The following article was written for Go Gulf Magazine.
This month, Go Gulf visits the South Pole, where some familiar Gulf of Mexico-based companies thrive in one of the most forbidding regions in the world. The United States Antarctic Program, run by the National Science Foundation (NSF), extends an open invitation to U.S. researchers to use its bases in Antarctica. In response, specialists from universities and federal agencies flock to the Antarctic each year. This transient community requires a good deal of support both by sea and air, and companies like the Gulf's own Edison Chouest and Petroleum Helicopters Inc. have stepped in to meet the demand.
Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI) won a competitively bid contract in 1996 from the NSF to provide helicopter operations at McMurdo Station, the largest Antarctic base, as a part of the planned withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from Antarctica. PHI sent down four aircraft configured only slightly differently from the helicopters it uses in the Gulf. The company now supports projects and camps within 120 nautical miles of McMurdo Station, and occasionally up to a distance of 250 nautical miles, with three AS350132 Squirrels and one Bell 212. One of PHI's most popular research destination is Dry Valleys, an area without snow or ice between two large mountain ranges. At Dry Valleys, scientists collect mineral samples and even dinosaur bones. Yet PHI only needed to slightly modify its birds to operate in Dry Valleys and other Antarctic research sites. Jack Hawkins, PHI onsite Antarctica Manager, said that the skids are now equipped with bear claws and extra heaters were added to the cabins, but "Most of the time we don't even use the extra heaters. The scientists have on so much clothing that when they get in the helicopters, they would burn up if we turned on the heat." However, the aircraft have to burn a special AN8 jet fuel that will not freeze above -60 degrees centigrade. From the beginning of the season in October until the end in February, the temperatures range from around -25 centigrade to a +3 centigrade.
According to Dale Johnson, Regional Manager, International Operations, the US Navy once provided helicopter transportation to the NSF with 6 aircraft and 50 men. In 1996, however, PHI won the contract to provide the service using only 4 aircraft, 7 pilots, and 5 mechanics. Johnson said, "Many people involved with the Antarctic program had their doubts that we could do the job, but after four years everyone is extremely pleased with the service that we have provided." While PHI conducts the majority of operations from the McMurdo base, PHI pilots sometimes participate in remote operations, camping out with scientists. They simply park the helicopters on the snow, and pitch camp. Hawkins said "We have not had a problem with starting and flying the helicopters, even when the overnight temperature has gotten down to -25 C degrees." When the PHI crew returns to the Gulf of Mexico, they work the rest of the year as regular offshore pilots. Just like in Antarctica, only 100 degrees warmer.
Edison Chouest's R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer, built in 1992 at Chouest-owned North American Shipbuilding in Larose, Louisiana was the first commercial U.S. icebreaking and research vessel ever built. The ship was named after the first American to site the Antarctic landmass in 1821 and is chartered to the National Science Foundation. The 308-foot Palmer can accommodate 37 scientists and a crew of 26. It is equipped with an array of high-tech computer, electronic, bio-chemical, and hydro labs and features a helicopter pad and hanger, dynamic positioning, a heated work deck, a hospital, a gymnasium, a sauna, and substantial housing and laundry facilities.
The Palmer's 1.56 inch thick hull is made of extraordinary steel immune to brittleness down to minus 76 degree Fahrenheit. The 6,000-ton, 13,000 horsepower vessel can break ice up to three feet thick while cruising at three knots, but the Palmer has taken on ice up to 18 feet thick. It manages to accomplish this feat by thrusting its way onto the ice and then falling through it.
Scientists onboard the Palmer spend most of their time mapping the ocean's bottom, studying ice formations, conducting meteorological and marine biology surveys, and doing seismic work. Four other icebreaking vessels from other countries join the Palmer during the Antarctic summer, but the Palmer is the only ship operating in Antarctica most winters. Temperatures at sea can dip down to 70 degrees below zero, though they usually hover around 15 below zero.
This year, researchers onboard the Palmer have studied circumpolar deep water and its effects on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and Pine Island Glacier and studied the history of the Amundsen Sea Shelf. According to Mike Watson, the vessel's chief mate, the ship stays in the Antarctic eight to ten months out of the year, splitting time between Punta Arenas, Chile and Palmer Station. However, the Palmer also recently made a hazardous waste pickup from Palmer Station on its way home to Louisiana for the first time in 8 years.
Also down south is the R/V Laurence M. Gould, built in 1997 by Edison Chouest and named in honor of Laurence McKinley Gould, second-in-command on Admiral Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition of 1929-1930. The 76 meter, ice-strengthened (Ice class ABS A1), multi-disciplinary research platform was designed for year-round polar missions of up to 75 days long, and now supports research in the Antarctic Peninsula region, supplying and transporting up to 26 researchers and staff between Palmer Station and South American ports.
Edison Chouest vessels and Petroleum Helicopters Inc. are no fair-weather friends. They have flourished as well among penguins and scientists as they have among platforms and roughnecks, demonstrating that our Gulf of Mexico offshore gas and oil industry breeds companies that can take on the technical challenges of adapting to even the most forbidding regions.