This magnificent vessel accommodates underwater equipment, cables, pipelines and tons of other equipment, serving both the oil industry and renewable energy. Even though she doesn’t sail on all seven seas, she has been on the job in the Mediterranean, West Africa, the Gulf of Mexico and Australia, as well as the sea areas around Norway and Great Britain.
With up to 365 travel days a year, Normand Vision is constantly on the way to new assignments. After 10 years at sea, she has been involved in more than 55 different projects worldwide. Some fairly straight forward, others extremely complicated. A permanent rotating crew of around 30 women and men, work rotating shifts to make sure she’s always ready to receive the engineers and technicians from Ocean Installer.
Anna Sand
Installation Engineer
I spent three weeks on Normand Vision before Christmas to follow up the collection, repair and re-installation of a cable that was connected to the oil production vessel Pazflor. This FPSO is located around 150 kilometers from Angola’s coastline. The project went as planned, and we all got home in time to celebrate Christmas with our families.
Being a project engineer on board involves twelve-hour shifts with a lot of responsibility. It can be quite stressful, but at the same time it is incredibly developing and educational.
It’s a vessel I really enjoy being on, and I joke that it feels a bit like my home away from home. Being offshore you get to know the people on board really well, from the Captain to deck crew, ROV-pilots and everyone else. The crew on board this vessel are fantastic.
Bret Windspear
Technical Superintendent
The vessel is like a mother to me. She makes me feel confident. She takes care of me, takes me to new places – and brings me home safely afterwards. It is demanding to be out at sea, but after a while we forget what day of the week it is. Tuesdays and Saturdays are suddenly exactly the same!
It is, of course, hard work and long days with twelve-hour shifts. At the same time, it is very rewarding. You are practically in the same boat as the rest of your colleagues. Everyone is equally valuable, and we solve challenges together. I don’t think there is anything more unifying than going out to sea and solving crucial tasks together. It’s a great team effort.
– I work on a fixed rotation with Normand Vision. This time we were at Italy’s largest gas field to install a 30-kilometer cable to the platform. It was a fairly big assignment that took us somewhere between five and six weeks. Simply put, my tasks were to get the cable down into the sea from the yellow tower that you see on top of the vessel.Simply put, my tasks were to get the cable down into the sea from the yellow tower that you see on top of the vessel.
– Cassiopea was a really good project. It was my first trip to Italy, and it was lovely to have that mild and really nice weather, which is not always the case. We got some lovely sunsets, and on clear days we could actually see Mount Etna from the vessel. On this project I actually only worked the night shift. It might sound harsh, but for me it was great because I got the opportunity to relax in the sunshine before the night shift began. The body gets used to the circadian rhythm faster than you might think, and sleeping went fine.
– You find joy in the routines on the vessel, with twelve hours “on” and twelve hours “off”. There is breakfast, lunch and dinner. After work you can hit the gym, relax with a good book, watch some TV or be social with your colleagues. By doing the offshore rotation you also know that you will get those weeks at home with the family in Moorsholm, north-east of England. That’s nice.
– In a way, each and every trip lives a life of its own. It’s the same vessel, but you always meet new people and get new projects to work on. For a couple of weeks, the people on board become your family and the vessel our common home.