Foreign copters air-drop to rescue the ONGC

December 26: The first of three helicopters which the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) has wet leased from Azerbaijan Airlines for tra...

December 26: The first of three helicopters which the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) has wet leased from Azerbaijan Airlines for transporting personnel from its Juhu base to Bombay High has arrived in the city.

The helicopter has arrived at a time when the oil output at ONGC’s Bombay High facilities has fallen by 7000 barrels per day thanks to the 30-day old strike by Pawan Hans pilots. Maintenance work at several unmanned platforms has been hampered as technicians could not be airlifted there. “Even if the flights resume tomorrow, it will take a fortnight to 20 days to reach normalcy,”

an ONGC official said.

The 13-seater Bell 412 helicopter has been reassembled and is awaiting airworthiness certification from the Director General of Civil Aviation before it can begin operations. The remaining two helicopters will arrive shortly, according to an ONGC spokesman. While initially the helicopters will be flown by foreign pilots, who will be gradually replaced by Indians, say sources.

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With this ONGC sets in motion an operation which will enable it to establish a parallel air transport network to rival the existing one belonging to Pawan Hans. “We would like to transport 200 persons every day to Bombay high during shift changes. In addition we would like to position three to four helicopters off shore by day and two copters by night for emergency evacuations,” said an ONGC official. In order to further increase competitiveness in the sector, the ONGC has floated a global tender for supply of more helicopters, the advertisements for which appeared on Tuesday last. Incidentally, the commission is a part-owner of Pawan Hans Helicopter Corporation.

Meanwhile the 30-day old flash strike by the Pawan Hans pilots continues to remain inconclusive causing immense financial loss to ONGC. G S Hundal, managing director, Pawan Hans who flew into Mumbai from Delhi on Christmas Eve for parleys with the pilots guild, returned to the capital yesterday for further discussions with the board. According to sources, attempts by R C Ghaurh, Director (technical), ONGC, to end the strike failed. “Ghaurh intervened twice during the strike and yesterday he spoke to both Hundal and the pilots’ guild who all agreed that something needs to be done. But nothing happened. We feel that Pawan Hans is not doing enough to settle the issue,” said an official.