Does anyone work for Sonsub??

[rovrave]

i believe the topic was " any body work for sonsub"

as everybody here seems to be refering to SS singapore, i guess the answer right now would be:

only the boss’s brother in law, the ops managers 2 nephews, some cheap phillipinos and a couple of old hands to hold it together.
really!
a bit like scot said actually.

from what me old mate tells me they only have 3 jobs on right now. so about 36 people offshore and 9 rotating on crew changes for those jobs???

correct me if i’m wrong sonsubbers?
Rigsie,… any info from Bernies branch office on this???

[LNM]

I was looking at a job with them a couple of months ago, staff position salaried with benefits but after waiting for 6 weeks for a reply when they finally got round to making an offer they only want to employ new starts through an agency so they can leave them on the beach without the worry of paying them…… oh and have you any experience of trenchers ??? yep all bad ! ! poke it

[Savante]

Sonsub have a position at present for an intervention engineer in Baku – good hunting !!

[Scott Beveridge]

Sonsub have a position at present for an intervention engineer in Baku – good hunting !!

Sav,
Seems that job has been open for sometime now… State of affairs of Sonsub perhaps???

Back to Sonsub SIN….. There was a job in the Taiwan Straits – oil recovery. A mate was / is on it and (apparently) the pay was good.

[DJansen]

I talked to them a few days back, very quiet right now was the reply. Same story over at Canyon, Fugro etc… Might even have to lower my standards and call Oceaneering 😆

[Scott Beveridge]

I talked to them a few days back, very quiet right now was the reply. Same story over at Canyon, Fugro etc… Might even have to lower my standards and call Oceaneering 😆

GADS!!! But DJan, you don’t have one of those "Private-pocket-sized-tech.-manuals-with-mods.-incl." in yur back pocket!!!! You’ll never be able to work on one of the (S’pore) OI vehicles without it!!! Ahhh… job security eh OI lads?

BAck to Sonsub SIN…. our M8 wasn’t one of those regulars for S’pore … can’t remember whether he was agency or not?

[Savante]

Scotbeve,

You’re correct there sir! I was chatting to an agent about that role this morning, apparently they’re all on hold and concentrating on retention at the moment (I guess that means filling from within). That role is basically potentially out there, but apparently it’s not likely to be filled in the short term and I don’t think for a 06-07 rate.

(I don’t think this is privaledged information, but if this is considered indiscrete I’ll remove it)

[DJansen]

It’s not privileged.. I’ve been sent details of the job twice.. Actually if it might be a pretty good lurk.. Baku is good fun and making subsea stuff designed by clueless grad work might be fun. But if it’s for Saipem it would be a pain.. None of the Italians/Frenchies would listen to suggestions and the pay and accom would be second rate… I had to pass.

[rovrave]

scott. you mentioned your mate going on the benzine recovery job in taiwan.

this is the thing nobody understands. why are they bringing in guys from outside for that (albeit some of them are old sonsubbers, but they stuck their fingers in the air at mangement a few years back and went chasing agency bucks). They have some of there regulars out of work who have actually been on those recovery jobs before! (and before somebody chips in, no they aren’t no hopers, they are good solid hands with a wealth of experience on sonsub equipment). i have worked with a couple of them before

So while they have regulars out of work , they are leaving their own guys on the beach, hiring outsiders and filling what jobs they have with the managers brother in law, the ops mangers 2 nephews, and phuket mates of the other ops manger.

well the guys i use to speak to there at bernies did tell me Sonsub Singapore was a nest of flagrant nepotism. i used to think they were just crying in their beers. but what i have heard lately certainly confirms what those bar room baristers told me back then

as it seems true that they are hiring at the expense of their regulars, i should throw my resume in the hat but it wouldn’t work out cause i’d only vomit on the head op’s manager they have there, during the interview,as it disgusts me the way he treats loyalty.

by the way, how many jobs do they have on?… anybody know?
whats the count for Canyon Singapore and O.I Singapore?

cause usd are better than the british rupee at the moment. but don’t suppose there any vacancies unless your an old mate, relation, or fond of fellatio (the type where you still have your trousers on!)

but hey? correct me if i’m wrong you sonsubbers, cause i have it a bit third hand. Tell me you are all flat out and everyones getting a fair crack of the whip……yeah right

[Scott Beveridge]

Rave,

One other aspect you MAY have missed…. some old hands are worth their weight and loyalty is going to them first. When one gets to be labeled an old hand, one doesn’t have to show any loyalty anymore as it’s really a check valve / diode-type situation. NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY TRY TO BRAINWASH YOU OTHERWISE…. We ALL are expendable. Just an atta boy, pat on the head, and boot out the door…. Do you expect more than that?

[Anonymous]

Hi
Rave you forgot to mention that they also have a new (old) system out there in Taiwan that nobody from SS know, i think that’s why they imported people, but who knows. Also heard they have some problems with that sub, an old trencher

[DJansen]

Until Singapore companies employ guys with a proper contract and/or salary package they are gonna ‘headhunt’ and hire who they figure is best for the job. They can employ or not employ anybody at their whim.. That’s part of the reason why they do it that way.. Low costs, No pensions, holiday pay or other benefits.. You do your hitch then ‘get the sack’ till they call you again.. It suits them when the industry is busy. And now the industry is quiet it still suits them. Being one of the ‘old farts’ with plenty of exp means it should be easy to move around from company to company.. It was, but now the work has dried up it’s more dificult.. It was my choice to hop around and being left on the shelf was one of the risks.. the benefits was being able to choose when/where I worked and how much for.. I’d expect most Op’s managers to ‘look after’ their core/regulars and guys like me to only be considered afterwards.. However sometimes Managers use slow times to ‘punish’ some of their regulars.. Blokes who made a fuss of had arguements with management often find themselves sidelined and the ‘boss’ uses the fact that there are may experienced hands looking for work to his advantage.. He can improve the overall quality of his teams (often cheaply if guys are desperate) and make the usual excuses to the guys he wants to sideline… He just hopes that when work pics up the new guys stay.. They usually do as long as the pay is good.. In my time I’ve seen several migrations of guys.. going to Europe, going to Asia, swapping companies. They are usually looking for better pay or more interesting work.. That is the nature of the industry.. The only way to prevent it is to treat your guys well and make sure you are paying the best rates available. When times are hard companies should be rotating all their regulars thru and sharing the work.. But of course we all know that human nature prevents this and some Managers see it as a good time to ‘clean house’

Just another reason to have that ‘rainy day nest egg’ ready…

[Scott Beveridge]

:tup:

Hmmmmm…. some of us had / have a nest egg BUT it was / is quail-sized!!!! 🙁

It’s all about how much money the company can save – makes sense – over how close to either: a.) losing a vehicle b.) trashing a vehicle c.) letting a system go to crap

Waiting on my VERY long term investments to start coming back (this year – it begins!!!!!!)

[Anonymous]

Hi
DJansen
FYI SS pay supv around 900US$ + bonus, thats 610£+ the bonus, not that bad in Asia, is it?????
I dont work for them!!!

[DJansen]

Actually their rate for ‘senior’ supervisor is higher than 900 USD.. But don’t tell anyone I told you…

Rates in Asia have been the best around for some time.. purely cos on the weakness of the pound.. Compare 700-800 USD as a tech in Asia to the 435 quid (635 USD) a day you get as a Supv in W Africa… Doesn’t make sense.. Trouble is there doesn’t seem to be much work around in Asia right now.. As far as I know most companies have enough staff and many systems are in the base. Hope it improves.. Anyone needs a decent supv with 20yrs exp? PM me 😆

[Author]

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