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What attracted you to the ROV industry?
The salary and opportunities for world travel and new experiences.
What work experience have you gained since joining the industry?
- Construction support with divers and surveyors
- Surveying for future pipelines
- Drill support
- Aircraft salvage
- Trenching/burial of cables and pipelines
- Inspecting existing platforms for corrosion
- Surveying undersea cables
What was your first role when you started in the industry?
Trainee ROV Pilot. Training was very much on-the-job initially, although towards the end of my time offshore it became a lot more formal. Because I had a strong electronics background and had worked on older ROV systems, I was able to demonstrate my abilities from the start of my career. I started with one of the large ROV companies, which meant I was able to move around to different jobs. I was able to get rapid promotion and establish a reputation for doing a good job - something considered important in this industry.
What is your role now?
ROV Instructor. The recent rapid expansion in the industry has seen many new people coming in. Having learnt on-the-job, through personal experience and mentoring, I am now in the position to pass on what I know to those new people coming into the ROV industry and help develop their careers.
What do you like most about working offshore?
I enjoyed being at sea. I also enjoyed the technical details of our job and how the ROV crew integrate with nearly every technical aspect of a project.
Why would you recommend the ROV industry to others?
I feel that the ROV industry has given me many chances to develop technical skills, but more importantly my people skills. Every day presents a new challenge and I would heartily recommend it.
Travel is a major part of the job. I have worked all over Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, Mexico, Canada and Indonesia. I have seen places and had interesting experiences that I would never otherwise have had.
What have been the highlights of your career so far?
The most enjoyable job I have been on was driving ROVs offshore Tunisia whilst helping to put in mooring equipment for large offshore installations. We had technical difficulties and rising to the challenge of solving them was very satisfying and greatly increased camaraderie onboard the vessel.
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