British Nationals been excluded Offshore Project Iran Angola

[deepseacon]

Today i get this mail sent out as a circular what no British allowed whats going on with these projects?

I also was out in Iran earlier this Year the ROV Crew required for the Project was also NO Brits allowed.

Strange really i still was working for the Company and use only a British Passport plus onboard there was other Crew like Cook and Marine Crew Engineers and Master Was British but the Same company needed ROV crew and was working in Iran waters No British allowed?

I dont have the e-mail of the other one but it was sent out By a few Agents and also UKPS for one for work offshore Iran back in August September time

New vacancy Ref:DW1485 "Survey Engineer (Trenching)" (United Kingdom) on Divework.com.

Maris Subsea requires a Survey Engineer for a Client contract, vessel-based offshore Angola.

Scope of works is Survey Engineer for a Trenching Project based out of Cabinda, Angola.

Experience as Survey Engineer on similar projects is essential. Applicants cannot have more than 1 STV (short term visa) for Angola in their passport and currently we cannot accept British applicants for this Project**.

Contract mobilises for 12th November 2009 and duration is expected to be 2 weeks. All applicants must be available to mobilise for this date and remain available for the entire duration of the contract.

Maris Subsea requests that all applicants supply relevant identification e.g. Passport/Medical/Survival plus further documents for working within Angola (e.g. Yellow Fever cert). All certificates must be minimum OPITO rated for use in UK waters (BOSIET/FOET) with OGUK Medical. We regret we cannot accept STCW-95 Survival certificates at this time. Documents will be independently verified.

**N.B. Please note that due to visa restrictions for Angola we cannot accept applications from ANYONE of British Nationality for this Project. Please contact Maris Subsea direct for details of other available Projects that may allow British nationals.

Maris Subsea – Part of Global Energy Group.

.

[Savante]

here it begins…… 😥

[mind-when-this-was-fields]

and what are the visa restrictions that apply to a 2 week job?
or is it project related?

[ROVRatt]

Every time I warn about these things I get ignored. Not long ago James and various other guys were up in arms about non EU nationals working in British waters.

Now that the Brits are on the receiving end in other peoples waters there is a major gripe. Do you have a sense of entitlement or what?

What goes around comes around and it will get worse for the Brits unless they accord other nationalities the courtesies accorded them.

I am not anti Brit, actually I am pro Brit but the rationalisation of seamen not being allowed to work in British waters is beyond me. Do you believe those nationals won’t complain to their governments about their treatment in British waters? Easy election ploy for their governments then, – Tit for tat.

[K2]

Middle East, Africa, North Sea – keep em, there’s plenty of other work opportunities around, it’s a big world out there.

Stay Safe

😉

[Nelson Salgueiro Espirito Santo]

The situation happen with me in north sea too.
I start working in offshore since 2006, and until now, i still make the same thing. I have qualifications, i have offshore experience and they dont give-me a change to get a better job that fit with my qualifications.
If you are not british our scotish you dont have any change, to get a job as ROV PILOT TECH in north sea.
Why the people are complain because they cant work in angola our iran.

Peraphs near future that things will change….

S.T.A.R.S

Stop think and remain stupid

[mind-when-this-was-fields]

painting??? ROVs??? where is the connection?
The thread was about British citizens getting refused the right to apply for jobs in certain countries due to supposed visa restrictions for UK passport holders??

[bt]

Sorry but you`ll find all nationalities working in the north sea as ROV tech`s thats just pure rubbish to say you`ve got to be a british citizen to work in the north sea. A lot of tech`s and inspection personal are flown over from the far east to work in the north sea.
As for ships crews theres not much of a merchant navy left so it would be very rare to find a full british crew working in british waters. Not even fishing boats have full british crews nowadays.

[mudflap276]

im american and find Brits everywhere i work. i work in the north sea and pay my share of taxes. the scots didnt take to well to me being there but i went out and showed that im not dumbsh@t and i was asked to come back. but i feel your pain. i cant work in aussie or i might get shanked due to the union. at least thats what i have been told. not really in a position to test those waters lol

[piper]

I once raised and caused quite a stir by raising a similar issue on this platform and it raised quite a few hits with some of the comments just being plain stupid. Way I see it its supposed to have happened 10yrs ago. Just recently brits have been moaning about foreigners working in north sea. Really…… nobody owes brits 2p or the americans either so grow up.

