WEIRBULLETIN | AUGUST 2011 FEATURE MINERALS OIL & GAS POWER & INDUSTRIAL


Team works relentlessly to rescue staff from Libya


A


t the beginning of February, Weir Power & Industrial Services Europe had responsibility for more than 100 project personnel stationed in Libya.


The employees - which included staff from Weir, our project partner, as well as our subcontractor, were executing a major turbine, pump and valve overhaul contract in Misrata for the Libyan Iron & Steel Company (LISCO). When an uprising in the North African country led to a severe escalation in violence and political unrest, Weir took the decision to immediately evacuate the Libyan-based project team. So began a tense fi ve days on Sunday 20 February to secure safe passage home for all project personnel. Getting the UK citizens out of Libya was executed relatively quickly. The home-based project team in Weir Power & Industrial’s headquarters in East Kilbride, Scotland, pulled out all the stops to secure seats on a commercial fl ight from Tripoli to Casablanca, although the employees had an anxious overnight journey through a series of roadblocks. The plane left Tripoli in the early hours of 21 February and a connecting fl ight landed the team safely in London the following day. Successfully performing the same exercise for the 100 Vietnamese and Egyptian sub- contractors would prove to be much more challenging. Although seats on commercial fl ights had been secured, there remained the logistical challenge of safely transporting 100 people to the airport in an increasingly threatening situation. Through signifi cant efforts, buses were obtained and completed the three and a half hour journey without injury.


The employees arrived at the airport,


however, to fi nd it in complete chaos: under the threat of closure to both incoming and outbound fl ights, with thousands of people clambering for whatever fl ights were available. In addition, in-country communications were becoming more


Thousands of foreign nationals fl ed Libya in February, including Weir employees and contractors


diffi cult, with mobile phone and internet connections frequently failing. In the event of cancellation of the


fl ights already booked, senior Weir Group management supported chartering a fl ight that would be accepted into Libyan airspace and, as all commercial fl ights were cancelled, this back-up plan was put into action. During the two days prior to departure,


the project team at East Kilbride maintained round-the-clock watches on developments at the airport and kept in touch with the team in Libya when networks allowed. After an extremely tense wait, the chartered plane fl ew out of Tripoli airport on 25 February bound for Dubai, with all subcontractors plus staff from the Vietnamese Embassy on board.


Dean Jenkins, divisional managing director


of Weir Power & Industrial and Fraser Park, managing director of Weir Power & Industrial Services Europe, personally thanked the team: Gordon Aquilina, Kath Dall, Kenny Gibb, Susan Purdie and Steve Sneddon, for their tireless efforts.


07


THE PROJECT TEAM AT


EAST KILBRIDE MAINTAINED


ROUND-THE-CLOCK WATCHES ON DEVELOPMENTS AT THE AIRPORT


PHOTO: GREGORIO BORGIA


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