What's it like working offshore/similar enviroment?
Discussion
Currently stuck on Brent Charlie due to fog.
Its got its ups and downs for everyone.
I work away alot during the year, offshore worldwide so holding down a relationship is hard.
It can be good that you head away for 2 - 3 weeks and everything is done for you as in food, bed, laundry, most north sea rigs have sky hd with internet access and more and more are getting wifi now.
Banter with the guys are good, some guys hide away and that's it while offshore.
Money helps
Down points are.
Missing family and friends birthdays, stuck on a rig on your own birthday, fog that lasts for days that means your delayed getting home for 3 - 4 days.
3 weeks of 12 hour night shifts are killers.
The EC225 problem isn't helping with confidence offshore workers.
If your not feeling right you still need to go to your work unless the medic has declared you ill so no phoning in sick.
Anything that happens at home you can't just leave straight away.
Still its a good laugh most of the time.
Its got its ups and downs for everyone.
I work away alot during the year, offshore worldwide so holding down a relationship is hard.
It can be good that you head away for 2 - 3 weeks and everything is done for you as in food, bed, laundry, most north sea rigs have sky hd with internet access and more and more are getting wifi now.
Banter with the guys are good, some guys hide away and that's it while offshore.
Money helps
Down points are.
Missing family and friends birthdays, stuck on a rig on your own birthday, fog that lasts for days that means your delayed getting home for 3 - 4 days.
3 weeks of 12 hour night shifts are killers.
The EC225 problem isn't helping with confidence offshore workers.
If your not feeling right you still need to go to your work unless the medic has declared you ill so no phoning in sick.
Anything that happens at home you can't just leave straight away.
Still its a good laugh most of the time.
Been on the rigs for 10 years now and would never do anything else. Honestly, you will not be working hard. I just spent 4 days on a platform getting paid 14 hours a day for a job I could have done in 3 hours. 12 hour shifts does not mean 12 hours working.
The time off is brilliant. The wages are good (feels like double as you don't spend when you are away). The banter is ace. You end up getting bumped from flights lots due to weather or whatever which means lots of nights out in different places with the boys. It's like going to a health spa.You don't drink, you go too the gym and eat very well.
Oh, and you get free helicopter rides.
Downsides are as above. If something goes wrong at home and you are stuck, there is nothing you can do about it. Sometimes it gets a bit much but if the guys you're working with are any good they'll help you out.
My advice??? Do it, you'll never look back. I don't know many guys offshore looking to get a job on the beach.
The time off is brilliant. The wages are good (feels like double as you don't spend when you are away). The banter is ace. You end up getting bumped from flights lots due to weather or whatever which means lots of nights out in different places with the boys. It's like going to a health spa.You don't drink, you go too the gym and eat very well.
Oh, and you get free helicopter rides.
Downsides are as above. If something goes wrong at home and you are stuck, there is nothing you can do about it. Sometimes it gets a bit much but if the guys you're working with are any good they'll help you out.
My advice??? Do it, you'll never look back. I don't know many guys offshore looking to get a job on the beach.
Where are you based? Most companies will not give you a star without experience but my company generally will, provided the travel expenses are not too much.PM me ad I'll give you details, you my have to o some s
tty work for a month or two but it gives you the experience companies are looking for.
tty work for a month or two but it gives you the experience companies are looking for. I do a 28/14 rotation offshore.
I share an office with the same guy I share a cabin with, so we spend 24 hours together for a month, which is a bit weird. After 4 weeks of that, being in a room on my own is a great feeling. We don't have much in the way of internet (dialup speed at best) or TV on this platform, and the phones have been down for 3 days, but the food is good and we have a good laugh. We have a crew of 75.
Here, rotations are scheduled until the end of 2014, so if there are birthdays, Christmas, weddings etc. when you're scheduled offshore, tough luck unless you can organise cover with your back to back. The only way of getting off early is an injury or close relative dying.
