Photographing The oil rig Sedco 712 in the Cromarty Firth



SEDCO 712         
More images from this set       Here                                                                  
Phil Restan Photography              Here


I recently had an opportunity to visit the port at Invergordon in the Scottish Highlands to photograph the oil rig SEDCO 712 being moved from its anchorage on the Cromarty Firth by the two anchor vessels, Normand Neptun and Highland Valour to the Queens dock at Invergordon.



The Sedco 712 in the Cromarty Firth
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The port situated on the Cromarty firth is the north of Scotland’s leading port for the offshore energy industry, having deep water anchorages and high quality maintenance facilities. I was very lucky that we were experiencing fairly mild weather and temperatures were hovering around 2 or 3 degrees, the only down side to this was heavy grey cloud cover, not ideal photography weather but I wasn’t in a position to change that, at least I wasn’t expecting to freeze



The Normand Neptun starts to tow the Sedco 712 towards the quay at Invergordon

The Sedco 712 was to be tugged by the Normand Neptun and Highland Valour with the assistance of two CFPA( Cromarty Firth Port Authority) tugs from an anchorage about 1 ½ miles from the quay at Invergordon where it was going to be tied up for the next eight months or so. I’d arrived at first light, around 8am expecting the rig to be moving towards me fairly soon. However I hadn’t taken into consideration the time it might take to lift the anchors, bearing in mind these things can weigh anything between ten to twenty tons; sixteen tons would be a fair guess at the ones this rig was using.



16 ton Rig anchors with Sedco 712 in the Cromarty Firth

16 ton Rig anchors
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I was expecting to use three lenses Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6 is, a Canon 17-40 f4 and Canon 24-70 f2.8 fitted to my trusty old Canon 5D mk 1
I soon found that because of the dull conditions the Canon 17-40’s wide angle was too wide , bringing in too much of the surrounding dull landscape so that was soon packed away. The Canon 28-135 proved useful for the distance shots as the rig was moved from its anchorage by four tugs. The main towing tug was the 80 metre long Normand Neptun, with the Highland Valour also 80 metres but slightly lighter taking up the rear . Two smaller Cromarty firth port tugs were also assisting.

The Sedco 712 with The Anchor vessels Normand Neptun and  Highland Valour and two Cromarty Firth port tugs
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As far as movement is concerned, nothing really happened till around 11am when I realised the Normand Neptun and the Sedco 712 was slowly moving, I started shooting but soon realized that I was going to have masses of very similar shots if I carried on as I was. It was a case of trying to be patient and pick my shots. The Canon 24-70 L  was invaluable, sharp, fast enough to freeze movement and wide enough to get the Normand Neptun  and rig in the shot comfortably.



Normand Neptun towing the Sedco 712

It was close to 11.30am before the Vessels and rig were close enough to my position for me to be able to get some of the more interesting shots.


Normand Neptun and Highland Valout with the Sedco 712
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Normand Neptun moving towards the Quay with Sedco 712
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There was a lot of manoeuvring going on close to where the rig was to eventually be tied up,  at 1.30 pm I decided to leave as getting the rig in was obviously going to take some time and light would be fading by the time it was secured. It would make more sense to return when conditions were better , the Sedco 712 wasn’t going anywhere for several months.

Normand Neptun and Sedco 712
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Normand Neptun towing the Sedco 712
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