# HOS in a good position **URL:** \ **Category:** Offshore\ **Created:** [January 28, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808 "2016-01-28T10:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fraqrat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/fraqrat/32/1961_2.png) [@Fraqrat](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Fraqrat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/21 "2016-01-29T09:21:02Z")
I hate 28/14 and so does my family, but the incredible deal on that stock tho. ---
**Author:** ![tugsailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@tugsailor](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tugsailor)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 9:35am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/22 "2016-01-29T09:35:28Z")
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;177965]I hate 28/14 and so does my family, but the incredible deal on that stock tho.[/QUOTE] HOS had to do 28/14. Most of their guys couldn’t have made their mortgage, second mortgage, car, boat, and four wheeler payments — after the paycuts — without working a lot more days. HOS was just looking out for the guys it kept. ---
**Author:** ![dredgeboater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@dredgeboater](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dredgeboater)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 9:47am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/23 "2016-01-29T09:47:00Z")
> [@"tugsailor"](#): > > HOS had to do 28/14. Most of their guys couldn’t have made their mortgage, second mortgage, car, boat, and four wheeler payments — after the paycuts — without working a lot more days. HOS was just looking out for the guys it kept. Of course you may be joking about the stereotypical oilfield mariner, but I can assure you that most of the mariners left after the first few rounds of layoffs have more intelligence than that. What will drive them off is the 30/12 schedule (counting travel). HOS will loose a much larger number due to the schedule than if pay was just cut. ---
**Author:** ![pogey-poboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pogey-poboy](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/pogey-poboy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/24 "2016-01-29T11:45:38Z")
> [@"dredgeboater"](#): > > In all cases these difficult changes have been handled very poorly by management in a manner that showed that any talk of valuing their mariners is mainly lip service. There is no difference when it comes to throat cutting by the different companies. It has been handled the same each time a slow down comes around. Kiss your ass when they need you, won’t take your phone calls when they don’t. That’s just the way it is. Some leave the industry and return, some do not. When the companies start throwing money and even time schedules around again, some of you will be back and sipping the kool aid again. If you worked with some of the old timers that told you the horror stories of previous layoffs and you did not heed their advice, well, sorry for you. I have only worked in the GOM. I have never worked towing or deep sea. I also didn’t buy into this ‘we are family’ nonsense. If you think you’re going to be hunting buddies with operations and management, then you have your priorities mixed up. You are here to operate equipment to generate revenue for your employer so that they can continue to pay you to keep doing your job. I also know that the only open door policy is the one you walk through on your way out. Those that left because a company went 28/14, if you don’t like it- leave. No one is forcing you to work there. ---
**Author:** ![acesouthcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@acesouthcoast](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/acesouthcoast)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/25 "2016-01-29T12:35:12Z")
> [@"dredgeboater"](#): > > The rainbows and unicorns went away with the snow cone dispensers when the price of oil fell off a cliff. It is not hard to see (especially for the high caliber mariners left) that when pretty much the entire pre 2013 OSV fleet is laid up that there will be a need for layoffs or when day rates for the new vessels still working are down to a point where it is difficult to break even that there will be a need for significant pay cuts. While I understand the strictly financial viewpoint of moving to a 28/14 schedule (cut overhead costs 25%), the downside of that is harder to measure financially-the cost of losing many of the above referenced high caliber mariners en-masse, potential incidents arising from battlefield promotions (lack of past failures is not necessarily evidence of success or competence), morale of those that stay having to work/travel 8.5 months a year (most came to HOS because they were one of the only companies that offered even time rotations). Also, as others have alluded to in this thread it is not strictly what has needed to be done but how it was handled. In all cases these difficult changes have been handled very poorly by management in a manner that showed that any talk of valuing their mariners is mainly lip service. They were the company of choice at one point, IMHO that ship has sailed. You are spot on with the lip service comment. HOS laid it on so thick about how they loved the mariners and the company was nothing without them. Then in 2009 when the economy shit the bed i witnessed around 100 mariners out of 300 on the tug/barge side get laid off or fired for petty bullshit like not wearing proper PPE when crew changing at court street in brooklyn. I get they needed to make cuts but the way it was done was pretty rotten. ---
