ROV Pilot /commercial diving.

[Gina McLauchlan]

This is one carried over from the old forum

Hi

Im wondering if anybody can put me in the right direction, I am a welder by trade, And currently looking at going into Commercial diving being a Diver/Welder. I have been informed that theres going to be a shortage of Sat Divers in the future. I have also been told not to go any where commercial diving and look at being an ROV Pilot. If I where to go down the road of being a ROV Pilot:-

can i implement my trade into this Industry?
How difficult is it to start?
I know FortWilliam in Scotland used to run ROV Courses, But found that there courses where to expensive. Are there any other trainig centres UK/World wide/

I am of a tender of 28 years and know i need to make the right decision now as its going to be my career for the next 15 years 😀

[Gina McLauchlan]

This is one carried over from the old forum

3rs

I’m not sure about the prospects in the diving side, I was hoping one of the ex-diver ROV guys from this site would post some info on that for you . Courses are very expensive and there is a limited amount of diving work about, and getting a place in sat is very difficult I think, especially in UK sector, some work in middle east. Most guys seem to have done a lot of air diving first before getting the better paid sat work. The diving population is ageing so there will no doubt still be a need for new blood into what is left of the diving industry for the small amount of work that is left. I think good welder divers get more work and more money, but I’m not sure. Try one of the commercial diving websites/forums.

As for ROV, the companies are really looking for an engineering background such as electrical/electronics, or hydraulic/mechanical, with formal training behind you such as apprenticeship, traineeship, forces training, college qualifications such as City & Guilds, BTEC, HNC, degree etc. Competition for trainee places is tight.
The short ROV training courses offered by ROV training schools are really only of use as induction courses, in addition to an engineering background – they obviously can’t teach years of engineering experience in a 4 week course.

Good luck
temp

[Gina McLauchlan]

This is one carried over from the old forum

I’ve just re-read what I have written below and it’s more along the lines of which direction to go in rather than directly answering your initial questions… even so I hope it offers a few pointers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have 20 years offshore experience.. all freelance. 10 Years Air/Sat Diving and 10 years ROV’s…. so even time in both areas.

Given the choice ROV life wins hands down.

For a kick off I feel its is a better return for the outlay. Also, quality of life and working conditions (in general) are better than diving.

As Temp pointed out diving courses are very expensive. My sat course (HSE part II) cost the best part of around GBP7500 back in 1986. Before you do the sat course you’d need to do an air course (HSE part I)… again that will set you back a good few grand. You do have a welding qualification so that would give you a head start on the Sat side, but you would need to go down the air route for a couple of years at the outset.

Temp may well have a point about old sat divers that are still hanging in there. I have been in sat with some of them. Those guys are not going to be around (diving) much longer and, if the diving industry is on an upturn, new blood will needed for sure. Some of those guys are in their 50’s and still grovelling around the Superintendents to get in the bin… very sad sight to see.

One thing about ROV is that when you go offshore you know beforehand how much you will be paid for the trip. Sat divers never know that.
As a sat diver I remember doing a whole 7 week trip on deck rate! I also remember trips where I did 4 weeks sat and was back in the bin 2 days later. I’ve seen sat programs shortened at the drop of a hat.
When normal sat operations are under way your income is in the hands of one man alone…. The famous Diving Superintendent! Those guys trot around like gods!! As a sat diver cross their path and you’ll be on deck rate … or off the job.

Rather than me bash on about diving any more, and maybe taint the whole idea, I suggest you pop over to http://www.longstreath.com and check out the diving forum there. It’s very active and bang up to date on the state of the diving industry.

Temp pretty much covered the ROV side of things. I would go as far as to add that our side of the industry is on an upturn and, in my opinion, will be busy for the next 3-5 years.
Your welding is an asset on the ROV front but you will need added skills though… be them electronic or Mech/Hydraulic, the courses don’t cost anywhere near as much as diving courses and the new qualifications can be applied to other areas of industry… unlike diving.

A longer term outlook…
You are only 28 now, but when retirement looms, (where did the last 20 years go I ask myself!) and you haven’t made the millions you had hoped you would, your ROV trade skills are more likely to bale you out than diving skills.

best regards
James Mc

[Gina McLauchlan]

This is one carried over from the old forum

Thanks for the reply.
Say i went down the road of diving 4 10years then crossed over to the ROV would there be much of a problem doing that?
I could possible learn on top side on how the ROV works.

I take it when you talk about the superintendent hes the Foreman running the job for the client.

[Gina McLauchlan]

This is one carried over from the old forum

I’m not sure I’d go down that route.

Divers are generally not welcome hanging around the ROV system too much… tools, or anything else that is shiny or not bolted down, go missing for a kick off 🙂

Seriousely… say you dived for a number of years and moved up the chain.. you’d be well established and on top diving day rate by then. Switching over to ROV’s at that stage would drop you down to trainee rate and you would have to work your way up building contacts and experience again. I’d say go one route or another and stick with it, unless an offer comes up, along the way, that you can’t refuse.

You hear of divers that swtich over to ROV’s but you don’t hear about ROV guys that switch over to diving… there is a reason for that.

regards
James Mc

[Scott Beveridge]

❗

There’s age and diving injuries as well. I’ve had quite a few ex-divers switch over to ROV’s as a “trainee” and many of them have turned out very well. 😉 26 yrs. in the ROV industry (offshore!!)

TO ALL – Good luck 🙂

[Andy Shiers]

Old Bastard ! 😆

[Author]

Posts