I want all viewers to be very wary of joining Pacific Drilling. I am sure they will not be hiring anytime soon!!! I have been employed here for quite sometime and they have not been treating employees as they advertise. Instead of doing the right thing they have fired people for poor reasons or no explanation at all, this is to save money as well as not to have the reputation of laying people off. The management is as poor as I’ve ever seen, leading by fear for your job rather than being a true leader, also a real lack of job knowledge. There are many mangers with no spine to stand up for what is right. They are making people work in upper level positions and paying them as mid level onboard managers. I admit I drank the kool aid at first but if you ever plan on making the move to Pacific be very careful and don’t say I didn’t tell you!!! People may say this is a rant, it may be different onboard other vessels within the company, but this is my truth.
Wow- that sucks but thanks for having guts to post. I know good people who left established positions as DPO at (company of choice) to go to the Shang-ra-la world of drillships.
As the saying goes " if it’s too good to be true then it usually is."
indeed…my condolences to you for having to work under such conditions. it just goes to show what a miserable business the offshore industry really is once the rose colored glasses come off and see the reality of what it truly is…\
my eternal gratitude however for your voice…
That is all true. Work as senior position, paid less than your subordinates. Strongarm employees into bad/illegal decisions. Lead by fear is exactly right. Everyone is hoping the new owners will treat the people better. So I’ve heard, anyway…
It’s not just pacific drilling. I met a chief engineer for ensco once, hired for his license but made absolutely zero decisions, was simply a paper chief. A more experienced guy from the drilling side was filling the chiefs position. The company had to meet manning requirements, hence the paper chief. I guess it all pays the same, just pretty shady in my book.
What should Pacific Drilling do then? Wouldn’t you as a business owner do everything you could to both, keep employees employed and still stay afloat?
this today
OCTOBER 29, 2015 — Another South Korean shipbuilding giant has been hit with the cancelation of an offshore drilling unit order.
Pacific Drilling S.A. (NYSE:PACD) reports that it has exercised its right to rescind the construction contract for ultra-deepwater drillship Pacific Zonda “due to the failure by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) to timely deliver a vessel that substantially meets the criteria required for completion of the vessel in accordance with the construction contract and its specifications.”
Pacific Drilling says it made advance payments totaling approximately $181.1 million under the shipbuilding contract, and will be seeking a refund of the installment payments.
The company inked a contract for the drillship with Samsung Heavy on January 25, 2013 that provided for a delivery date of March 31, 2015.
The cancelation comes after the October 27 news that Fred Olsen Energy had canceled an semisubmersible drilling rig order at Hyundai Heavy Industries and the October 26 announcement that Transocean, Shell ans Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) had agreed to push back the operating and delivery contracts of two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships - the Deepwater Pontus and the Deepwater Poseidon - by 12 months each.
who will be the first to crash and burn? Pacific, Vantage, OceanRig? Gotta be getting really icky at these companies today more than one year into the crude oil trainwreck!
[QUOTE=NewEngr;168247]That is all true. Work as senior position, paid less than your subordinates. Strongarm employees into bad/illegal decisions. Lead by fear is exactly right. Everyone is hoping the new owners will treat the people better. So I’ve heard, anyway…[/QUOTE]
Absolutely true, the current chiefs have less than six months of first time under their belt from what I’ve been told by a close friend, they are paying one chief his original first wages and the other is getting his original second wages. so you have a chief being paid as a second, who is in charge of the vessel and a first that makes more money than him. I guess this is why they call it flag of convienence!!! Karma will bite this company and looks to already have from what I recently read.
[QUOTE=markansas;171998]What should Pacific Drilling do then? Wouldn’t you as a business owner do everything you could to both, keep employees employed and still stay afloat?[/QUOTE]
I would like to add that if you are a current Pacific employee please do not post on this page, because of Memo 004 and there social media policy, which is obivious “some” are not following. Another reason why to be careful of this company, there is ZERO consistency in any policy they have, when you ask about it, the people that wrote the policy either get but hurt that it makes no sense or verbally tell you to do something else, actually comical/laughable the incompetence in the office. It reins true here as everywhere else, the smartest people are on the rigs!
