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5 SKILLS AND SKILLS TRAINING

Welders
Welder requirements for an offshore structure fabrication yard, in simple layman terms,
fall into 3 basic categories, namely those people qualified to

primary (structural) steel

secondary (non-structural) steel, and
piping*.

(*Note: Piping here means as in process or utilities piping. Not to be confused with
tubulars, which form part of a structure and are categorised as primary steel.)
Primary steel welders
Material of construction - Primary steel is the material used for constructing the
main structural components of an offshore facility, such as a jacket, deck, or module
support frame. Steel used for an offshore structure must generally conform to the
American Petroleum Institutes Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing and
Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms Working Stress Design, API RP-2A, which
lists the recommended material properties for structural steel plates, steel shapes
(i.e. channel, WF beams, angle bars, etc) and structural steel pipes. Data can be
found in Tables 8.1.4-1, 8.1.4-2 and 8.2.1-1 respectively of this Standard.
As a minimum, steel plates and structural shapes must conform to the American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) grade A36 (yield strength 250 Mpa).
Structural shapes required for higher strength applications must comply with ASTM
specification A572, grade 50 (345 Mpa). Pipes must comply with API specification
5L, grade B (or ASTM A53, grade B), at a minimum. For higher strength applications,
pipe must conform to API 5L, grade X52.
Welder qualifications - All welders, welding operators and tack welders of primary
steel have to be qualified to Parts C, D & E of Section 5 of AWS (American Welding
Society) D1.1. - 2002M, before commencing work on a Project.
Special
qualifications are required for welders of roots which will not be back-welded. All
welders must be qualified for groove welding in all positions of pipe, tubing and
plate.
Welders required to weld T, K, or Y tubular intersections have to qualify in the 6GR
position. By way of illustrating the quality required in a 6GR positioned weld, tests at
welder qualification stage require that the full circumference of each weld be
radiographed twice.
Numbers of welders required Generally, welders qualified for offshore primary
structural steel, especially for tubulars in the 6GR position, are in short supply
throughout the world, but of course demand for their services will always depend
upon the types of structures being worked upon, the ratio of tubulars to other
sections in a structure, quantities of welds, the program schedule, peaking of
activities.

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Taking the Mossgas MSF contract (1989/90) as an example, the primary steel
welding program extended over a period of approximately 16 months, averaging
approx 50 operatives, but peaking at over 100, located in Vereeniging, Port Elizabeth
and Durban. In parallel, the Jacket program was in progress, both in Vereeniging and
at Saldanha Bay, South Africa, and in the United Kingdom, requiring a very much
larger labour force.
A reasonable ball park estimate of total primary steel welders engaged on the
Mossgas Project, therefore, would have been +/- 150 average over 18-20 months,
peaking at +/- 300. With natural turnover, a probable +/- 400 would have been
tested/trained and gone through the books.
(Note: Where references are made in this report to statistics from the Mossgas
Project, a 45 hour week has been used to extrapolate numbers of people.)
Availability in South Africa There is no register of welders which can be called up
to determine how many primary steel welders might be available in the event of
another offshore structure contract coming to South Africa. A few of the welders who
were qualified and employed on previous jobs, including Mossgas, might still be
around and doing similar work, but the nature of the welding industry is such that
qualifications expire within 6 months of a job ending and all have to be re-qualified on
a job specific basis when a new project kicks off.
A consensus amongst people in the engineering profession is that primary steel
welders would be very difficult to find in South Africa in the short term and that a total
new training program would have to be initiated were more than a dozen to be
required. A South African manpower organisation has reported that it has 30-40 such
welders employed around the country, but such organisations are notoriously
unreliable and always ready to promise more than can be delivered. All highly skilled
welders in this country are likely to be in full employment and only a small
percentage might be encouraged to move/leave home for more attractive
remuneration on a job elsewhere.
Secondary Steel Welders
Materials of Construction Secondary, or non-structural, offshore steelwork is that
which is made up entirely of Type 111, V1, V111 or X11 steel
Welder qualifications Welders and welder operators have to be qualified in
accordance with BS 4871: Part 1 or equivalent. In layman terms, non-structural steel
welding is basically the simplest form of welding in carbon steel, although welders
must still be tested to exacting standards and be required to maintain a high
standard of quality in production.
Numbers of welders required Requirements would depend upon the type(s) of
components/assemblies being produced in the Yard or elsewhere. For a fixed leg
jacket, quantities of secondary steel would be minimal, whilst a greater proportion
would be required for a deck assembly, and a substantial, if not total, proportion
would be built into modules or other topside assemblies. Standardised, bulk steel
fabrications could be largely sub-contracted out to other South African companies,
more cost effectively than being produced in the yards workshops, where numbers

