The paper hats are on and a quiz is underway. A buffet table is laden with festive snacks and sweets. There’s shouting and signing, as the Christmas atmosphere is well and truly developed. The only unusual thing about this festive scene is the setting – an oil rig in the middle of the North Sea.
The picture is a familiar one for David Donaldson. He spent the last 31 years offshore – around half of that time celebrating Christmas together with his workmates, the remainder welcoming the new year with them.
“I would need to say – and I hope my wife isn’t hearing this – it can be very enjoyable,” he admitted.
Formerly an offshore field coordinator, David’s role was to look after day-to-day operations for selected offshore installations. This included organising special social events on a quarterly basis – and, most importantly, supervising celebrations over Christmas.
“On Christmas Eve the residents of the platform come down to the mess room,” he explained. “They would have a little flutter, buying some raffle tickets for the racing horses and at the end of the evening a trophy would go to the person who won the most.
“During the race night we would have a selection of food: small burgers, some mini-pies: mince pies, shepherd’s pie, ham hock and pea…
“The following day we have the quiz night and then during that period there would be a number of competitions taking place – snooker, dominoes, darts… That would come to a conclusion on Boxing Day, then the prizes and awards would be allocated to the most successful ones.”
Every year the festive schedule is a combined effort by the platform’s catering team and a Sodexo catering manager like David. The working patterns mean that the majority of workforce will celebrate either Christmas or New Years Day offshore which, from Donaldson’s perspective, are usually a mirror image of each other in terms of preparation.
Watch our interview with David Donaldson below:
Although the fun and games have a huge impact on creating the festive spirit, it would not be a true Christmas party without the food – and the offshore chefs have got it covered.
“At the beginning the site specific unit or catering manager in conjunction with his head chef or his leading steward would create a menu,” said David.
“That would then be transported by container offshore on or around seven days prior to the event and the chefs there would start preparing and producing the foods.”
Among the fish and meat platters, salads and desserts, there is one specific thing missing from a traditional Christmas table – the booze.
“Alcohol is irrelevant to the occasion,” David told Energy Voice.
“It’s the activity that is taking place and the participation of the people themselves that make it.
“During the karaoke night, if you had half-a-dozen men in the pub, they would never speak to each other – and that’s with alcohol.
“There they just get up and sing away.”
New technology and increased offshore connectivity meant the workforce has become more isolated, making creating a festive spirit offshore gradually more difficult.
“Previous years you never had satellite television in your cabins, so at that particular point in time people would participate a lot more,” he said.
“Now it’s a lot easier for them to go upstairs with their laptops or their iPads and watch television in their rooms rather than participate.
“You know, you’ll have a mixture of people offshore who will just want to come down, have quite a big lunch and then go and sleep it off. Other people will participate in the activities and make the most of it.
“And that’s what our job is really – it is to make sure people get involved and have a good time.”
In preparation for this year’s celebrations David is working off his notes for the 2012 programme (“mince pies – a success”, “pig’s head not required”). The two-egg omelette challenge might make a comeback, as would a rock and roll bingo game with its sixties dress code, judging by last year’s popularity.
Either way, the quiet of the sea is bound to be disturbed by shouting and cheering of the competing sides.
“It’s like a second family,” David said.
“It’s probably harder to prepare Christmas for your own family, ‘cos you’re on your own then!” he adds, laughing.
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