Starting Offshore Welding UK Advice

[ZeUberScott]

Hi everyone, i am currently planning on getting myself sorted for offshore welding and am just looking for some advice from some people who are clued up on this. I am 20 years old and have been a self employed tractor mechanic doing welding, fabrication and sandblasting for the last 4 years since i left school. I have experience with MMA TIG but mostly with mig and i did my SVQ level 2 in welding and fabrication at Nigg in scotland in 2018. Il list out my plan and please feel free to poke holes in it as i am only piecing this together from what i can find online.

So id Have to go back to Nigg or another welding school/ training center and book some instruction time and then work up to a test for 6G SMAW in BS EN ISO 9606 . once ive finished that id go and do BOSIET and MIST training and then probably do a medical. It seems like theres a lot of work going on right now from what ive seen so once all thats done would it just be a case of sending my cv out and hopefully getting a short term contract for a few weeks or months?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated i should have asked some of the old hands i knew before i moved away from scotland but its a bit to late now.

Cheers
-T

 

[Parm]

The easiest things are the BOSIET, MIST and Medical. Pay your money, go on a course, come back with a ticket

Someone will be along to talk about offshore welding. I suspect from my knowledge of working offshore you will have to have some demonstrable knowledge and a track record of experience

Oh welcome on board

 

[ZeUberScott]

The easiest things are the BOSIET, MIST and Medical. Pay your money, go on a course, come back with a ticket

Someone will be along to talk about offshore welding. I suspect from my knowledge of working offshore you will have to have some demonstrable knowledge and a track record of experience

Oh welcome on board

Thanks for your reply, yea they should be fine i was hoping to do get my coding first though as that will be the hardest part and possibly the most expensive depending on how long it takes me, yes i am a little rusty now as its been a few years but we did do a lot of theory work on the svq2 course on welding and fabrication im hoping that and my previous experience with mobile repairs and all the mechanical work ive done for the past few years might be enough to just get my foot in the door maybe?

 

[addjunkie]

Im a bitout of touch….but most of-the work isn't permanent, its for the duration of the work scope. Its a very peaks and troughs industry. And from what Ive seen of rates the streets of aberdeen are no longer paved with gold.

if your determined Id suggest Rope access too. It opens up other doors.

 

[ZeUberScott]

Yea i was seeing rope access and confined space tickets go a long way, i know its not mega bucks or very reliable but i thaught if i coul get some work now and then where i can while still fixing tractors when im not away it might be helpfull, at the moment the hours im pulling and the amount im paying myself im on about £4 an hour so anything on top would be a big help i just dont want to go the regular 9-5 route working for tescos not that theres anything wrong with that.

 

[addjunkie]

Yea i was seeing rope access and confined space tickets go a long way, i know its not mega bucks or very reliable but i thaught if i coul get some work now and then where i can while still fixing tractors when im not away it might be helpfull, at the moment the hours im pulling and the amount im paying myself im on about £4 an hour so anything on top would be a big help i just dont want to go the regular 9-5 route working for tescos not that theres anything wrong with that.

Have you looked at the wind turbine industry?

 

[ZeUberScott]

Have you looked at the wind turbine industry?

Not specifically but ive seen all sorts of jobs listed recently for turbines, oil rigs, jack ups and dredging vessels with people wanting to hire whole crews, it seems like its busy but im only looking online so i dont realy know for sure but yea i would do anything offshore realy on a turbine or a ship ect anything realy

 

[addjunkie]

Down side is each industry wants different buts of paper, for example survival for offshore rigs is different to offshore wind turbine industry.
Have a look at a company called Hydratight, doing bolting and some of their competitors.

 

[ZeUberScott]

Looks interesting is BOSIET and MIST only for oil rigs then?

 

[Brad93]

It's crap out there at the minute to be honest mate

 

[Brad93]

Multi skilled lads used to be out there at £28 - £34 an hour+

If you're doing 12 hour days and booking a few hours OT that's bloody good going.

However, rates are down to £22 or so.

 

[Robbie260]

It depends on where you want to do the welding. Do you want to do it on a ship? Unfortunately that’s mainly boring pipeline stuff. If so you will need to have your Stcw short corses such as sea survival, first aid, firefighting (usually the one that makes the decision for people, remember the emergency services aren’t coming to rescue you when it all goes pear shaped out there) etc a couple of grand to do and takes about 2 weeks. Will also need an eng1 medical and a discharge book possibly if the welders are classed as members of the crew on some ships they are on some they aren’t. For oil and gas platforms there will be other similar training you will have to go through none of it crosses over so it’s separate training for seperate industries.

