Owner pilot/techs

[Brendan]

Hi all, I can see that the norm is to either work direct or sub your own labor into a company but I have been curious as to if there are opportunities to go one step futher and invest in an rov system and bid for work direct or sub into larger companies offering a complete package kinda situation.
You can take it that I am talking about an eyeball system and not a large wrov.
And I do realise the increased investment/risk that you would be getting involved with.

[Ray Shields]

Yes.

[Brendan]

Ah!! right I see now but how common is it for guys to take the plunge?

[Craig Thorngren]

Bren,

I don’t know how "common" it is, but there are a fair number of folks around the world that own their own systems and are hired out for various jobs. Here’s a link to a host of Pilot/owners:
http://www.rovinfo.com/viewforum.php?f=7&sid=38ebd4c4b1291ef2da5c2223c2555b87

I can tell you that business has been very good. Though some are probably struggling, those that have a reputation for getting the job done at reasonable prices usually stay busy. So you have an idea, here’s a link to where my pricing starts. Keep in mind it can and does fluctuate a little bit depending on the job.

http://www.submergedrecovery.com/pricing.html

Actually this May there will be a conferenc in the UK with a large group of owners, pilots and folks that are interested in becoming part of these groups. If your interested, I can have the organizer contact you with the details.

Another option is to rent the gear. That’s only really an option if you already are proficient with the gear. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email.

Chief

[Andy Shiers]

Just make sure you hire people with a degree of intelligence and maybe be experienced , is all 😀

[Craig Thorngren]

Just make sure you hire people with a degree of intelligence and maybe be experienced , is all 😀

Actually when I hire someone on as an assistant, the most important trait I look for is attitude. I’ll teach them all they need to know and more importantly why they need to know something. Don’t get me wrong, experience matters, but just because you can reterm a work class system and fly it like Chuck Yeager, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to fly one of the smaller systems. That and, you don’t have a whole team to support you. You are your own support when your off in some isolated part of the world…

Chief

[Scott Beveridge]

Just make sure you hire people with a degree of intelligence and maybe be experienced , is all 😀

Actually when I hire someone on as an assistant, the most important trait I look for is attitude. I’ll teach them all they need to know and more importantly why they need to know something. Don’t get me wrong, experience matters, but just because you can reterm a work class system and fly it like Chuck Yeager, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to fly one of the smaller systems. That and, you don’t have a whole team to support you. You are your own support when your off in some isolated part of the world…

Chief

And then there’s (some ) guys who have had most types of ROV’s under their thumb…. there are some for real!

[Craig Thorngren]

Scott,

For every rule, there is always an exception.

Another reason for taking on new personnel with the right attitude is I don’t have to break them of any bad habits 😀

Chief

[Scott Beveridge]

Scott,

For every rule, there is always an exception.

Another reason for taking on new personnel with the right attitude is I don’t have to break them of any bad habits 😀

Chief

Heh, heh!! True there is that in SOME people. As you said above, …"an exception"…. could read it as "some" folks.

[Andy Shiers]

You can take it that I am talking about an eyeball system and not a large wrov.

Bren1986 , are we talking Eyeball as in standard size or "Dinky toy " ?
As in bathtub type like , er…………….. Video ray ?

[Brendan]

Alright lostboy, when I wrote the post I was thinking along the lines of tiger/falcon or mohawk/mohican. That could well be down to my complete lack of experience in the industry.
The likes of the hyball, videoray or seabotix rovs didn’t occur to me, maybe they are well up to the job offshore if only working in shallow water.

Why you want to know?

[James McLauchlan]

You can take it that I am talking about an eyeball system and not a large wrov.

Bren1986 , are we talking Eyeball as in standard size or "Dinky toy " ?
As in bathtub type like , er…………….. Video ray ?

You’d be surprised what you find offshore, work class, dinky toy or otherwise.

VideoRay, LBV, AC-ROV. That’ll be the types of ROV that Fugro used offshore last year to inspect cracks in a structure from the inside…. as in fly inside and have a look… not exactly a work class speciality.

Said this before: Horses for courses.

fugro_rov_party_329.jpg

Description: Fugro ROV Party 😉

[James McLauchlan]

……and some are a little larger…. although I would suggest that as an owner operator you may wish to start out a little smaller than……..

(PPE.. safety harness, …. yeah yeah)

ct1_pusan_korea_upgrade091_176.jpg

Description: CT1 Upgrade – Pusan 2001

[Craig Thorngren]

Lostboy… You can take your cheap digs all you want, the fact of the matter is last week I was able to bill out for four days work. The total flying time was less than 4 hours for all three jobs and two were on the same day. You can go figure out what I was paid last week by going to my rates page and doing a little math, what’d you make, or are you still sitting on the beach hoping your union does something for you…

And yes I use a VideoRay. I need something that works and is reliable that’s why I don’t use a Little Broken Vehicle…

Call them whatever you want, as long as people are willing to pay my daily rate 😀

Chief

[Andy Shiers]

Hmmmmm , Yes I am sitting on a beach in Thailand actually 🙂
What a bummer aye 😀
Due to go out this week on a 39 platform survey 8)
Unfortunately The "Dinky – Toy" is not up to spec’ when it comes to full on platform survey 😀 So we use a Tiger.
Horses for courses old chap 😀

[Author]

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