I am working on a LPG carrier as a third officer. Recently I am looking for drillship but I could not get the right information. First of all which certificate should I have for drillships? And what do you think about changing ship type lpg to drillship?
I think your timing is horrible and try again in a year. Seriously.
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NI DPO Unlimited HUET/BOSIET, SafeGulf, Helo, Environmental and some more.
I’d tend to agree with @cchick001. Not just because it’s hard to get into right now, but because the offshore O&G forecast is questionable at best. If you have a steady job right now it would suck to join an industry that might be trimming the fat again soon.
That being said, if your current job is not steady, or if oil starts coming back, and a drilling company wants to hire you then take a look. It is very different work than on a tanker, ie: no ports, almost no transits, you’re not responsible for much in the way of cargo. In my experience, some drillships have 3rd Mates sailing in that position mostly looking after safety equip and the painter. But most licensed guys end up as DPOs. In that case you should take a look at the Nautical Institute info.
As for the other offshore O&G specific requirements like HUET, etc, typically the company hiring you will get you trained on that.
So right now they have already started laying folks off and ships are loosing contracts with more to come in 2021 as soon as the oil Cos decide on what they are gonna spend next year. As a third mate on one of these things you will do some AB stuff and lots of safety equip maint but also you actually would be handling cargo but not in the conventional sense. But keep the job you got now or go with an agency for temp jobs if you are a fast learner and can figure out stuff on the fly. Or, keep your nice, stable job (relatively speaking) for a year or two and then revisit this idea of yours.
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Are you looking at working internationally, or specifically in US waters?
The situation is not much better internationally, but at least the market is wider.
Stay on LPG, move into LNG. Do not go into Offshore Drilling. LPG and LNG sectors are stronger, you could move into a production capacity on a FLNG later on, possibly then segway over, but honestly don’t waste your time.
You might also need one of these, the other kind don’t work well when wet.
Hydrobob: Sea-Segway
First of al thank you for your attention, some of them ara offensive but it works. I would like to work internationally and yes I am fast learner and like deck work. However you have the point I am not from the industry and could not know the situation, i will try to connect agencies to get the best information then I will decide. Thank you
I think it was mentioned before, DPO’s primarily are the licensed individuals (Deck Side). The Nautical Institute actually at one point didn’t have an minimum competency levels in place, so it wasn’t unheard of to have a Roughneck turned DPO.
Things have gotten better as far as licensing, the Nautical Institute does a good job of lining things out. Here is what your going up against!
GOM based companies have vacated the GOM and looking for work elsewhere, albeit to save on crew/insurance/oppurtunity etc… This has created a huge void, and the average DPO has years of experience and willing to survive on peanuts at this point.
Its been years since ive heard of a Drilling company offering Training, Basic/Advanced DP Training (required for your DP Book)
My suggestion, Stay Put! Your not missing much, Drillships are getting stacked faster than you can count! Each time that happens are pretty seasoned/veteran crew goes out looking for work. I have 14,000hrs on a DP Console, I could read you the operations manual verbatim
Since the OP is 3rd Mate on a LPG carrier he is obviously licensed.
Likewise, since there are no US flag LPG carriers according to official data from US Bureau of Transportation:
https://www.bts.gov/content/number-and-size-us-flag-merchant-fleet-and-its-share-world-fleet
(Hasn’t been any LNG/LPG carriers under US flag this century)
He is obviously already sailing “foreign” (may not even be a US citizen) and looking for work internationally, not GoM specifically.
Excellently points.
OP has a lot to consider