Agencies – STR

[Christopher Tyson]

Hi Andy,

Appreciate you time to reply.

If contract is not yet awarded, it seems at this stage the roles are speculative (data gathering) rather than "Urgent".

[Andy Falconer]

Hi Redherring,

Agreed, hence why I’d have preferred this to stay under wraps, at least until the detail was there.

Andy

[JL Schnabel]

That was quick of the mark James well some guys have a family to support with a mortgage so they have to accept it ! What can they do sit on there Bums the whole year waiting for a megger size day rate it not going to happen .

Then to top it off many of the clients are asking for things like HV certs and
a Petronas Smart PCSB card " These take about 6 to 12 months to get .

Rates are not going to get any better over night and I am sure you know how long I have been in this game I dont think I have every seen it as bad as this .

Then dont forget all the trainees looking for work after being told by the training schools all about the good life of being a rov op and the big money .

The only good point is the drilling is going into deeper waters and that means more Rov work .

Well only time will tell .

Cheers Subman

…well said subman ❗ ❗ ❗

So far it’s been a brute of a year for me – the last job I came off was on the 6th of Jan : since then there’s been sweet f**k-all ❗

[James McLauchlan]

That was quick of the mark James well some guys have a family to support with a mortgage so they have to accept it ! What can they do sit on there Bums the whole year waiting for a megger size day rate it not going to happen .

Subman
I feel it was not quick off the mark and I’m not for a moment suggesting that people sit at home waiting for a ‘megger size day rate’ as that is clearly counter productive.
Equally as counter-productive is people feeling that they ‘have to accept’ lower and lower offshore day rates as the months go by. Where do people draw the line? $350/day? $300/day? $200/day? $150?

‘sit on their Bums the whole year’
Eh?? Are people sitting at home doing nothing by way of getting some money in? Twiddling thumbs..watching the days pass by and no money coming in at all?

Why sit around and run out of money??
When I was starting out as a diver and money was flowing in during my first summer season, I put some money aside for another course not connected with the industry. At the time my day rate was £75.00/day (UK – NUS agreed union rate for ADIII diver)
In the winter I upgraded by Heavy Goods Vehicle licence to HGV1 (Articulated trucks). I seem to recollect that cost about 550 quid at the time. When things were quieter I took on local temp truck driving work well before funds were running low. The original 550 quid was paid back in no time and money was trickling in. Not offshore rate, but it certainly helped keep the wolves from the door and paid the bills. I worked out I could survive many months doing that. Most of us offshore guys have skills that can be used onshore so I say use them not ‘sit on bums all year’.
Temp work fits the bill because if you get that call on your mobile to head offshore you can just head off.
I guess offshore work is nothing more than temp work anyway for day raters at least.

In this forum someone once suggested working at Tescos was getting close to offshore ROV rates (on an annual income basis) and they would have the added advantage (to some) of being home every night and weekend. Yes, they were being a little sarcastic but, on a more serious note, what’s the point in working offshore away from the family and all your trappings in life if you feel you have to accept a crap day rate?

Food for thought which will probably elicit further responses.

[subman]

Like I said James Before let the people who are reading this give there feed back .

Its going to be a long year !

Good Luck

Subman

[Mark DuPriest]

…

[Scott Beveridge]

Andy,

Okay, the guys have said it… please try to get to the point with the client or proposed client. A lot of the companies and agencies have let the clients walk all over them due to what??? Desperation? (Perhaps) There’s far too much competition out there in agencyville to do US OFFSHORE HANDS ANY GOOD as you folks will… errrm… ACCEPT WHATEVER COMES ALONG FROM BOTH SIDES Please push for higher rates, then, and only then will you get a good stable of "offshure hers".

James,

Spot on again dude… Re: "Sit on yur bum" nonsense – I received my first cash in hand for raking leaves (removing tree leaves manually with a hand-held device by means of creating a pile of said leaves and using MY HANDS to remove it to another location) at the age of 8 years old in an upper-middle class area where I lived. It was all uphill after that… I’ll retire at the age of 55 – well off thank you very much. LADS – eggs in one basket being carried by dreamers ain’t gonna work….

Lucas,

Move to another place… YES, it can be done.

