Scotsman Oil & Gas Supplement July 2008
Initially, I trained in law, graduating from the University of Lancaster and Chester College of Law – the prospect of thirty five years of high street litigation loomed. Sufficient dislike of the idea of long term lawyery meant that I needed a plan! Whilst training as a Solicitor, a fellow student at Law College said he didn’t think I was destined to be a Solicitor – at the time, I was replacing some power transistors for an electronic flash gun and re-designing the battery charge circuits. Maybe I should have listened then!
My love of sport diving brought me to Scotland. Whilst here, I signed up for a familiarisation dive at The Underwater Centre. From there, I enrolled on a course and completed my HSE part IV, Suface Supply and Wet Bell courses. It was on this course I saw my first ROV. Inevitably, this led to my taking an ROV course. From there, I went to work for Sonavision. Pretty soon I was teaching electronics to other ROV students whilst still working offshore.
Over the years, I've moved from being an ROV pilot/ technician who did a bit of training to running ROV training at The Underwater Centre and doing a bit of offshore ROV supervising (I managed two stints offshore over the Christmas period, with Fugro and GB Diving. I bumped into seven TUC graduates on these trips which was great to see – all were really enjoying their work and career progression). My current role means I have the best of all worlds: I teach at a world class facility; I'm involved with cutting edge industry developments via TUC's industry trials programme and I get to keep my hand in, offshore, too.
There are three questions I get asked by nearly every person who is considering being an ROV pilot/technician: can I do it; how much can I earn; and will I get a job? So, as you're all dying to know, here are the answers.
Can I do it? IMCA (the International Marine Contractors Association), the people who’s curriculum we follow, recommend people from an engineering, electronic, electrical or hydraulic background although I've found that many people with a keen interest in these subjects can be successful, even when coming from a completely unrelated background like I did. If you have the will to learn and desire to succeed, your destiny is in your own hands.
How much can I earn? At the moment, employers are crying out for good pilot/ technicians with demand being fuelled by extensive subsea oil exploration and extraction – a result of high oil prices. There is no reason to suppose that the current situation will change over the next few years, with industry experts making bullish predictions about ROV requirements. Typical starting rates will be something like £150 per day; within a few years you may command £500 per day as a supervisor.
Will I get a job? Whilst I can't personally guarantee any student a job, I can say that we work really hard to ensure that every student has the best possible chance of a career in the ROV industry. I keep every student’s email and add this to my mailing list. This means I can keep them informed about every new job that comes along, and employers use me as a way of finding new talent. There are hundreds of former students on this list and many let me know about job opportunities for me to circulate to everyone else. This has proven to be a great support network for all of our former students. Recently, I carried out a survey of ROV course graduates and discovered that 95% were working – the remaining 5% I did not hear from, so I can’t confirm what they are doing.