Working at sea is a thankless task conditions and pay are shocking for what you actually do the vast majority of the time. Make sure you get in with a good company that looks after it’s staff.

It’s a good field to get into and gets you out seeing the world at others expense.

 

[Lewis_RX8]

if i coul get some work now and then where i can while still fixing tractors when im not away it might be helpfull

Theres also shutdown work that might be a bit easier to get into than offshore as no need for BOISET etc also the experience on shutdowns may help you go off shore, Likes of Grangemouth refinery shutting down and trades flooding in to complete as much maintenance work as they can in the shutdown time , Pipe fitters , welders , riggers , fitters , sparks etc. As you say it's only now and then not going to be a perm job rates aren't amazing but everyone's on the same agreement with set overtime , travel and digs pay etc known as blue book rates which you can find in the NAECI 2022 rates.

 

[Brad93]

All the site work I do is shutdowns and it can pay well if you are specialised.

Bear in mind it's long days of hard graft.

Someone once told me, there is no plan b, no replacement shift to come in and finish the job off. And that has been true, you've got to knuckle down and get the job done.

I've done a few 19 hour shifts this past month.

Last year was on the shutdown at British steel - the floor and walls of the furnace were still 80°C when we went in, took three days to cool down to about 38°C. Boots lasted the two weeks and that was about it.

 

[Parm]

All the site work I do is shutdowns and it can pay well if you are specialised.

Bear in mind it's long days of hard graft.

Someone once told me, there is no plan b, no replacement shift to come in and finish the job off. And that has been true, you've got to knuckle down and get the job done.

I've done a few 19 hour shifts this past month.

Last year was on the shutdown at British steel - the floor and walls of the furnace were still 80°C when we went in, took three days to cool down to about 38°C. Boots lasted the two weeks and that was about it.

Might explain why your expensive respirator was so shagged

 

[ZeUberScott]

All the site work I do is shutdowns and it can pay well if you are specialised.

Bear in mind it's long days of hard graft.

Someone once told me, there is no plan b, no replacement shift to come in and finish the job off. And that has been true, you've got to knuckle down and get the job done.

I've done a few 19 hour shifts this past month.

Last year was on the shutdown at British steel - the floor and walls of the furnace were still 80°C when we went in, took three days to cool down to about 38°C. Boots lasted the two weeks and that was about it.

Jesus sounds pretty full on, you do machining and all sorts though right? i work more than twelve hours a day 7 days a week bar Christmas ect but i haven't pulled anything as long as that since i was farming, and yea poor work boots did they just start to fall apart with heat

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Last year was on the shutdown at British steel - the floor and walls of the furnace were still 80°C when we went in, took three days to cool down to about 38°C. Boots lasted the two weeks and that was about it.

Think lads on our site got one use out a set overalls after a shift on the cracker furnace at that heat aswell brutal stuff

 

[addjunkie]

Welding and offshore I worked offshore for 27 years and have only seen welding on the plant outside about 5 times out with shutdowns. There is nearly always a cold solution. Even in the big shutdowns as much as possible is pre fabricated to minimise the hot work.

To give you an example I was in charge of a 42 day shutdown on an FPSO. Total spend was 40 million dollars. There were only 3 outside welds.

Drilling rigs do have welders too but its a different world to the production assets. But again a small world and notessy to-get in too.

 

[Dexy]

I worked 35 years on MODU we always had I regular crew welder and hired in extra when required note rig welders on a drilling rig are more fabricators than a straight welders
A Fab in Aberdeen was the go to firm for extra welders when required it will not be easy to get a start on a drilling rig but once you do, the work is varied and you will be on normally 21 x 21 day rotation
you may have to try to get a start with some of the firms that supply welders offshore and see if you can get in that way most of the rig welders I had worked with all had at least 15 years in with the company so not a great turnover or opportunities for new hires

 

[Brad93]

Think lads on our site got one use out a set overalls after a shift on the cracker furnace at that heat aswell brutal stuff

I took 5 sets of overalls for that two weeks and came back with two very worn pairs. The rest ended up in the bin.

Those first few nights they were just drenched, so I found a local old school launderette run by these two women in striped aprons, had their wooden chairs outside and every time I went there to drop overalls off or pick up one of them was outside with a cigarette. Was like something out of a tv show.

I remember four sets of overalls came to something like £12.50, i gave them £20 for good measure since they had em ready the next day.