World's First 3D Tour of an Offshore Platform

Visitors to Aberdeen’s award-winning Maritime Museum will be able to take the world’s first ever 3D tour of an offshore platform and explore a brand new learning area as work on the initial phase of a six figure redevelopment programme is completed.

Harry Yorston, director of Maersk Oil and Leo Koot, managing director of TAQA, along with pupils from Portlethen Academy

The doors opened at the end of August on the fully refurbished Maersk Oil Education Suite which provides a multi-function space for visitors to discover the fascinating story of the North Sea.

The work has been made possible by a £100,000 donation from Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited (Maersk Oil). It has seen the suite completely remodelled and upgraded to provide a modern, practical area suitable for a wide range of education workshops, classes and events.

Global energy company TAQA donated a further £100,000 for the creation of a 15-seat cinema, designed to look like a heli-deck, which will show footage shot on the Tern drilling platform off the coast of Shetland.

The 15 minute film, which is the first to use 3D technology in the offshore environment, brings to vivid colour what life as an oil and gas worker is really like.

The museum is acknowledged as one of the finest visitor attractions in Scotland and the only place in the UK where you can see displays on the North Sea oil and gas industry.

The refurbishment work will enable thousands of school children, community groups and visitors from across the region, as well as the large number of foreign visitors the museum receives each year, to continue to learn about Aberdeen’s fascinating maritime history and the future of offshore energy.

Harry Yorston, director of Maersk Oil said: “This fantastic state-of-the-art suite aims to engage and inspire the thousands of visitors the Aberdeen Maritime Museum attracts each year, and in turn have a big impact on the education services provided at the award winning facility.

“The museum tells the story of Aberdeen’s long relationship with the North Sea and Maersk Oil is delighted to be able to support it. Aberdeen has played a vital role in how Maersk Oil itself has developed over the years and it is important for us to be able to put something back into the community that has served us so well.

“The Maersk Oil Education Suite will hopefully encourage young people for generations to come to consider a future in the oil and gas industry.

” Leo Koot, managing director of TAQA said: “We are delighted to support the museum as it is such an important part of Aberdeen’s heritage.

“It’s vital that as an industry we attract the talent of tomorrow. The 3D film, which is the first of its kind, will hopefully give those who are interested in a career within oil and gas a taste of what life offshore is really like and inspire them to want to learn more.

” Aberdeen City Council is also renovating other areas of the museum. The Energy Exploration Galleries are being renewed after the Oil and Gas UK members raised the £360,000 required for the project.

Convener of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee councillor John West said: “Thanks to leading energy firms Maersk Oil and TAQA, Aberdeen Maritime Museum will boast a state-of-the-art education suite and cinema that reflect the energy industry’s cutting edge technology and expertise that will showcase the city as a European, if not global, energy hub.

“These new facilities will undoubtedly attract many more visitors to the museum and are bound to inspire and encourage many to consider a future in the oil and gas industry which in turn will benefit the city and the industry.”

Meredith Greiling, curator of maritime history at Aberdeen Maritime Museum, said: “We are very grateful to Maersk Oil and TAQA for their enthusiasm and generosity, not only financially, but also with their time and resources.

“TAQA flew out a film crew and permitted them full access to their Tern platform and employees in order to provide a vivid insight into the workings of a North Sea platform; something that all our visitors want to see, but which very few people ever get the chance to experience for themselves.

“Maersk Oil’s generous commitment to our Education Suite will mean that we can continue to provide access to Aberdeen’s maritime history for people of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy.”

Work on the third and final stage is expected to be complete by spring 2012.

 
This article was published in the September 2011 edition of Roustabout and has been reprinted on OilCity with the kind permission of Energy International. www.energyinternat.com