[QUOTE=markansas;171998]What should Pacific Drilling do then? Wouldn’t you as a business owner do everything you could to both, keep employees employed and still stay afloat?[/QUOTE]
I would stay afloat by cutting the fat in the office first of all, there are way to many managers, for instance why would you have rig management with so called drilling experience (or some would think) being paid large amounts of money to manage a vessel that is not drilling, these people are clueless on how to manage a ship, which is what a drillship is that is not drilling, and please correct me if I’m wrong!!! From what I understand they are so clueless they don’t even know the capabilities of the vessel after being part of the team from the beginning, like what fuel the engines can burn or dragging anchor and what, when and why that might happen. I would definitely get rid of several office positions and really look into my marketing personnel. I would say that a company that once had 8 rigs, with 5 working with 2 clients might need to diversify their portfolio, again please correct me if I were wrong. Clients from what I’ve been told shy away, which seems obvious, due to the poor management in the office. They have kept there employees for the moment, key word for the moment, when this turns around after the reputation that has been created, people will run away and never look back.
So we know you are a Pacific employee, or at least you were from your original post in September. You won’t go wrong following their policies, which I would pretty confidently say don’t have you doing something illegal or immoral. You should spend time brushing up on Pacific’s SMS then you will not have to ask anyone what the policies are, but instead you can show everyone on your rig how smart you are because you can not only quote policy, but more importantly back yourself up.
[QUOTE=The Commodore;173176]So we know you are a Pacific employee, or at least you were from your original post in September. You won’t go wrong following their policies, which I would pretty confidently say don’t have you doing something illegal or immoral. You should spend time brushing up on Pacific’s SMS then you will not have to ask anyone what the policies are, but instead you can show everyone on your rig how smart you are because you can not only quote policy, but more importantly back yourself up.[/QUOTE]
In most cases I would agree, but many policies have as with most companies been written by those who have little clue as to what goes on on a rig, whether it be operational or not. They are written with ambiguity so there are questions by those with intelligence. The policies are to be followed and are in place and many are good, however if it is a policy that may make the person that wrote it look bad or spend money there is hesitation. Paperwork as simple as a TBRA has wording that makes it confusing on who signs or who is in charge of an area, but again not surprising here as I have learned.
[QUOTE=Wangan;173220]In most cases I would agree, but many policies have as with most companies been written by those who have little clue as to what goes on on a rig, whether it be operational or not. They are written with ambiguity so there are questions by those with intelligence. The policies are to be followed and are in place and many are good, however if it is a policy that may make the person that wrote it look bad or spend money there is hesitation. Paperwork as simple as a TBRA has wording that makes it confusing on who signs or who is in charge of an area, but again not surprising here as I have learned.[/QUOTE]
another thing to keep in mind is that many in management that are not very good managers in my mind, do not like people asking questions regarding policy or to bring up policy, they will run you off, because they are only familiar with policy that can threaten people with their job, and very few managers I’ve worked with are up to speed on policy
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The next two rigs to be on the look out are the PML and PKN, the same hatchet man will be out to get those rigs, beware if you are working there, they have sent the “best” man for the job 
[QUOTE=markansas;171998]What should Pacific Drilling do then? Wouldn’t you as a business owner do everything you could to both, keep employees employed and still stay afloat?[/QUOTE]
How is the stock doing after all these cuts, boy they sure are some good businessmen, haha!!! Looks to me like it is worse!!! I bet the investors are real happy!!!
I don’t know if it is sadder that you continue to post about this, or that I allow myself to respond to your silliness. These read like some spoiled kid who got his 1st job out of school making a ton of money first in Korea then in the Gulf of Mexico and as the industry has changed you are realizing it might have been a mistake to buy that Rolex and move out of Mommy’s house. Unless you have already been let go because of your inabilities, I would slow down picking on the employer. Certain if you were that smart you would have already left the industry.
