His may have been covered but I would like a fresh perspective on the company you work for. The pros, cons, amenities for crew comfort, the new vessels coming out, coordinators, managers etc. wondering if on all these new boats have they made the vessels more comfortable for crew. IE private bathrooms, TV’s in rooms, gyms, can you fish, work attire and so on. I think this could be great for people job hunting and to get a better understanding between companies in the gulf. We know they are not created equally! Thanks in advance for your replies.
This thread should yield some interesting replies. Coordination and dispatching efficiency can potentially be as important to crews as the creature comforts you mentioned and are, I think, higher up on management’s list of priorities. The fact that a happy crew is a more efficient crew doesn’t often surface in the “big picture” painted by the bean-counters . But that’s just my limited experience speaking, and none of THAT is in the oil patch, just aboard other ships in that class. Maybe the oil bidness is different, and certainly the philosophy differs from one company to the next.
Nemo
BTW I am with one of those companies working in the patch that don’t give a damn crew being comfortable Been in the biz for 10 yrs as captain And the only thing I want when I get off is to try and drift from the boat to relax Creature comforts would be nice since most of us run 30 plus million dollar vessel. I hope some people speak up.
Yeah and being treated worse than a prisoner, they trust us to run their 30 million dollar vessel but don’t trust you to go walk to the store to get a paper. Punish the ones that needs to be punished , we are all grown men out here if I screw up then fire me , but don’t punish the rest of the fleet.
Most of the vessels have decent staterooms private or shared heads. We have large flat screens in the mess area and lounge. Sat TV system with splitter boxes fully loaded Direct TV package. When splitters are present regular crew have brought boxes from home and added to the vessels account for their rooms. They do not supply TV’s for rooms. Most of the fleet have Vsat and wifi for the crew. It is still being rolled out so not every vessel has it but it’s coming. Gym equipment varies from boat to boat and is generally bought by crew. Some vessels with a dedicated gym have company bought equipment. You have to wear company provided uniforms. There is no fishing from company vessels. I have never had issues with our crew coordinator and this will vary from person to person. Same goes for training department. I have never had issue with the operations department either. If you go to your Manager and tell them what’s wrong they throw everything at it until its solved. This will vary from person to person as well. Some people have unrealistic expectation and won’t be satisfied short of rebuilding the boat completely. I shopped around before I left Turdwater and went to Hornbeck. I’m happy and have no desire to leave. After taking a tour of the Harvey Supporter the newbuilds from Eastern Shipyard will be nice. I have toured the HOS Coral and the 8 boats from Halter will be like them but 320 foot. All of the newbuilds will have the latest and greatest electronics equipment. Travel pay is not an issue for me but others feel its inadequate. This company is no different than others in regard to leaving the boat while off watch. The boat needs to be ready to leave at a moments notice. You should have brought everything you needed when you crew changed. Who reads the paper anyways? In the end it’s a like any other boat company in the world. It’s in business to make money. They aren’t here to kiss our asses. You get paid to do a job. Do it well and you will be treated with respect. Opportunities to upgrade and training are dependent on budget and company needs. Those opportunities are earned as well through good evals and a positive attitude. Just because you showed up doesn’t mean they have to pay for your upgrades.
With my company no fishing. No TVs in the rooms. No shorts. No fishing. No gym. Basically sleep and work. No private heads just public. The Norwegians have it right. I am not bitching but rather trying to see the difference. I think a lot of people have shipped this thread with not wanting to say much. Just would be nice if a company put the crew first on our FLOATING ASYLUMS. Maybe there is one out there!?!
Why no fishing? Seems like cheap entertainment. We do it here.
Used to be able too with the crew boats but I with supply we have too many rules. Can’t use the head without paperwork and proper PPE. Fishing = fun therefor forbidden.
No fishing? That is outright ridiculous and completely un-American.
Back in the day we use to fish all the time but then the fishermen complain so you need a license to fish then it got the be a safety issue when someone comes up and there is a hook in his head or face and you have to fly him in. or the rig spots a little oil shine coming from you boat so they send you in and go to dry dock to cut fishing line out of the shaft seals that is a loss so yep no fishing. we use to go out and get a beer to but alot of people can’t do that they have to get shit face falling down drunk wreck the car fall over board so yep no beer. The boat have gotten a lot better over the years state rooms whit the on heads and showers big screen tv’s and it is going to get better for the crews.
Yeah we are nothing more than pirates and skallywags, only thing that’s changed is the treasure.
Still boat trash to the office. We run the boat that make the money yet the office can’t stand us. Overseas a captain has some support and is held as a person of rank. Here in the great GOM we might as well say we work at McDonalds. Truth is a bastard huh !!!
That it is my friend!!!
Wow you guys must work at some shit companies. Anyone care to share with the class the names of these places.
Given that all these companies are trying to make a buck with the equipment at hand has kept me level headed about the things I don’t like. Sometimes a boat needs to be delivered during the holiday season. Sometimes my license is needed to keep a boat I don’t like on the job. Doing my part to keep the company fiscally healthy is good for me and them. I’ve generally been happy working for Seacor. The grass might be greener on the other side, but it’s brown in different spots. If one company was literally head and shoulders better to work for than others, there’d be heck to pay for the other companies. I will say that each operator seems to have a unique operating philosophy, and the best bet is finding the one that best jibes with yourself.
So the Gulf boat companies took all the sailor’s knives way too?
Don’t they know that “a sailor without a knife is like a whore without a ----”
Boat companies didn’t do it the oil companies did. You know how everything in the oilfield has to be done by lowest common denominator.
I guess there is not much point in catching fish if you can’t have a knife to clean them.
Did they take the forks out of the galley too, and replace them with sporks? Or did they just remove any solid food that might be a choking hazard, and limit the grub to yogurt, applesause, grits, lard, and oatmeal?
Somebody needs to tell them that life is a hazardous adventure and in the end we all end up dead.
Shush!!! Your giving them ideas.
I was kind of thinking the government as a whole.