[srishiva]

Lovely thread. Would love to see more pics of cities in Iran. I always knew that they were very liberal and you can find churches etc in Iran.
We Indians do customize food to a great extent and there being a lot of them originally from Iran, we would have completely changed the taste while the shape would be retained !

[Aum]

Awesome write up Shreyas!
Have been to most of the countries in Middle east but not to Iran thus enjoyed reading through. Have heard though that Indian culture is appreciated a lot in Iran? what was your experience?
Nice to get a glimpse of life on a oil rig.

[ulhas.ahirrao]

Nice write-up. I stayed in Iran for a month back in 2007 for an assignment. Amazing country and amazing people. Their love for bollywood was awesome. It was snowing at that time and I could not believe the site of snow-capped mountains around Tehran. They also have a great Skiing resort 'Tochal' very nearby.

[grkonweb]

Very informative post on both life on an offshore oil rig and Iran. I had a very different view about Iran and after reading through I've changed my mind.

[Acharya]

A very interesting write up on equally interesting place.
Life on Rig was just the trailer, the real treat of this thread lies in the details that you've provided about Iran.
I am sure, many bhpians would have an impact on their opinion about Iran.

Thanks a lot for sharing!!

[airbender]

Lots of interesting points on Iran and oil rigs. I knew something about iran and Iraq and you posts are conforming. My dads friends used to visit these countries in the 1980s.

Did you see any non-Islamic worship places? How easy is it to practice a non-Islamic religion in that country.

Religion related questions are the only once I get contradictory answers reg Iran. Maybe you can clear that doubt.

[latentpotential]

Beautiful to see a fellow Indian who has experienced the lovely country and people of Iran.

In case you have picked up some Farsi by now 'Khaste nabashid' to you, and I hope that during your travel over the Persian Gulf you had a chance to see and perhaps even hold a few 'Aroosedariya'.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing more updates, Shreyas! As requested in your reported post, the new pics & updates have been added to post #2 of this thread .

[radiacz]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Very nice and informative thread.

You work in a very interesting area, Distributed Control Systems.

After I left the merchant navy / offshore I worked for a company dealing with DCS. At the time we were the European rep of Rexnord. They were bought by Texas Instruments a few years later. At the time our biggest competitor was Honeywell. They are still around, whereas my kids don’t even know TI.

Always enjoyed working in the automation and instrumentation industry. Did some teaching too.

Did you have to undergo any formal safety training before you were allowed on the rig?

Jeroen

Answering Jeroen question on safety training requirements, for an oil & gas company the requirements at their installation vary from company to company and installation to installation .

1. Normally for a Deepwater Drill ship or a Deep water semi -submersible, a valid BOSIET (basic offshore safety induction and emergency training) is mandatory . If you are in the tropical areas , then you need to do the tropical version of the BOSIET .

2. You also need a valid HUET (Helicopter Underwater Escape Training)

3. Every company will have their own safety induction as soon as you are on board. Based on company / country rules , an alcohol test / drug test is there just before you board the chopper. If the crew change happens by boat , then there is a travel by boat training (it's also covered in BOSIET).
If you are drilling a well which has sour crude then a H2S (theory & practical) is mandatory.

Based on your job profile / additional responsibility , you will need a first aid course (emergency /designated), fire training (basic / advanced) . If you are the "Company man" / Offshore installation manager there will be a lot more like PTW training (permit to work ) , PIC training (Person in charge ) , AGT (advanced Gas testing ) , NORM training (Naturally occurring radioactive materials) .

[raghu.t.k]

Nice and informative thread. Like many, has given a diff perspective of the country which is always portrayed in the negative.

[naveenroy]

Spectacular thread! Loved reading every bit of information about the country and the people. I've interacted with a few Iranians and thought they were always such nice people.

[mazda4life]

Excellently narrated and it was great reading about Iran and the oil industry, here in USA my reporting manager used to be a Iranian and can completely vouch for the generosity and good natured-ness of the Iranian people. I have had the vegetarian version of the pulav and it is so beautifully and mildly spiced that its absolutely drool worthy.

[shreyascashyap]

Originally Posted by dr. sen

Any more pictures we should expect? Please, do put some from the offshore and some from the country side and market place. I am sure, you had clicked hundreds. Had voted a deservedly 5 star rating, for such enlightening travelogue.

dr. sen

dr.sen I have added more photos, it's now part of the 2nd post I've made. Hope you like it.

Originally Posted by Aum

Awesome write up Shreyas!
Have been to most of the countries in Middle east but not to Iran thus enjoyed reading through. Have heard though that Indian culture is appreciated a lot in Iran? what was your experience?
Nice to get a glimpse of life on a oil rig.

Hey Aum. Yes, Indians and Indian culture are very much respected in Iran. There are actually a lot of similarities in the cultures of the two countries. Like I mentioned before, Bollywood is huge there and everyone loves Hindi movies. In fact, they think the story gets quite over the top so they have this phrase 'film hindi' in Farsi which they use to describe any situation they feel is very ludicrous!

Originally Posted by ulhas.ahirrao

It was snowing at that time and I could not believe the site of snow-capped mountains around Tehran. They also have a great Skiing resort 'Tochal' very nearby.

I agree ulhas. The sight of snow covered mountains ringing the city was fabulous, even more so during landing at the airport. However, as much as I enjoy snow, I'm not a fan of skiing. I have skied before in Korea and it was very difficult for me haha. I did not go to Tochal, I spent my time seeing other attractions.

Originally Posted by airbender

Lots of interesting points on Iran and oil rigs. I knew something about iran and Iraq and you posts are conforming. My dads friends used to visit these countries in the 1980s.

Did you see any non-Islamic worship places? How easy is it to practice a non-Islamic religion in that country.

Religion related questions are the only once I get contradictory answers reg Iran. Maybe you can clear that doubt.

Iran is predominantly a Muslim country with 98% of the population Muslim. While they have a rule in the constitution that the cops cannot question a person's faith or haul you in front of a court for not following Islamic scriptures and placing your faith in another religion, it's not very conducive for people to practice other faiths. People still identify themselves as Muslim even though they have confided in me that they are agnostic/atheist and don't follow any particular rules or regulations. There are 2-3 Hindu temples I know of. However, what I have noticed is that even though it's majorly a Muslim country, it is not as strict an atmosphere like say - Saudi Arabia. You don't have speakers all over the city blaring prayers 5 times a day, you are free to eat during ramzan during the day, shops don't close every few hours for prayers and so on. The people are also more open about religion and are able to have mature, adult conversations regarding faith. I've had many unfortunate experiences in Saudi when it came to involving the local populace in religious discussions, so this was a welcome change.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by airbender

Did you see any non-Islamic worship places? How easy is it to practice a non-Islamic religion in that country.

Religion related questions are the only once I get contradictory answers reg Iran. Maybe you can clear that doubt.

I don't think this is a topic to discuss here yet there are Hindu temples in Zahedan, and Bandar Abbas, Iskon restaurant in Tehran, and the 800 or so Sikhs in Tehran and a few thousand in Zahedan have a Gurudwaras of their own in both cities, https://www.worldgurudwaras.com/iran...e-teheran-iran

Rahul

[plimsollmark]

Hey a nice thread Shreyas. Good to see you take some time out and pen down your experiences. I am also in the offshore industry and in the marine side of it. Mostly working on smaller construction and vessels and also a drillship and involved in a lot of things but off late on a Dive support vessel.

Here are a few pics for the readers here !