[QUOTE=The Commodore;173743]I don’t know if it is sadder that you continue to post about this, or that I allow myself to respond to your silliness. These read like some spoiled kid who got his 1st job out of school making a ton of money first in Korea then in the Gulf of Mexico and as the industry has changed you are realizing it might have been a mistake to buy that Rolex and move out of Mommy’s house. Unless you have already been let go because of your inabilities, I would slow down picking on the employer. Certain if you were that smart you would have already left the industry.[/QUOTE]
I would definitely say it is sadder you reply to these as you obviously have zero clue about this, and no I am not a spoiled brat, and live a very frugal lifestyle, I have stated facts, and if you can prove me wrong on my posts I’d like to see that, otherwise you are sad for judging a post and person “you think” might be these things. I know better than to live above my means, I’m no commodore per say but i’ll always have a job, because of hard work, not mommy or daddy, sounds as if you don’t like the facts presented because you are involved with this company, you may even be the spoiled brat that daddy got a job there, who knows. Appreciate the banter, especially from the clueless, read the other posts on here, especially from new engineer, he seems to be in agreement with me.
Back it down there angry youngin. I know The Commodore personally and have worked under him before. He may not be an actual Commodore, but he far outranks you in license, professional ability, and personal integrity. I know where he works and it isn’t for Pacific Drilling. I’m one of those guys that needs to bitch otherwise I will explode, but sometimes you need to bite your tongue and just do your job and leave the other things to those with a higher pay grade.
[QUOTE=Kingrobby;173822]Back it down there angry youngin. I know The Commodore personally and have worked under him before. He may not be an actual Commodore, but he far outranks you in license, professional ability, and personal integrity. I know where he works and it isn’t for Pacific Drilling. I’m one of those guys that needs to bitch otherwise I will explode, but sometimes you need to bite your tongue and just do your job and leave the other things to those with a higher pay grade.[/QUOTE]
Do you know me somehow? How would you know what my background is? You have read and talked to people I work with and for over my career? You must know my license, professional integrity and professional ability? I would very seriously doubt that youngin!! Lovely try though, another one that is clueless in this conversation, I have only stated facts and will be more than willing to take back what I say if I can be proved wrong. What you have spouted off is a guess, I would say that is of low integrity and professionalism, guessing at a man’s character? But then again i’m just some youngin’ right. Must be another yes man from Pacific!
I don't know you, but from your posts you've developed your own persona to be read and seen by all. All I've seen from you are allegations and complaints. The "facts" seem to come only from you with no real facts per say, just allegations. Feel free to call me whatever you want, I have thick skin and have heard worse. I have never worked for, applied to, or given much thought to Pacific(also I don't give two shits) and don't have any plans to go there anytime soon, I'm more than happy where I'm at. Is it perfect at my current employer, have I seen some things that are against policy, have I seen guys fired or scapegoated for stuff that wasn't their fault? Sure, that kind of stuff happens everywhere. I've seen 1st's with Chiefs licenses promoted to temporary Chief (but at 1st wages). Shit happens, life's unfair, not everyone is a unique and special snowflake, The Seahawks should have ran it in, but life goes on. I don't care what you think of me, I'm 38 with a family and a good job. Also, we're supposed to be mariners and supposedly were salty, skilled, tough, and unafraid of the World. But, I feel like lots of the people I've worked with and on this website think this industry is supposed to be like an episode of The Real Housewives of wherever the hell drama comes from.
[QUOTE=Wangan;173836]Do you know me somehow? How would you know what my background is? You have read and talked to people I work with and for over my career? You must know my license, professional integrity and professional ability? I would very seriously doubt that youngin!! Lovely try though, another one that is clueless in this conversation, I have only stated facts and will be more than willing to take back what I say if I can be proved wrong. What you have spouted off is a guess, I would say that is of low integrity and professionalism, guessing at a man’s character? But then again i’m just some youngin’ right. Must be another yes man from Pacific![/QUOTE]
It’s all good Kingrobby. This guy can spout his hate, he is one of over a thousand employees at his company (per their website) and I would like to think if his company were that bad, at least 1 other employee would be in agreement. Appreciate your support and hope things are going well over there. Don’t let rumor take over, there is still nothing official and at the end of the day we will still be in a good place, even if rumor becomes reality.