Subman,

Think laterally / out of the box….

[subman]

Scott nothing I or you say will make any difference ! Fact !

Fact : We know from what Andy has said over 1000 guys applied for these posts . I hate to think how many others are still waiting .

Fact : Rates and available jobs is not going to change over night .

Yes you can find some other temp job however if your a free lancer we all know the score.Phone rings can you get to the airport in 3 hours . So most guys will wait for the call or email .

But like I said lets hear from all the other guys who are still waiting and hear what they have to say . I do hope the trainees are reading this as it might save them paying for a course just to sit at home .

Cheers

Subman

[ROVSKI]

I am definitely in the sit on your bum camp rather than take it up the …. and work for substandard rates. I stated I was going to take a long break until things picked up, have enjoyed temporary retirement since Oct 09, recently been offered a job on Oz rates end of August. Fantastic had a great time with my family and didn’t have to scab out my colleagues by working for buttons. Actually looking forward to getting back in the game, make enough money to make a difference and look forward to another period of temporary retirement. Sounds better than living beyond my means and working hand to mouth to make ends meet.

[Scott Beveridge]

I am definitely in the sit on your bum camp rather than take it up the …. and work for substandard rates. I stated I was going to take a long break until things picked up, have enjoyed temporary retirement since Oct 09, recently been offered a job on Oz rates end of August. Fantastic had a great time with my family and didn’t have to scab out my colleagues by working for buttons. Actually looking forward to getting back in the game, make enough money to make a difference and look forward to another period of temporary retirement. Sounds better than living beyond my means and working hand to mouth to make ends meet.

Glad to hear it ROVSKI…. not far behind you!!!!

[subman]

Nice to hear from you ROVSKI Yes I am in the same boat about 2 years to go before I retire been in this game not far off 40 years .

Its funny its sunday night and todate a total of 1839 people have read this Topic but very few have given feed back I wonder why ?

I think most accept the fact and there are those who are lucky to have work. I think it is more luck than skill as I am sure the other rov Dinosaurs on here will tell you .

Plus many companys are only using there own personnel and have back to back crews then to top it off you have all these extra requirements.
It would be nice to go back to 2008 when there was megger work but those days are over .

Yes I am sure someone is going to say but in 2009 they did 200 days + like I said its down to luck the same as winning the Lottery .
But experience tells me the current world problems are not going to go away over night .

" ONE THING IS FOR SURE DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY DOING A ROV COURSE "

Cheers for now

Subman

[me]

Guys
I have been lucky so far but it is hard to get work now, i have just been in contact with my old company and they say no work for you we have to take care of our own people first, i fully understand that, “work will pick up” they say, year what? Not this year me think.

[deepseacon]

The Topic was about STR add you comments relating to STR.

My comment is they always seam to be chasing the lower rate for a position i get the impression the consultants chase there Bonus around this.

I have been on a JOB were there was a 100 GBP difference from a STR contract and others also on Agent contracts.

There are also not too good when giving info or dealing with e-mails they deal like your buying an old JAG.

.
I have never worked for them.

Deal with STR with care.

[Andy Falconer]

Hi Scott,

I understand, but often we have to respect the client and their desire to withold information occasionally, as mentioned, this is a pre-award job, and I the client was simply witholding details until the job is awarded. Any undue pressure on the client, may severley damage the relationships that we have worked to build.

Deepseacon,

In answer to your comment, often when dealing with clients, we get a rough rate bracket e.g.(£350-450p/d), or more likely still, we are told to get back to them with "expected rates", some of which, are fair, some massively inflated., it’s just a case of hitting the happy medium, all of our contract s are operated at a rate + charge basis, the percentage of this is agreed as part of our standard terms.

So we want to get as much money for you, as it also means more money for us.

Also, you may or may not know , we’re not as established in this sector as the UKPS or GOSS lot, and don’t have either the clout in the market, or the manpower (yet) to devote to every last email.

I hope that this won’t put you off potentially working with us in the future.

Andy

[James McLauchlan]

Andy

Thanks for being so open and forthright. I’m sure your approach will bear dividends and, as a result, you may receive more interest from both clients and subcontractors alike.

[Author]

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