Hi,
I’m currently trying to switch from deep sea vessels to MODU’s. I have been sailing Chief Mate aboard various container vessels. I can’t seem to get into contact with any offshore drilling companies. I have even applied online for 3rd mate jobs to try and get in. Any advice is welcome. Thank you in advance.
take a number kid and wait in line…and no cutting!
while you’re waiting you might like to read an existing thread or two about this very subject…take your pick, I think there’s maybe thirty or forty of them available to choose from.
And since you don’t have DP you may have to work on a lowly mud boat to get it…
Or go work for Noble.
[QUOTE=PDCMATE;118493]Or go work for Noble.[/QUOTE]
I’d work for Noble in a heartbeat to gain the experience! They ain’t calling back either…
[QUOTE=Bloodyshitcakes;118499]I’d work for Noble in a heartbeat to gain the experience! They ain’t calling back either…[/QUOTE]
i second that. getting a job with noble is not as easy as everyone thinks. even with them, it’s the same catch-22 regarding DP cert.
for the guy that started this thread… the quick and dirty of that “knocking on doors in LA” thread is pack up your gear, scan ALL your docs, certs, licenses on flash drive then pack them up, and fly or drive to SE LA and be ready to fill out lots of applications. you can probably hit them all in 2-3 days. don’t pack a suit, it’ll be a waste of time and energy. just clean/casual. you’re a lot more likely to get some face time than being just another online application. don’t waste time on drillers right now, they tend to move a lot slower than boat operators. there is often no rhyme or reason with how or when boat operators hire. but anything is possible down here with all the vessels under construction, very high turnover rate due to dollar chasing, and expanding company fleets. if you are really keen on switching fields of play then don’t turn your nose up at anything that is offered.
certainly consider taking basic DP yourself. it’s not cheap, but it shows initiative, and it maybe the difference maker.
generally speaking, boat operators don’t care about your c/m container experience, let alone your unlimited license.
Full DP certification, offshore experience and ship handling in/out of places like Fourchon (okay, maybe there’s really no place else like fourchon), is more important to them than anything else, and as far as I can tell, in that order.
you can already tell there are a lot of short fuses on here, but it is a great place for info. just search first, ask questions much, much later.
you’ll find there are very, very few unturned stones amongst these salts.
with sequestration affecting MSP allocation (doesn’t matter that MSP has been approved if the money isn’t there) and the permanent shrinking of APL fleet and likely death of USEC Horizon by spring if not end 2013, you are in a very crowded field…
[QUOTE=Johnny Canal;118516]you can already tell there are a lot of short fuses on here, but it is a great place for info. just search first, ask questions much, much later.
you’ll find there are very, very few unturned stones amongst these salts.[/QUOTE]
RUBBAH! or REVERY!..you can pick but I still say the former and not the latter!
you Craker Kroker you! (or is that Kraker Croker?)
have I ever mentioned that I hope to look (and smell) like Gabby Johnson when I grow up…
Really? They take about anyone from what I have seen, especially Chief Mates and Masters straight from MSC and Shipping. Who needs experience any more in drilling operations and knowledge of the rigs to work on them!
[QUOTE=PDCMATE;118530]Really? They take about anyone from what I have seen, especially Chief Mates and Masters straight from MSC and Shipping. Who needs experience any more in drilling operations and knowledge of the rigs to work on them![/QUOTE]
no. b.s.
i was in their office just a few months ago, they just won’t take anyone (as far as I can tell) these days w/o DP cert. let alone prior drilling experience. i had no luck getting DPO trainee job either, even with drilling experience and fair bit of DP time (although not enough for cert)
it seems to be a totally different world post deepwater horizon.
trust me when i say i am not tooting my own horn, but Noble offered me a Capt job on new build almost 4 years ago w/ no c/m or Capt experience on drilling vessels. i didn’t have DP cert either. they only cared about license. even though i know i would have hated it, i certainly regret saying no simply for the DP certificate aspect.
as much as that says about Noble it was offered to me while i was on a semi sub MODU (not Noble) drilling for shell as dpo w/no cert. Out of 4 dpos, only 1 had a cert, and one sr dpo did not have certificate. i had more DP time than the other 2 dpos and the sr dpo who didn’t have his cert either. i was working as contract hand but was getting multiple offers of jobs from different drillers from dpo to Capt.
that just seemed to be the nature of things at the time as everyone was either expanding or appearing out of thin air with deepwater drilling toys in need of USCG unlimited licenses.
it really does seem to me that things have totally changed with the drillers after deepwater horizon, but they still haven’t figured out the need for DPO trainee positions.
of course i could be completely wrong about all this, and just fail to realize that i didn’t get a recent job offer b/c i went to KP.