The money is great, of course, but by christ do you earn it. 7am-7pm, 7 days a week, the pace (at least on here) is relentless and you need a very understanding partner. A guy here has just had his wife leave him and empty his bank account. He's trying to sort it out by email and phone (when it works). Tough times.
You also get an irrational hatred of fog, and gain a meteorological knowledge that Michael Fish would be proud of.
You see a some guys who have been offshore 40 years. They're generally either addicted to money, paying for three ex-wives or blown-out in their heads.
I share an office with the same guy I share a cabin with, so we spend 24 hours together for a month, which is a bit weird. After 4 weeks of that, being in a room on my own is a great feeling. We don't have much in the way of internet (dialup speed at best) or TV on this platform, and the phones have been down for 3 days, but the food is good and we have a good laugh. We have a crew of 75.
Here, rotations are scheduled until the end of 2014, so if there are birthdays, Christmas, weddings etc. when you're scheduled offshore, tough luck unless you can organise cover with your back to back. The only way of getting off early is an injury or close relative dying.
The money is great, of course, but by christ do you earn it. 7am-7pm, 7 days a week, the pace (at least on here) is relentless and you need a very understanding partner. A guy here has just had his wife leave him and empty his bank account. He's trying to sort it out by email and phone (when it works). Tough times.
You also get an irrational hatred of fog, and gain a meteorological knowledge that Michael Fish would be proud of.
You see a some guys who have been offshore 40 years. They're generally either addicted to money, paying for three ex-wives or blown-out in their heads.
Edited by sooperscoop on Friday 12th July 14:03
entropy said:
Is there psychological test?
Anyone witness someone go a bit mental like cabin fever?
I've seen guys land at the rig then just can't handle the trip and go in a few days.Anyone witness someone go a bit mental like cabin fever?
ywouldi said:
What sort of cash are we talking about here? Taxable?
Depends where you work, north sea your 50k above for a instrument/electrician/mechanical.Taxable, of course. You could work abroad and get round UK tax system.
I completed my MIST BOSIET Norwegian Chute and UK+Norwegian Medical last month and I'm looking to get offshore as a roustabout, how would you guys best recommend going about it?
So far I've only applied online for roustabout jobs advertised but theres not many and I've emailed my CV to a few places but a mix of automated replies ranging from they will keep me on file to thanks but we are not accepting greenhands for the rest of the year so you cv will not be kept.
I just replaced my broken printer, would I be better just posting a load of CV's to all the companies? As half of them don't have an email on show so I cant apply unless they have a vacancy on their recruitment website.
My uncle works offshore but since ive completed my courses hes been away, then on abroad on holiday then offshore again so havent had a chance to speak to him, would giving him my CV actually help? Is there a office on the rig he can hand them into or something? (hes a driller)
And once I've got offshore experience is it easy to get other jobs? Currently got a fulltime permanent job and wouldn't want to leave for just a temporary job for a few months then be unemployed for a while again.
So far I've only applied online for roustabout jobs advertised but theres not many and I've emailed my CV to a few places but a mix of automated replies ranging from they will keep me on file to thanks but we are not accepting greenhands for the rest of the year so you cv will not be kept.
I just replaced my broken printer, would I be better just posting a load of CV's to all the companies? As half of them don't have an email on show so I cant apply unless they have a vacancy on their recruitment website.
My uncle works offshore but since ive completed my courses hes been away, then on abroad on holiday then offshore again so havent had a chance to speak to him, would giving him my CV actually help? Is there a office on the rig he can hand them into or something? (hes a driller)
And once I've got offshore experience is it easy to get other jobs? Currently got a fulltime permanent job and wouldn't want to leave for just a temporary job for a few months then be unemployed for a while again.
entropy said:
Is there psychological test?
Anyone witness someone go a bit mental like cabin fever?
In the last few months we've had one catering girl threaten another with a knife, although she was mental anyway, and had a thing for sucking off scaffolders.Anyone witness someone go a bit mental like cabin fever?
We lost one mech a few months back, he had absolutely no sense of humour and would explode in rage at the slightest bit of banter. Like really, really angry and threatening. NRB.