**Author:** ![z-drive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c37758/32.png) [@z-drive](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/z-drive)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/26 "2016-01-29T13:06:55Z")
I still want to know how many of the golden boys aren’t being fucked with? There have to be the chosen ones being taken care of. ---
**Author:** ![dredgeboater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@dredgeboater](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dredgeboater)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/27 "2016-01-29T13:11:37Z")
> [@"z-drive"](#): > > I still want to know how many of the golden boys aren’t being fucked with? There have to be the chosen ones being taken care of. Only one comes to mind immediately in the sense that I can’t believe he has retained his job throughout this downturn, especially this most recent go around. Tits on a bull doesn’t even begin to describe his level of uselessness. ---
**Author:** ![Wrench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbce88/32.png) [@Wrench](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Wrench)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/28 "2016-01-29T14:52:58Z")
[QUOTE=dredgeboater;177986]…I can’t believe he has retained his job throughout this downturn, especially this most recent go around. Tits on a bull doesn’t even begin to describe his level of uselessness.[/QUOTE] Well said!!! Some of these guys should of been canned long ago but are hanging on like leaches because they are COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT and can’t get hired anywhere else. There are “some” remaining (by far Not the majority) that won’t be of ANY benefit when things do turn around. They’re simply cheap-labor for the time being. I know some of the good ones here are firing off resumes daily in hopes they land something else and will jump ship immediately when it happens. HOS will be left with the incompetence they SHOULD of got rid of long ago…and Will when things finally turn for the better. ---
**Author:** ![skip\_jiblet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@skip\_jiblet](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/skip_jiblet)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/29 "2016-01-29T15:03:50Z")
I heard from a reliable source inside HOS that there is some harsh animosity in the “upper” tier of management about the selling of tug/barge fleet. They shoulda kept them boats, that is solid sustainable revenue. Genesis has had incremental increases in the day rates for the equipment they stole from Hornbeck. Take a look at HOS stock compared to Genesis…no brainer. ---
**Author:** ![acesouthcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@acesouthcoast](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/acesouthcoast)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/30 "2016-01-29T23:47:46Z")
> [@"skip jiblet"](#): > > I heard from a reliable source inside HOS that there is some harsh animosity in the “upper” tier of management about the selling of tug/barge fleet. They shoulda kept them boats, that is solid sustainable revenue. Genesis has had incremental increases in the day rates for the equipment they stole from Hornbeck. Take a look at HOS stock compared to Genesis…no brainer. I would love to know who was in favor of keeping the tug/barge fleet. I remember at annual training they would show us graphs of profits for the tug/barge fleet vs. OSV’s. Tugs were a steady line with occasional hill and valley while the OSV’s were all over the place. HOS never put there heart into that equipment and its a shame because they had some excellent crew who had been on the boats going all the way back to when HESS owned them. I specifically remember a coon ass former captain turned safety nazi come aboard our tug and try to tell me that i should get on the OSV’s because they were the future. ---
**Author:** ![Jemplayer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/jemplayer/32/523_2.png) [@Jemplayer](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Jemplayer)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 8:47am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/31 "2016-02-03T08:47:28Z")
Never liked HOS as an employer when things were good. When asked to cut my hair as a condition of employment was enough to let me know I would never fit in, I do love them as a stock. I was just talking to the wife the other day about picking up a few shares and sit on it for a few years, even she the super conservative one said it was a good idea immediately. Also planning to pick up some Tidewater. Possibly some drilling stock, but I’ll have to do some research. ---
**Author:** ![tugboatchief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tugboatchief](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/tugboatchief)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 9:03am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/32 "2016-02-03T09:03:21Z")
I sold my HOS and SDRL took the loss but bought some GOOG with a few shekels. It’s paid off greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer69](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/flyer69/32/6000_2.png) [@Flyer69](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Flyer69)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/33 "2016-04-13T12:10:01Z")
[QUOTE=tugboatchief;178284]I sold my HOS and SDRL took the loss but bought some GOOG with a few shekels. It’s paid off greatly.[/QUOTE] [http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rid-hornbeck-offshore-hos-now-130701829.html](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rid-hornbeck-offshore-hos-now-130701829.html) Now yahoo finance is saying to dump it as well. ---
