in-flight entertainment, no stewardess, and no talking even. On the chopper, the twelve of us were required to wear life vests too.

Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
our flights

The gas rig is a maze to newcomers. Stairs everywhere, and every structures look pretty much the same. We spent most of our time in the living quarters. This main area houses the shared bedrooms (4 person), a dining and recreation room with huge 50″ plasma TV and pool table, as well as offices and a clinic. If you are a smoker, there’s a smoking room housed outside the living quarters, you’ll need to walk outside and brace the weather a bit.

Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
a guy heading to the smoking room

Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
two rig workers having a discussion

The rooms are pretty small, and reminded me of college dorms, except you have 4 adults sharing the facility. However, the beds do come with privacy curtains and a personal light, so it wasn’t so bad after all.

Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
the 4-men bedroom at the off-shore rig

Workers here run a 12-hour shift from 6am to 6pm daily. If you do the calculation, that comes to an 84 hour work week compared to our 40-45, I don’t think it’s a luxury for these guys to have 2/4 weeks on 2/4 weeks off arrangement. After all, there is no such thing as public holidays around here, everything is 24/7.

Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
the dining hall and recreational area

Breakfast is served at 5:30am, and there are food served almost every 2-3 hours. The chefs actually cooked up pretty decent meals, and there are fruit juice, sodas, as well as coffee and tea for the taking. Nothing costs a single cent.

Heli-deck at Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
snapping pictures on the heli-deck

On the last day at the platform, we requested a permit (everything needs a permit) to take pictures outside the living quarters. A gas detector accompanied our mission, and no flash photography allowed.

Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
the stairway leading to the heli-deck

We took the next chopper back to Kanbauk after our tasks were completed. The two nights at Yategun platform were certainly an interesting experience that I actually don’t mind repeating. The guys were friendly and always made us feel welcomed. On the second day we actually visited the FSO (Floating Storage Offloading) facility, but that’ll be another post.

Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
tranquility

KY travels – Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar
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19 thoughts on “KY travels – Yetagun Off-Shore Gas Platform, Myanmar

  • June 5, 2007 at 1:13 am
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    the pool table is so clean n nice~ haha whao… cool man… reminds me of Harry from Armageddon….

    Reply
  • June 5, 2007 at 10:18 am
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    Does the place rock a little like ships do?

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  • June 6, 2007 at 12:07 pm
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    Dude, I really wonder what you do offshore… on that floating facility… shed some light? 😀

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  • June 6, 2007 at 6:43 pm
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    Dr. Tan,
    The platform is stationary, doesn’t rock at all.

    Balajoe,
    mixture of local and international food, not bad at all.

    EF,
    just some not-so-interesting IT stuff. 😉

    Reply
  • June 7, 2007 at 8:19 am
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    Boleh pakai tripod ka?

    I remember that my friend wasn’t to use in in KLCC before that place opens to shoot a chain store there.

    *shakes head*

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  • June 7, 2007 at 10:15 am
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    Asyraf,

    I think they don’t allow professional photography in KLCC.

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  • November 22, 2007 at 12:00 am
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    The facilities and rig looks similar to other oil/gas rig

    Reply
  • November 22, 2007 at 4:07 pm
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    Shah,

    That is because it is a gas rig. 😛

    Reply
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  • August 8, 2008 at 12:09 am
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    Hi there,

    My name is Charles Smith and i was the Mechanical Engineer with Premier Oil who designed much of the process equipment on Yetagun back in 1997-2001. We designed and built the platforms in Singapore and Batam Is and then floated the modules out to the Andaman sea. It’s great to see the Yetagun up and running now.

    Thanks for the photos and information.

    Best

    Charles Smith

    Reply
  • August 8, 2008 at 9:12 am
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    Charles Smith,
    Small world, and great work on Yetagun. I’ve since moved on to another company myself. 🙂

    Reply
  • November 21, 2008 at 10:35 am
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    Hi My father is the supervisor in the Yetagun platform. His name is Anton Abdullah. A great man! I wish I could work with him!

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  • February 5, 2010 at 3:08 pm
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    Good to see some familiar names on here from the early days!

    I was Lead Instrument Technician on the platform in its’ early days and took part in most of the control commissioning.

    I visit Myanmar every year with my Myanmar wife and our three young children.

    Reply
  • February 7, 2010 at 1:12 am
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    Nadia Anton,
    interesting!

    Mark Wealthy,
    ahh, what a small world!

    Reply
  • March 11, 2015 at 12:52 pm
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    Look like this platform have muslim… 😉

    Reply

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