WorldWide Drilling Resource

WorldWide Drilling Resource ® is proud to be a member of these international associations. New Zealand Drillers Federation, Inc. +03.324 2040 ontario Groundwater Association Tel: 519-245-7194 Fax: 519-245-7196 ogwa@ogwa.ca www.ogwa.ca Australian Drilling Industry Association adia@adia.com.au British Colmubia Ground Water Assn. Tel: 604-530-8934 Fax: 604-530-8934 isecretary@bcgwa.org • www.bcgwa.org Alberta Water Well Drilling Association Tel: 780-386-2335 awwda@xplornet.com Atlantic Water Well Association Tel: 888-242-4440 Fax: 902-435-0089 nsgwa@ns.aliantzinc.ca • www.nsgwa.ca 51 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® SEPTEMBER 2014 The Polar Mechanic from LiuGong Adapted from a Xinhua News Agency Article Being prepared for hazardous work- ing conditions is important nomatter where you are. Yan Wei, the first polar mechan- ic from LiuGong, told his story of working in an extreme environment in theAntarctic. Yan Wei has three rules when driv- ing at work: don’t lock the doors; keep the skylight open; and always drive alone. “It’s important to get out quickly if the snow- mobile slips into the sea - and if anything bad happens, being alone will keep the lives lost to a minimum,” he said. As a senior mechanic at LiuGong, a major Chinese construction equipment manufacturer, Yan has worked in China’s expeditions both in theAntarctic andArctic, maintaining and operating the heavy ma- chines which transport peo- ple and vital m a t e r i a l s across the ice. I n t h e A n t a r c t i c , where safety is always the priority, unload- ing cargo on the sea ice is an extremely dangerous operation. The snowmobile and cargo it carries usually have a combined weight of more than 10 tons, making driv- ing on the ice dangerous, especially in summer, when sea ice becomes thinner. on Yan’s first visit to theAntarctic, he saw a new snowmobile fall into a crack while unloading a vessel. “The whole snowmobile sank into the icy sea in just a few seconds. Everyone was yelling frantically at the driver, xu xiaxing,” Yan recalled. “Luckily, xu scram- bled out of the skylight and climbed out of the crack in the ice.” Yan said the workers are a team and they watch out for each other on every mission. “I drive almost every day in the Antarctic. The locations and even the width of the cracks are all in my mind, but every time when we unload the Snow Dragon [vessel], we prepare well in advance.” He usually visits the site many times to find the best route through the ice crevasses. Since only about 40 days a year are suitable for construction in the Antarctic, teams work up to 16 hours a day unload- ing cargo. If they work faster, more time is allowed for construction. Yan was drawn to the work by the frozen beauty of the polar regions. His dream merged with his work when the company started working with the Polar Research Institute of China. “To a mechanic, operating machines in extreme environments is very chal- lenging. Extreme low temperatures, high altitudes, strong winds, and the intense ultraviolet light make the Antarctic a per- fect extreme environment. To me, such a challenge is really alluring, so I applied Photo courtesy of Yan Wei. and worked very hard for the chance to join [the] China polar exploration team,” said Yan. Extreme environments also test con- struction equipment and its manufacturers. “[Yan’s] experience is very important in de- veloping construction equipment for ex- treme environments. The Antarctic is a very good test environment,” said Ethan Yu, vice president of Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. Yan says working in theAntarctic has changed his life. “I have learned a lot from the scientists of our expedition team. The most important lesson in building on and exploring this land is that we must better protect the world we have.” Editor’s note - Be Prepared ~ Safety Matters!