**Author:** ![KJ100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/85f322/32.png) [@KJ100](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/KJ100)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 9:58am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/34 "2016-04-21T09:58:42Z")
28/14…? Ugh…I fought for years to get 28/28 so I can work on something outside of this business. I finally got it, but it did not last for long (less than one year). I have not been laid off, but sitting at home since the first week in February. There are a few companies that have not laid many people off. On the other hand, there are many that once the boat comes off contract gets tied to the dock and the crew sent home. I have been in this business for 19 years and admit this lifestyle sucks. But then again it is an unstable business. I need to work on something else while I still have some life left in me. Ugh…I am so burned out of this oil business. I hope it is not too late for a career change. ---
**Author:** ![z-drive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c37758/32.png) [@z-drive](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/z-drive)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/35 "2016-04-21T10:22:31Z")
> [@"KJ100"](#): > > 28/14…? Ugh…I fought for years to get 28/28 so I can work on something outside of this business. I finally got it, but it did not last for long (less than one year). I have not been laid off, but sitting at home since the first week in February. There are a few companies that have not laid many people off. On the other hand, there are many that once the boat comes off contract gets tied to the dock and the crew sent home. I have been in this business for 19 years and admit this lifestyle sucks. But then again it is an unstable business. I need to work on something else while I still have some life left in me. Ugh…I am so burned out of this oil business. I hope it is not too late for a career change. not sure what planet you’re from, but that’s what 99.9% of the population consider laid off. ---
**Author:** ![Louie\_Louie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Louie\_Louie](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Louie_Louie)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/36 "2016-04-21T21:03:14Z")
KJ100 you sir, are laid off. I’m sure you’ll be getting a call from Covington soon. Don’t think for a moment you are immune. There were HOS veterans with 10+ years work history that helped build the company that got laid off and benefits expired the day before said call. Academy grads (KP, Cal, A&M, Mass) get to stay around b/c they are coveted (degrees). Hawspipers are not so lucky. Dime a dozen. Easily replaceable when and if it picks back up. Tell us KJ100; how many vessels does HOS have stacked? I’ve lost count. ---
**Author:** ![Fraqrat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/fraqrat/32/1961_2.png) [@Fraqrat](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Fraqrat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2016, 9:56am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/37 "2016-04-22T09:56:53Z")
> [@"Louie\_Louie"](#): > > Academy grads (KP, Cal, A&M, Mass) get to stay around b/c they are coveted (degrees). Hawspipers are not so lucky. Dime a dozen. Easily replaceable when and if it picks back up. Wow…coveted? Dime a dozen? Really? You sure bout all that? ---
**Author:** ![salt\_n\_steel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/salt_n_steel/32/1367_2.png) [@salt\_n\_steel](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/salt_n_steel)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/38 "2016-04-22T13:38:28Z")
Lots of academy types remaining have left or trying to decide if they can ride out the slump now. The attrition at HOS seems to be the full spectrum. First hand knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Louie\_Louie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Louie\_Louie](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Louie_Louie)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/39 "2016-04-22T20:24:49Z")
An academy type in his/her 20’s with an Unlimited MMC and a diploma is worth more than a hawspiper with 15+ years experience. I hate to say it, but it is the way it is and it’s the future in maritime. A completed college education at HOS is praised. It’s very unfortunate that seasoned veterans have been let go. Those sailors built HOS. Now they are scrambling to find work in an ever competitive industry. Fraq, you sir, are lucky. But don’t think for a moment you are safe. One safety slip up, one bad evaluation, or one cancelled long term charter and you could be like the 1000+ other mariners that have been let go or laid off. I’m sure you’ve lost count how many of your shipmates have been RIF’d due to no fault of their own. When I heard talks broke down in Doha and a production freeze will not happen due to a Sunni - Shiites pissing match, I wondered how long it’ll take HOS to burn through their cash reserves and how soon the next round of layoffs will hit Covington and Fourchon. When the new builds start getting stacked don’t be surprised. Also, with regards to HOS, the investor comes first, not the sailors. Mutual fund families and Wall St. wield a stronger say in HOS’s value and bottom line. Best of luck to y’all ---
**Author:** ![z-drive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c37758/32.png) [@z-drive](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/z-drive)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808/40 "2016-04-22T20:44:13Z")
Why have academy types been laid off yet hawsepipers still are employed? the facts do not support your logic. As an academy guy, I can tell you any difference between the two should be gone after a year or two of sailing. [Previous page](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808.md?page=1) [Next page](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/hos-in-a-good-position/15808.md?page=3)