Here’s some helpful information you might like to know to help you decide if
working offshore is for you:
Health Requirements: The first and foremost requirement for working offshore is that
you be in sound physical condition.
Age : In most cases, you must be at least 18 to work offshore for a drilling contractor.
Experience: The better your experience in your particular field or profession, the closer prospective
employers will look you at. If you do not currently have any skill or experience that relates to the
offshore industry, it does not mean you will not be hired.
There are many entry level positions available which require no previous offshore experience, these
can be quickly learned. The most important thing is honesty. Do not misrepresent yourself, your
experience, or your skills. For example, do not claim to be a pipe welder if you've only had experience
on plate. Or, do not claim to be a diesel mechanic if the only experience you have is doing minor tuneups in a garage.
Offshore entry level placement
The Western Cape’s importance in the oil and gas sector is growing.
A refinery in Cape Town and the country’s leading gas facility in Mossel Bay are the main facilities in
the well-established oil and gas industry of the Western Cape.
However, the province is very much in the news as it is attracting a lot of attention as a destination
for new sources of oil and gas. The area north-west of Saldanha is being investigated by BHP Billiton
and Global Offshore Oil for its potential to provide oil in a deep-water environment.
The other sector that has great potential to contribute to the growth of the provincial economy is in
the service of the African oil and gas industry: maintenance and repair of ships and rigs working off
the Angolan and Nigerian coastlines.
Western Cape trade and investment agency Wesgro has put the figure contributed to the regional
economy for a stay of eight weeks by an oil rig docked at the Port of Cape Town at about R200million. The repair and maintenance involved in such a project also creates new jobs.
Significant amounts of oil are transported around the Cape of Good Hope every year: 32.2% of West
Africa’s and 23.7% of oil emanating from the Middle East.
Existing facilities
The main facilities that underpin the oil and gas sector in the Western Cape are located in Cape
Town, Saldanha and Mossel Bay. The Cape Town suburb of Milnerton is host to one of South Africa’s
four oil refineries, Chevron Refinery. With an estimated replacement value of R9-billion, the facility
has a capacity of 110 000 barrels of crude oil per day. The plant produces products such as jet fuel,
bitumen, sulphur and paraffin, and employs 330 people.
Saldanha is the site of the country’s largest oil-storage facility. PetroSA maintains six tanks there,
each of which has a capacity of 1.2 million cubic metres. PetroSA’s gas-to-liquid (GTL) refinery in
Mossel Bay is the country’s leading gas facility. It has a capacity of 36 000 barrels per day (bbl/d),
which is the equivalent of 45 000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Finally, remember offshore work is not for everyone. It requires that you be away from home,
sometimes for weeks at a time. More often than not, the drilling vessel you are on will not even be
in sight of land. It involves long and hard hours, working in all kinds of weather and conditions as
well as in some dangerous situations. Being 100 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of a
hurricane is a frightening experience for sure!
On the plus side it is very rewarding and exciting. The food is good, the quarters are clean and well
kept, and the benefits and opportunities for advancement are excellent. It is not uncommon for a
person starting at the bottom with no previous oil field experience to be making $40,000 to $60,000
a year, and that is for working only six months out of the year!
Entry-level positions start at $700 to $1,000 per week. Dishwashers and BR hands (who wash dishes,
sweep and mop floors, put up inventory and do general house-cleaning in the living quarters) earn
$700 per week.
Roustabouts (general laborers) earn $900 to $1100 per week. Other entry level positions are
deckhands, oilers, welder helpers, cleaner painters and so on; and there are currently plenty of openings.
Education: The majority of entry level rig jobs do not require a formal education as the employer
is more interested in your ability to do your job well and learn quickly than in how many years you
went to school. Some jobs, such as a ballast controlman, mud engineer, etc., require at least a high
school education. Other positions, as they get more complex, will naturally require higher levels of
education.
Dependability: One of the foremost concerns of offshore employers is dependability. Regardless of
how good a hand is, he isn't much good if he isn't there! One of the quickest ways to lose your job
is not to show up for crew change. When you hire on with a company, you become part of a team,
and it is difficult to operate when any member of the team is not present.
Advancement and Training: Advancement offshore will depend primarily on the company you
work for and your particular abilities. All companies want you to advance. They want you to become
better trained so you can take a more responsible position. Some companies have excellent training
programs to help you move up the ladder with trainee slots for most positions. Other companies have
only marginally efficient training programs, or none whatsoever.
At Offshore Crane Corporation we are able to offer the required entry level courses necessary to
enable the individual placement offshore as a roustabout.
This includes:
Banksman, Rigging & Slinging,
Offshore Forklift license, Crane
Operator (theory level 1) and
Roustabout/Greenhand (Theory).
Each of these courses are designed and
developed to meet the needs and
requirements of the Industry, combining
an element of Safety, procedure,
terminology and practical teaching.
Our courses are based on International
requirements, and adapted to local
operational conditions where applicable.
We are able to assist and advise the
applicant through the process of meeting
the stipulated requirements needed to
work offshore, in terms of Offshore
Survival, Medicals, Police Clearance etc.
Due to our active participation in the
Industry we are able to offer the applicant
a network of resources enabling the
necessary support to source and secure
a suitable placement offshore.
View our website:
ttp://www.offshorecranecorp.com
or follow one of our delegates through
his Offshore journey: http://www.riglife.wordpress.com
For further information kindly contact us: [email protected]
om/08/13997927