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of welders required would be no more of a problem than for major, conventional steel
projects in the past.
Using the Mossgas MSF contract again as an example of in-yard welder
requirements, approx. 300 man-months were expended on the shop fabrication and
field erection welding of +/- 300 tonnes of outfitting steel, peaking at 30-40 persons
for a period of 6 months.
Availability in South Africa Finding sufficient welders to man the fabrication of
conventional steelwork in South Africa is very unlikely to pose a problem, no matter
how large an offshore contract might be obtained. Only in abnormal circumstances,
such as an unprecedented rate of industrial expansion or surge in exports of
fabricated steel, could a shortage be envisaged, particularly since so much can be
automated. With a high rate of unemployment in the country, it is reasonable to
assume that training could fill the gaps.
Piping Welders
Materials of construction If the product is a jacket, or simple deck structure, the
question of piping is unlikely to arise. However, if an integrated services deck or MSF
or modules, or any combination thereof are required; the yard could be handling
large quantities of piping in sizes ranging from 25mm to 900mm in diameter and in a
variety of materials, from basic carbon steel to high chrome content alloys and
stainless steel.
Welder qualifications In general and as a minimum, welders of oil and gas
industry piping must be qualified and coded to the ASME IX level in both G.T.A.W.
(Argon/TigWelding) as well as in S.M.A.W. (Stick Welding) in 6G position. A welder is
required to undergo testing for each type of piping material that he/she may be
requested to work on. Standards are as high as for primary steel welding, although a
welder cannot interchange unless separately qualified and coded for each.
Numbers of welders required Depending upon the number of topsides units that
may be involved in a contract, or their complexities, or range of materials involved, or
where spool prefabrication is to be carried out, numbers of pipe welders in an
offshore yard could be anywhere between 3 and 300, or more. In normal
circumstances, carbon steel can be expected to make up the bulk of the piping.
As an indication, the MSF contract in Durban, which contained approx 11,000 metres
of mostly carbon steel piping in the full range of sizes, involved +/- 350 man-months
of welding over a 15 month period in shop and field, peaking at +/- 30 personnel
towards the end of the assembly period.
Availability in South Africa Welders required for piping integral to oil or gas
offshore platforms would be no different to those who work onshore for operators and
contractors in the refineries and chemical plants around South Africa, on
maintenance, shutdowns, or new constructions.
Peaks & troughs in the petrochem construction industry over the past 40 years have
prevented the establishment of a stable welding force and at times, welders have
had to be imported from overseas, particularly the more specialised categories.

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However, a base resource of all categories exists in the main centres, such as
Durban, Sasolburg and Secunda, and training programs set up by major contractors
for their various projects, have increased those resources to the point where SA
welders are working on assignments elsewhere in Africa.
It is impossible to predict whether there would be sufficient resources of coded
welders available for an offshore fabrication contract. Unless the country were in the
middle of a major industrial boom, a nucleus of pipe welders could be sourced
almost immediately and possibly all requirements could be built up long term,
depending of course on the yards location.
Other trades
Other trades fall into two categories, namely

structures and
topsides, with some commonality between the two.

Structures
Apart from welders, trades most likely to be used on structures are machine
operators (shop), platers/boilermakers (shop & field) and riggers (mainly field).
Numbers required will be small compared to other trades and likely to be sourced
(excepting the riggers), without too much trouble, from within South Africa.
Riggers experienced in handling heavy and difficult lifts, on the other hand, such as
might be involved with a major structure roll up, using one or more cranes in the
range 150-500t capacity, could be in short supply. Consequently, the most likely
scenario would be to have a permanent nucleus of local riggers for the simple and
regular lifts, and hire in specialists, or get assistance from the partner for the special
and intermittent major lifts, at least during the formative months after yard start up.
As assembly and construction is done on large structures, working platforms must be
created at height.
The working platforms range from ground level up to
approximately 80 metres.
This requires experienced scaffolders to erect these
temporary structures that will make the work-face available to the construction team.
Topsides
Trades required for topsides contracts, other than pipe and non-structural steel
welders, will be secondary steel erectors & riggers, boilermakers/pipe fabricators,
mechanical fitters/millwrights, pipefitters, electricians, instrument technicians, and
semi-skilled personnel such as architectural finishers, insulators, & painters.
Drawing on the petro-chem industry in South Africa, sourcing of steel trades, basic
riggers, mechanical fitters, and electricians, in reasonable numbers should not be a
problem, unless, as mentioned in previous instances, an unprecedented boom were
to occur in parallel with obtaining a major offshore fabrication contract. Semi skilled
operatives could be trained.