[DJansen]

I think if you read the posts regarding foreign nationals working in the North Sea again.. You will see most don’t have an issue with it..AS LONG AS THE FOREIGNERS ARE PAID THE SAME RATE AS THE BRITS… And not used as some sort of second class slave labour..

Hire the best man for the job is my opinion.. not the the cheapest.
If the best man happens to be foreign .. no problem.

This is precisely why there have been so many Brits working with ROV’s Worldwide in the past.. They had more experience with the gear than the locals… Do you really think that an Oil Company wants to employ an ‘expensive’ expat when they could hire a local ? Of course not.. But until recently they haven’t been any Angolan, Indonesian, Phillipino ROV guys. Who would you rather fly/fic your sub ? Jock with 10 years experience or Winston who got his P/T4 ticket last Month ?

However as there now seem to be plenty of ROV guys from the 3rd/developing World some cheap ass accountant has decided they would be a good idea… Luckily we all know how sucessful those sort of ideas are… Anyone who has been in the industry a while will have seen these ‘nationalization’ programs come and go before.. They usually end in disaster and the expats are called back to clear up the mess..

Once again … It’s experience and ability that counts.. Not where you were born

[Nelson Salgueiro Espirito Santo]

I take my rov trainning 2 years ago.
3 English guys, 2 Americans , 2 Indonisian and 2 Portuguese.
The English they are working almost 2 years.
1 is biomecanics another, Roughneck and another one is police.
The english are working, the american too the indonisian i dont no and the portuguese are fuck.

Everyone tells me the experience counts.
If you are FOREIGNERS you are fuck.
And the guy is allread Inspection Coordinator .
This is a fucking JOKE.
And another reason is nthe money, if are scot our english always earn the double of me.

Once again … It’s experience and ability that counts..
This is not True
S.T.A.R.S

[bcklad]

Ok……

The problem with Brits in Angola is since the end of October 2009 we can only have one STV in our passports.

secondly we now have to apply for an STV in London now and not in Luanda as before. This means a Client/Company nows has to get pre approval from the ministry of oil and the employee has to have a Minipet Letter of Approval to submit with his application.

The embassy in London is taking ages to process the appilcations with a process time of anywhere between 15 days and 40 days to process. You then have only 72 hrs after the issue of the STV to get your arse to Angola before it runs out.

Now a CLient or agency who has a required for Crew in the next 14 to 21 days is basically saying no Brits because the chances of getting bloody visa in time is remote.

I have been waiting for my visa since early Oct and still no sign of it!!

There is no conspiracy of Brits getting banned from Angola just the new visa rules cocking up the system.

[James McLauchlan]

I know this applies to UK Citizens but cannot confirm for other nationalities.

As a UK citizen you are able to have two passports.
Obtaining a second passport helps alleviate some of the problems mentioned above. Check with the UK passport agency and ask what is required to do so. Normally a supporting letter from your regular company/agency is sufficient. The passport agency will allow this to be faxed to them.

It needs to go something like:

Dear UK passport agency,

Mr Fred Bloggs works for our company and is often required to apply for work permits plus still be able travel to other job sites in the interim. Some foreign embassies can take many weeks to process a Visa application and this is having direct impact on Mr Bloggs income and our operations.
We therefore support his application for a second UK passport.

Yours sincerely

Personel Manager
My UK Company/Agency Ltd.

Having two passports allows one to be choked up in the system getting a Visa but still enables you to travel to other areas where a Visa is not required but you still need a passport to fly such as other areas in the EU/EA area.

Of course if the UK wasn’t so resistant to ID cards, peeps would be able to fly all over the EU (as other EU citizens do all the time) and work without a passport, so it wouldn’t matter quite so much if you passport was held up at an embassy in London.

It’s a bit ironic that work permits/visa are required for foreigners to work offshore in Africa but any foreigner can enter the UK, on a tourist visa, and work offshore with no requirement for a work visa/permit!!

[Anonymous]

James: Having 2 or 3 passports alleviates none of the problems correctly stated in Bcklad’s post or the thread as a whole. The issue is gaining an Angolan visa and working in Angola, which now takes much longer. This now requires carefull planning and the ad-hoc type agency work in Angola is now much more difficult, almost impossible for UK passport holders, due to the changes.

For Subsea 7 and others its a requirement to have 2 passports and of course it does make you avalaible for other work. But it wont get you into Angola any quicker.

[Author]

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