HOW DO OIL RIGS GET THEIR GROCERIES?

It might seem pretty straightforward, but how they get groceries and supplies to and from an oil rig is much more of a challenge than you might think.

An oil rig is a platform out at sea that's main purpose is to drill a well to extract oil and process petroleum and natural gasses from the seabed. But an oil rig is essentially a remote factory that has hundreds of crew members, and all of them need access to a fresh water supply and fresh food. So, how do they maintain those essential items for several months at a time?

Well, the answer is to order in groceries that are brought in by ship. That can take up to a week to get to the rig, depending where the platform is.

Once the supply ship arrives, a special crane lowers a few highly trained crew members down to the ship. Their job is to connect the oil rig's crane cables to the supply containers, then the oil rig's crane operator lifts them up and gently lowers them onto the rig. Then it's time to cook, and that's a whole new challenge entirely.

Take a look at the video below by YouTube channel, Discovery Australia, on How Do Oil Platforms Get Their Groceries With Richard Hammond.