Hear a lot on this forum about mariners wanting to get into drilling. Has anyone left, or known someone who left drilling for other parts of the maritime industry? Union Deep Sea, Research, Tankers, Tugs, OSVs, IMR, Etc?
Crickets chirping
I’ve heard a few stories about bridge guys not being able to handle the boats and taking off.
drilling and mariners in the same sentence, funny…
i’m working with people now that complain about having to correct 3 or 4 charts of the GOM, have never stood an underway navigational watch, never tied up a ship, never done safety inspections, never even been into port, never taken on /dropped off a pilot, never seen a sea buoy…
to be sure that is not all of the “mates” on the drillships, but it certainly is a lot of them. i’m surprised there isn’t a Dynamic Positioning Academy by this point in the game.
Would anyone be able to speak about their experience going the other way, (from OSV’s to Rigs)? It seems to be in the back of a lot of guys’ heads that I’ve come across on the OSV side.
As far as benefits, pay, crew changes, and overall happiness? Some are very worried about extreme boredom after having been handling boats and having a lot more hands on action that makes the time go by a little faster. To go from a position like that to say, a DPO on a drillship, might be a big culture shock.
Has anyone done such a career switch that has regretted it? Or is it just the opposite where the pros would outweigh the cons to a point where they were happy with their move?
[QUOTE=BoatDrivahh;124433]Would anyone be able to speak about their experience going the other way, (from OSV’s to Rigs)? It seems to be in the back of a lot of guys’ heads that I’ve come across on the OSV side.
As far as benefits, pay, crew changes, and overall happiness? Some are very worried about extreme boredom after having been handling boats and having a lot more hands on action that makes the time go by a little faster. To go from a position like that to say, a DPO on a drillship, might be a big culture shock.
Has anyone done such a career switch that has regretted it? Or is it just the opposite where the pros would outweigh the cons to a point where they were happy with their move?[/QUOTE]
i just switched from deep sea (containers, tankers, RO/ROs) to drillships. i had to for convenience sake of new born. money is good, but regularity of schedule is more important.
my first time trying out the DPO gig was a HUGE shock, so this time is much less so. I am already bored out of my mind, but I don’t have to worry about MSP being yanked out from underneath my feet. that’s worth a lot to me
i can assure you there are a lot of deep sea guys worried about their jobs right now.
I made the switch. First job out of school was a trainee DPO about 7 years ago and the pay hasn’t been matched yet but it was very different than what I expected. DPO/drilling is one of the best jobs out there pay-wise and benefits (depending on company of course) but if you’re not happy then it’s only a matter of time. Unless you absolutely need the money…
I worked on a tug and barge dredging and then on tankers for a while. I felt I learned a lot more hands-on there than by staring at manuals for 12 hours a day.
Yes, there was the rundowns of all the equipment and going around the different departments to see how everything runs on a drillship. The company was great, benefits great, training great, top-of-the-line state of the art vessel, but eventually you are at your desk, for a long time, at the same spot… If you can do it then that is great. There is no “perfect” job in my opinion so it always is a major risk if you shift.
I don’t know anyone else that has left drilling and most of my colleagues/friends say it was not a smart move but ultimately you do what YOU think is best for you.
Hope that helps and best of luck