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Good piping fabricators/erectors could be a problem, however, if required in large

numbers, the situation over the past 40 years having been similar to that of pipe
welders. As an indication, the MSF contract consumed in excess of 900 pipe
fabricator/fitter manmonths over an18 month period, peaking at +/- 160 people late in
the program. A major module assembly contract could absorb 3 times that number,
putting a severe strain on industry resources.
As in the past on other projects, however, in South Africa and elsewhere, shortages
of piping personnel could be offset by training up numbers of people in semi-skilled
repetitive tasks, utilising experienced people as crew leaders/supervisors.
Instrumentation and process control technicians could also be a problem, but in
relatively small numbers, due of course to an ever-increasing use of electronics.
Such a problem would only arise where the contract involved a major processing
platform, with several modules, control room in which case no amount of training
would be a solution and people would just have to be sourced overseas.
As for Structures, scaffolders will be required for topside construction. The working
platforms will range from ground level to about 25 metres.
Locating the Resources
Given that the intention is to establish a fully fledged offshore capability on the Western
Cape coastline, manpower resources would have to be found from two areas of industry,
namely heavy manufacturing and construction.
Heavy Manufacturing
If the new yard is to produce major offshore steel structures, much will depend upon the
establishment of workshops and fabrication equipment on site, similar to those used at
Dorbyl Heavy Engineering and Dorbyl Shipbuilders for the Mossgas Project. Although in
small numbers, operatives for such equipment will have to be found and the most likely
places to find them will be in towns or cities close to South Africas main manufacturing
centres. Obvious locations for recruitment will be the Vaal Triangle,
Johannesburg/Pretoria, Newcastle, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. Suffice to
say, equipment required for platework is not highly sophisticated to operate and
recruiting the right people should not be difficult.
Construction
Mention has been made previously that the types of people needed to assemble
structures, modules etc for offshore projects, are mostly the same types who are
accustomed to constructing, maintaining, or modifying, oil & gas/chemical plants
onshore. Traditionally most of such people tend to live near the main centres of these
industries, which in the South African scene are Sasolburg, Secunda, & Durban. To a
lesser extent, such trades can also be sourced (obviously) from Johannesburg, Cape
Town and Richards Bay, and in decreasing numbers from areas around provincial towns
such as Port Elizabeth, Saldanha, Mossel Bay, East London, & Newcastle.

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Skills Training
Training is essential but the circumstances on the location of the fabrication and
construction yard will dictate the level of training required:

in all trades if the yard is to be established at a location remote from the main
industrial centres, but close to a densely populated rural area, or
in a few selected trades, if located close to an industrial centre.

Attempting to set up a new fabrication yard at a remote location, using a largely raw
labour force, will require training of all personnel.
Training could be
an intensive activity for a short period whilst getting the yard up and running,
followed by a steady workload or
an ongoing, intermittent activity, associated with a fluctuating workload and
consequent turnover of people in all trades.
The most likely skills to require training input, will be

welding (structural and/or piping), and

piping (fabrication and/or erection).

Providers of training could be

private organisations (e.g. Kims Welding School, Durban area); or

an industry sponsored workshop (e.g. The Emthonjeni Centre, Port Elizabeth
very successful for the Mossgas Project and since); or
a government funded scheme; or
in-house operation.

In the latter instance, on site welding training would be a natural extension of the new
yards welding school, which will have to be set up in any event, to test and qualify
welders on an ongoing basis.
Setting up a workshop on site to train unskilled people in basic, repetitive piping skills,
would also be in a natural environment, particularly since it lends itself to on-the-job
training. Both types of on-site training have been used successfully in the past on Sasol
2 & 3 projects, the Mozal Project in Mozambique and at the Caltex Refinery in Cape
Town, as well as at other locations.
Essentially, Industry and Government must understand that training is essential for the
Offshore Oil and Gas Industry. Training by both Industry and Government should be for
the benefit of the region or country and not specifically tied to a particular project or
Company.

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Actions for Final Report

Co-ordination with Training Sector to be carried out.

Survey of training schools to be implemented.
Investigation of possible funds for dedicated training for Offshore Oil & Gas.
Investigation to nominate a training school in the Western Cape

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