Stuartt44 said:
I completed my MIST BOSIET Norwegian Chute and UK+Norwegian Medical last month and I'm looking to get offshore as a roustabout, how would you guys best recommend going about it?
So far I've only applied online for roustabout jobs advertised but theres not many and I've emailed my CV to a few places but a mix of automated replies ranging from they will keep me on file to thanks but we are not accepting greenhands for the rest of the year so you cv will not be kept.
I just replaced my broken printer, would I be better just posting a load of CV's to all the companies? As half of them don't have an email on show so I cant apply unless they have a vacancy on their recruitment website.
My uncle works offshore but since ive completed my courses hes been away, then on abroad on holiday then offshore again so havent had a chance to speak to him, would giving him my CV actually help? Is there a office on the rig he can hand them into or something? (hes a driller)
And once I've got offshore experience is it easy to get other jobs? Currently got a fulltime permanent job and wouldn't want to leave for just a temporary job for a few months then be unemployed for a while again.
Depends,So far I've only applied online for roustabout jobs advertised but theres not many and I've emailed my CV to a few places but a mix of automated replies ranging from they will keep me on file to thanks but we are not accepting greenhands for the rest of the year so you cv will not be kept.
I just replaced my broken printer, would I be better just posting a load of CV's to all the companies? As half of them don't have an email on show so I cant apply unless they have a vacancy on their recruitment website.
My uncle works offshore but since ive completed my courses hes been away, then on abroad on holiday then offshore again so havent had a chance to speak to him, would giving him my CV actually help? Is there a office on the rig he can hand them into or something? (hes a driller)
And once I've got offshore experience is it easy to get other jobs? Currently got a fulltime permanent job and wouldn't want to leave for just a temporary job for a few months then be unemployed for a while again.
What qualifications do you have, the only offices on the rig tend to be chief engineer, lead tradesman, oim and stuff like that.
petop said:
If your looking for oil and gas related jobs look at Africa. Tax free and a fair bit more than North Sea. There are also off-shore work off the WestCoast.
Heh, I just saw an email offering a mech supervisor position in Libya for 130k, tax free. Then the dreaded words 'non-rotational'. Screw that 
Stuartt44 said:
I completed my MIST BOSIET Norwegian Chute and UK+Norwegian Medical last month and I'm looking to get offshore as a roustabout, how would you guys best recommend going about it?
So far I've only applied online for roustabout jobs advertised but theres not many and I've emailed my CV to a few places but a mix of automated replies ranging from they will keep me on file to thanks but we are not accepting greenhands for the rest of the year so you cv will not be kept.
I just replaced my broken printer, would I be better just posting a load of CV's to all the companies? As half of them don't have an email on show so I cant apply unless they have a vacancy on their recruitment website.
My uncle works offshore but since ive completed my courses hes been away, then on abroad on holiday then offshore again so havent had a chance to speak to him, would giving him my CV actually help? Is there a office on the rig he can hand them into or something? (hes a driller)
And once I've got offshore experience is it easy to get other jobs? Currently got a fulltime permanent job and wouldn't want to leave for just a temporary job for a few months then be unemployed for a while again.
ffsSo far I've only applied online for roustabout jobs advertised but theres not many and I've emailed my CV to a few places but a mix of automated replies ranging from they will keep me on file to thanks but we are not accepting greenhands for the rest of the year so you cv will not be kept.
I just replaced my broken printer, would I be better just posting a load of CV's to all the companies? As half of them don't have an email on show so I cant apply unless they have a vacancy on their recruitment website.
My uncle works offshore but since ive completed my courses hes been away, then on abroad on holiday then offshore again so havent had a chance to speak to him, would giving him my CV actually help? Is there a office on the rig he can hand them into or something? (hes a driller)
And once I've got offshore experience is it easy to get other jobs? Currently got a fulltime permanent job and wouldn't want to leave for just a temporary job for a few months then be unemployed for a while again.
speak to your uncle - most rigs have a quick turnover of rousties - its only a matter of time before you're in , if he speaks up for you!!
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