Monadelphous workers cease Prelude maintenance

Monadelphous’ contract workers at Shell Australia’s Prelude floating liquified natural gas (FLNG) vessel in Western Australia went on strike last week amid negotiations for a new enterprise agreement.

The contractor has been working with members of its offshore oil and gas workforce and their representatives since December 2019 to negotiate a new enterprise agreement. The current agreement expired in April 2020.

“We are disappointed we have not been able to reach an agreement to date, however we will continue to work with our employees and their representatives in order to achieve an agreement which is fair, reasonable and aligned to current market conditions,” a Monadelphous spokesperson said.

“The safety and wellbeing of our people, as well as the delivery of reliable and efficient services to our customers, remains a priority for Monadelphous.”

Shell responded to the looking strike action by stating that the company values its contractor workforce.

The operator stated that the contractors “make a significant contribution to our onshore and offshore activities in Australia, and, as always, the health, safety and wellbeing of those who work on our sites is of the utmost priority.”

Production was suspended at Prelude FLNG in February 2020 after its reserve power generation failed because of an electrical trip.

Shell advised that due to technical issues there was a delay in starting up the back-up diesel generators, which impacted certain amenities on board.

At the time of the incident, the company made the proactive decision to temporarily reduce the number of people on board.

Workers from Monadelphous are currently undertaking engineering and construction work to bring the Prelude FLNG back online. 

Monadelphous was awarded the $200 million maintenance service contract at Prelude in 2015, and is set to expire in 2022.

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