I’m shelling Riley I’m a professional
rigger by trade it’s the stuff I’m
passionate about we’re going to meet the
people working overtime not the unsung
heroes you guys are rock stars I’m just
learning by watching tackling the
toughest problems on the planet
if it’s big broken we’re gonna fix it on
world’s toughest fixes
I’m headed to the dcv Balder a deepwater
construction vessel designed to service
the oil industry there are only a
handful of vessels on the planet that
can do this kind of work and any day now
they’re gonna be shutting this one down
this vessel is powered by seven
thrusters it’s basically the propulsion
units for the whole vessel each one can
rotate 360 degrees to propel in any
direction and one of them is what we’re
here to fix so how do you swap out a
thruster on one of these vessels well
first of all there’s no garage big
enough to take it to so you’re doing it
here in the open ocean second of all you
can’t flip the thing upside down so that
means divers have got to go in and do it
from the bottom in order to free up the
old thruster they’ll have to attach
cables to the top of it and drop it out
the bottom of the hull then a giant
crane will lift the thruster onto a
waiting support vessel they’ll transfer
the cables over from the old thruster
to the new one and then the crane will
drop the replacement down into the water
they’ll jockey it into position hook it
up and if everything goes according to
plan we’re done
estimated time for the swap is 5 to 6
hours if everything goes smoothly every
minute is crucial while the weather’s
good we have to keep going the crane has
been slowly dragging the old thruster
out from under the hull and the supply
vessel is still struggling to get into
position suddenly out of the dark waters
wow there it is that thing has been
under the water in hard service for 5
years that’s it for the old thruster the
supply ship takes it out we won’t see it
for six months it’s off for the factory
for refurbishing now the crew can focus
on getting the replacement thruster back
into the hall
this is a critical moment the lines from
the winches on the Boulder’s deck are
now connected through the hoe and onto
the thruster on the supply ship nice
there she goes
alright they did it they got it off the
deck
time to get wet
it’s time for the divers to take charge
Brian’s going in for a crucial died he
has to release the line from the crane
so the thruster can be lined up
perfectly vertical is this thing super
cool or what this is the business end of
the thruster take a look at the size of
this prop you wouldn’t want to be
anywhere near this thing when it’s in
operation turning out a hundred and ten
thousand pounds of thrust this thing
would suck you in dice you up and spit
you straight out before we can pull this
thruster into its housing Brian has to
release the crane line he’s having
trouble getting that bolt out it’s been
under immense pressure throughout the
day and it looks like it’s stuck fast
he’s got to get that crane line
disconnected because it’s pulling
sideways on the thruster it’ll be easier
to lift once all of that side load is
off hang on I think it needs a hand
[Music]
all my air is gone it’s lame I would
have liked to have stayed and seen that
duster gone in but I think I better get
out we’re down to the last phase of the
operation with the crane line free the
vertical winters have to go to work to
pull the thruster into position this is
the last few minutes of the fix that
thrusters being raised into position in
the last fragile part are those o-rings
around the bottom lip those o-rings have
got a seat just right so they’re
carefully maneuvering 38 tons into
position
[Music]
okay the thruster has its cap into the
recess and they’re just using the linear
winches to slowly pull it up into place
tense moment they don’t lift completely
evenly on the winches it could turn
sideways out of plumb a tiny bit and it
will just rip that housing right off we
could rip the o-ring hope less you get
it off there
[Music]
yeah yeah kaki door
[Music]
BAM that’s it it’s in boy just seeing
those last few inches pull up into place
the whole thruster clunks into position
Oh ring seals slip right into the inside
of the housing the whole thing boom just
like that
it’s fixed
rigger by trade it’s the stuff I’m
passionate about we’re going to meet the
people working overtime not the unsung
heroes you guys are rock stars I’m just
learning by watching tackling the
toughest problems on the planet
if it’s big broken we’re gonna fix it on
world’s toughest fixes
I’m headed to the dcv Balder a deepwater
construction vessel designed to service
the oil industry there are only a
handful of vessels on the planet that
can do this kind of work and any day now
they’re gonna be shutting this one down
this vessel is powered by seven
thrusters it’s basically the propulsion
units for the whole vessel each one can
rotate 360 degrees to propel in any
direction and one of them is what we’re
here to fix so how do you swap out a
thruster on one of these vessels well
first of all there’s no garage big
enough to take it to so you’re doing it
here in the open ocean second of all you
can’t flip the thing upside down so that
means divers have got to go in and do it
from the bottom in order to free up the
old thruster they’ll have to attach
cables to the top of it and drop it out
the bottom of the hull then a giant
crane will lift the thruster onto a
waiting support vessel they’ll transfer
the cables over from the old thruster
to the new one and then the crane will
drop the replacement down into the water
they’ll jockey it into position hook it
up and if everything goes according to
plan we’re done
estimated time for the swap is 5 to 6
hours if everything goes smoothly every
minute is crucial while the weather’s
good we have to keep going the crane has
been slowly dragging the old thruster
out from under the hull and the supply
vessel is still struggling to get into
position suddenly out of the dark waters
wow there it is that thing has been
under the water in hard service for 5
years that’s it for the old thruster the
supply ship takes it out we won’t see it
for six months it’s off for the factory
for refurbishing now the crew can focus
on getting the replacement thruster back
into the hall
this is a critical moment the lines from
the winches on the Boulder’s deck are
now connected through the hoe and onto
the thruster on the supply ship nice
there she goes
alright they did it they got it off the
deck
time to get wet
it’s time for the divers to take charge
Brian’s going in for a crucial died he
has to release the line from the crane
so the thruster can be lined up
perfectly vertical is this thing super
cool or what this is the business end of
the thruster take a look at the size of
this prop you wouldn’t want to be
anywhere near this thing when it’s in
operation turning out a hundred and ten
thousand pounds of thrust this thing
would suck you in dice you up and spit
you straight out before we can pull this
thruster into its housing Brian has to
release the crane line he’s having
trouble getting that bolt out it’s been
under immense pressure throughout the
day and it looks like it’s stuck fast
he’s got to get that crane line
disconnected because it’s pulling
sideways on the thruster it’ll be easier
to lift once all of that side load is
off hang on I think it needs a hand
[Music]
all my air is gone it’s lame I would
have liked to have stayed and seen that
duster gone in but I think I better get
out we’re down to the last phase of the
operation with the crane line free the
vertical winters have to go to work to
pull the thruster into position this is
the last few minutes of the fix that
thrusters being raised into position in
the last fragile part are those o-rings
around the bottom lip those o-rings have
got a seat just right so they’re
carefully maneuvering 38 tons into
position
[Music]
okay the thruster has its cap into the
recess and they’re just using the linear
winches to slowly pull it up into place
tense moment they don’t lift completely
evenly on the winches it could turn
sideways out of plumb a tiny bit and it
will just rip that housing right off we
could rip the o-ring hope less you get
it off there
[Music]
yeah yeah kaki door
[Music]
BAM that’s it it’s in boy just seeing
those last few inches pull up into place
the whole thruster clunks into position
Oh ring seals slip right into the inside
of the housing the whole thing boom just
like that
it’s fixed
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