The crew of a Subsea 7 vessel off the coast of Equatorial Guinea have become an internet sensation thanks to their homemade music video.
Aberdeen man Darren Flynn enlisted the help of his shipmates on board the Bourbon Peridot to perform Toto’s 1983 hit Africa while at sea off Luba.
Now the video has become a smash hit on Facebook, with oil barrels, pumps and even fish standing in for musical instruments as the vessel’s crew mime to the song.
“I did the first couple of scenes with Subsea 7 guys, and then a couple of other guys on the boat thought it was good so they also wanted in,” he told Energy Voice.
“As the thing progressed more and more people wanted in, from the captain to the company representative.”
The 33-year-old, who works as an ROV pilot supervisor on the ship, shot the video on a camera he had taken with him to Equatorial Guinea to try and repair.
“I got it fixed and thought I should do a couple of test videos,” he said.
“It worked, so I thought I should give it a good test and make a funny video whilst on our time off. Obviously its good to have stuff to do on our down time. I filmed a couple of shots and thought about making a music video. We decided on “Africa” by Toto as this is where we work.
“The reaction has been great. When we knock off shift all the boys kept asking if I’d done any more.”
Darren, who moved to London from Aberdeen two years ago, had worked in the North Sea oil industry for a decade before heading south.
The video has now become a huge hit on Facebook and YouTube – and the crew are already keen to try their hand at a follow up.
“Everyone was keen to get involved and the ideas were always flying around the rec rooms in the evenings,” said Darren.
“Everyone on the boat has been humming the tune for the last month too. I’m just worried we all end up hating the song, we’ve listened to it so much.”
Watch the video below: