Offshore working

[stumitch]

I've been on the Monach Pugger whats your dads name ??? Everything Dai has said is correct and jpchef's food is btter than most as i'm on the same rig as him now and met Dai last time i was offshore as well. You can start offshore now at the bottom been a roustabout and work your way to driller in 5yrs, but the steps up there are pretty gruesome as a roughnecks life is a bit of a dogs one, been told to eat, sh1t, smoke when you can or when the driller allows you to. I know a lot of the oil companys use to make you work your way throught the ranks from roustabout to driller before they let you become a drilling engineer, the hottie i roughnecked with was lush watching her man handle bits of equipment around the rig floor. The R & R aspect of these rigs are different all the time, i've been on rigs were there are no TV's in the rooms, a dartboard with no darts or ping pong tables with no balls and then you get other rigs were there everything from snooker tables to pool tables and everything you can ever imagine to do whilst there. Some of the larger platforms like the Scott has a massive gym with sunbeds and sauna's, depends were you go and who operates the platform/rig.

[Dai D]

You back offshore Stu?

[Boombastik]

I have been working offshore for 9 years & i think its the best job in the world
depending on what you do offshore & the company you work for but i get 6 months off every year but still get paid for a full year.
I work on the drilling semi-submersible rigs that are on contract to shell ,I'm what they call in the industry a Service Hand.
The food is ok depending on what rig your on I'm on a rig called the Glomar Artic 3 & the food on there is realy good & the desserts are even better.
I used to work on a rig called the Sedco 711 & the food on there was shite depending on what chef was on at the time.
Accomodation is sufficant in some places extraordinary on the new platforms & down right horrible on the older ones like the Forties South Truss Accomidation.

The weather has another factor to play in the work place for instance if the average windspeed is above 40knots the cranes get put down so if you were requiring equipment moved then tuff luck just have to work around it or sit on your ass drinking tea & smoking fags untill the weather improves, & if you are on a floating rig the rig motion comes into play also with the high waves the rig will roll about a bit the worst I have been on was 9meter waves during the night & i was very nearly rolling out of bed.

The shifts can be hard 12 hours stright some time if realy busy you cant get lunch depending on your job of course & night shift during the winter months is a nightmare cause you dont see sunlight the whole time you are on board you go to bed in the morning you get up @ night & its still dark.

recration can be good for instance nearly all rigs now have free internet access, full working gym with all the latest equipment, countless DVD's to watch all the rooms have T.V's some also have DVD players, usualy free telephones to call any 1 you want, pool tables but not on the floating rigs as the balls tend to roll about, table tennis, golf driving range shooting into a net of course, sauna steam room, cinema some platforms have 50 seater cinema's, there is also a shop on board called a BOND that sells every thing from toothpaste to socks & fags but if you end up on a Global Santa Fe rig they dont sell fags so remeber & take your own & enough to last the trip.

& there is the PORN the Sedco 711 I used to work on put the PORN on every sunday & it used to run for a couple of days this was on the network so it was on every T.V & the best thing was your cabin door has a lock so no1 can walk in during a 5 knuckle shuffle.

you also get your washing done for free & sometimes depending on what rig your on they will even deliver it back to your cabin but dont get any of your good clothes washed as they use very hot water & i have seen some guys getting there good jumper back thats just big enough for my 5 year old son to wear. & also 1 for the ladies dont take any fancy underwear with you take boxer shorts instead, as i have heard of womens underwear going missing after a trip to the laundry & i have seen a drilling guy with a thong he nicked over his head once.

I hope this has shed some light on life offshore & not scared you away from the industry but the job is not for every one some people go once and vow never to return.

forgot to add the helicopter flight is ok a bit cramped if its full but if you could imagine sitting in a transit mini bus made of alluminum with 2 trubine engines strapped to the roof spinning 4 rota blades & traveling at 155mph 3000feet up over 10degrees water got the picture then thats what its like flying in a north sea helicopter.

[Pugger]

I've been on the Monach Pugger whats your dads name ???

Jim Steel

[Dai D]

Forties South Truss Accomidation

Scary place that.

[sunnybono]

interesting thread cause my mate is thinking about doing this at the moment to save some money up. what kinda salaries would somebody with no real qualifications get?

[Dai D]

I dont know for sure, Low twenties?

[Boombastik]

depends on who he worked for if it were drilling as a roustabout he could get around 25k a year if he went into a service company casing hand prob be the same but remember that if its 2 on 2 off you only work 6 months of the year the other 6 months can be spent earning cash onshore

[stumitch]

Forties South Truss Accomidation Scary place that.

Shudder
Yep on the Murchison platform at the moment with another 10 days to go
boombastik what do you do mate ?? I travel around a lot like Dai D so might end up bumping into you at some point

[Boombastik]

I have worked on the murchie a few times when i worked for wellserv Im a wireline supervisor I now work for expro what do you do Stu???

[Dai D]

Stu sits in the coffee shop a lot

[Boombastik]

far about do you work Dai

[Dai D]

I float about aswell, on the Borgsten dolphin last trip, off to the PBLJ next week some time.
I'm a LWD supr. for BHI Stu smokes tabs for Oil Tools.

Just waiting for his reply .........

[kkydd]

Dai , Stu & boombastik I am going to go for it but I have no offshore experience and would appericate all advice and help in getting a job, I have a mechanical Engineering degree but am not too bothered about persuing it anymore as I pissed off with it at the mo. I have some fabrication project enguneering experience for the oil industry as it is my current employers key business.

just been watching oil, sweat and rigs on discovery channel and haven't seen anything that has really put me off.

[Boombastik]

watching that prog on discovery made your mind up ?
I couldnt work on one of them rigs with all that yanks I have met a few yanks in my time and they are all arses
but havent came acroos any high ranking yanks for a while now the last time i met one was on beryl bravo & he was from the deep south t total hated coloured folks i think he was a member of the KKK
just a complete arse but I didt have much dealings with him

to get a job off shore & not be too worried as to what you want to do but be prepared to start at the bottom in any company that takes you on
1stly
do an internet search for oil companys or oil service companys or better still got www.rigzone.com you will find all the companys there then submit your C.V with a covering letter asking for any postions within the copamny they think you could full fill even if they dont intend to put you offshore 1st at least you get a foot in the door then anything can happen after that
most the websites will have a carrers page or a vacencies page for you to submit ur C.V

just to add to what i said earlier & i forgot to mention you will have to do 3 0r 5 day survival training here in aberdeen which consists of fighting fires & under water escape training in a hellicopter simulater ina swimming pool which is nerve racking 1st time but a lot of fun

[stumitch]

Stu smokes tabs for Oil Tools.
Just waiting for his reply .........

Oi you As Dai has said i work for KMC Oiltools as a Solids Control Flunky and if your serious kkydd and have your required certificates i'll give you a name for us as we are always looking for mechanics/fabricators as its a double role and would be saught after, starting salary is £175 a day for the trainee's but if your a good enough hand and are prepared to work, get a contract & you'll be on around £32k - £38k doing a 2 and 2 rotation BUT be prepared you'll never know when your home from 1 month to the next with most service companys.

[Dunkz]

I Just put my paperwork in a few days ago to leave the RAF. I'm currently seeking a job on the rigs myself. As far as I can tell and if you have any back bone about you then the life on the rigs would be pretty good, a nice change compared to what i'm used to. The only thing you might be bothered about is the blocks of time away from home. I spend most of my time away as it is so it's no issue for me but if u've got a family to look after then it's a different story.
if any of you have any contacts your willing to share for jobs then there quite welcome. So far I've had an interview with petrofac and I've spoken to brian mercer from PSN. If anyone has any other contacts their willing to share then please contact me. "it's not what u know it's who you know!"

[stumitch]

"it's not what u know it's who you know!"

and in the offshore industry it's "it's not what u know it's who you blow!"

[The Big Yin]

and in the offshore industry it's "it's not what u know it's who you blow!"

lol

[Pugger]

and in the offshore industry it's "it's not what u know it's who you blow!"

For coming up with that one even at 4.47am lol