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[knod]

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on what courses I need to complete to better my chances at getting a job on an offshore rig? I've been doing some research and I figure I'll need the BOSIET but I know I also need to do a medical? I was looking at the OGUK/UKOOA medical but is this valid all over the world except Norwegian sector? I'm Australian without any current working visas or rig experience so I guess working in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico is not going to happen for a long while, is there another medical I should be looking at doing? I'm an electrician and some places on the net say I should do a compex course? Also a MIST course seems to keep popping up in my research? If anyone can point me in the right direction of what I do and don't need I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

[timbershifter]

Hi knod

Where are you, in Australia or Thailand

[knod]

I'm in Australia at the moment. Looking to move to Thailand around the end of the year.

[Soutpeel]

Doing your BOSIET etc will not make more employable per se offshore, seeing as you have no experience I would forget about the North Sea/GOM and focus on getting offshore in Aussie, get a few years under your belt and then venture into the big bad world.

There is a lot of stuff going on in Aussie now and in the coming years.

I would just state you have your BOSIET and if something comes up, just tell the company concerned it has just run out and you will go and redo it.

Its up to you but you may be spending money on courses just for the h*ll of it, and these courses are not really going to help you get a job, these are basic offshore courses everyone needs to do anyway, if you get on it will be based on your "technical knowlege" and experience.

[jocko]

Doing your BOSIET etc will not make more employable per se offshore, seeing as you have no experience I would forget about the North Sea/GOM and focus on getting offshore in Aussie, get a few years under your belt and then venture into the big bad world.

There is a lot of stuff going on in Aussie now and in the coming years.

I would just state you have your BOSIET and if something comes up, just tell the company concerned it has just run out and you will go and redo it.

Its up to you but you may be spending money on courses just for the h*ll of it, and these courses are not really going to help you get a job, these are basic offshore courses everyone needs to do anyway, if you get on it will be based on your "technical knowlege" and experience.

Go on uk welder website and ask the same question there are many guys who live in OZ who go on the site mention that you live in Australia but i must say it is not easy to get offshore if you can get someone to put a word in for you that is a big plus you should be prepared to take any job just to get your feet in the door.

Good Luck

[knod]

Thanks for advice. I guess I'll get my electrical licences for the other aussie states n try and focus on work in Australia. Still there aren't many jobs advertised online for Australia. Seems like one dam_n hard industry to break into.

If I do somehow manage to get work offshore is there anywhere you would stay away from. I hear Nigeria is a no go?

[houseinbkk]

Getting a BOSIET and a Medical is the equivalent of passing your driving test and expecting to become a racing car driver, when all you could really do is valet parking.

At the moment with the Aussie dollar being so strong the best place to work offshore is Australia, get those tickets which are effectively worthless and get up to Darwin and see if someone will give you a start painting and being a dogsbody, maybe do your level 1 rope access as well it shows willing ... but again ropes is just a way of getting to the place you have to work, its not really a skill as such unless youve many years experience and are a competent level 3.

Then once youve found out this isnt for you, spend a couple of years gaining some skills where you will be sought after and can earn some decent money, being a sparks/welder isnt a bad idea if youre looking for a quicker route in.

And no one will take you on in Nigeria without experience, besides Nigeria isnt for anyone other then people who can earn a shed load of $$$$ running the show imho.

[timbershifter]

When you are in Thailand most if not all of the offshore courses you need can done there.

There are training centers in Sriracha, Songkhla and Laemchabang and a few other places.

Check the web site mogit.org, not cheap, international rates but the training is good.

Course material and lectures are in English aswell. You can google IDESS they are in the Philippines -

Subic bay, very good and Subic girls are nice aswell

All the basic courses you need to work offshore will be STCW95 and will be indorsed by Liberia and Vanuatu

which is the 2 main flags under which most if not all oilrigs and drill ships work under.

Cheers

[Soutpeel]

Thanks for advice. I guess I'll get my electrical licences for the other aussie states n try and focus on work in Australia. Still there aren't many jobs advertised online for Australia. Seems like one dam_n hard industry to break into.

If I do somehow manage to get work offshore is there anywhere you would stay away from. I hear Nigeria is a no go?

There is nowhere the world offshore guys will stay away from, the more undesirable the location the higher the day rate attached....basic ecomonics...

Offshore is a very diffucult business to break into and getting in is more to do with who you know rather than what you know..... and in certain cases some people after years of trying still dont manage to crack the business..

In aussie there is/will be tons of working coming up over the next few years, two big projects that spring to mind are Gorgon and Wheatstone (both massive projects)....let me put it this way....based on what is coming up if you cant get a foot in the door and get a start in the offshore game in Aussie in the next few years, then it aint your destiny...

[Soutpeel]

At the moment with the Aussie dollar being so strong the best place to work offshore is Australia,

We could debate that one, as working in Aussie also has some very high tax rates attached to it...

[NanLaew]

"Nigeria... the oil patch's best kept secret."

I have had (3) sh!t assignments there and one simply stellar one that comes a close second to my year in Cuba back in 1995. Then there was my 3 years in Brazil... ahhh... Ana-Keila Silva da Silva. You were wonderful, but I digress.

Australia is a huge place and most of the really active offshore oil exploration is on the NW Shelf so relocation to WA (if the OP aint there yet) would seem to be a logical move. Most offshore workers, particularly entry-level are sub-contractors and not direct hire. Suss out who the agencies are that stuff these sub-contractors personnel lists. I think relying solely on the internet and press for work options in WA while staying in (say) Brisbane is on a hiding for nothing.

At may be easier to rack up your technical skills and work experience on WA's inland minerals extraction and associated support industries. For example, being 5-years HIVAC certified onshore makes you pretty much HIVAC certified offshore; it's just that your workplace is either floating or perched on a pile of steel legs. Getting the required offshore certification and medical should be 'after the fact' as it won't open the offshore door any earlier. When you do go for them, BOSIET is the minimum standard offshore survival and OGUK (formerly UKOOA) is the standard for the medical certification. I doubt you will need any add-ons unless they are mandated by contractor or the company hiring the contractor but there are some. For example Petronas (Malaysia) wants EVERYONE to have the Norwegian sector endorsements on survival AND medical although you will most likely be offshore Sabah! Go figure.

Onshore work may also give you the opportunity to 'learn' the equivalent of offshore deprivations and balancing the work versus play. Think 28 days on, full-board, no expenses and the money you earn versus 28 days off and the 20,000 baht/day party time. Just so that you haven't spent all your earnings on Patong, NEP or the local equivalent. When I was a kid in the oil patch, I could afford to blow off the first 3 (or was it 4?) fortunes. However, I doubt that the present global economic situation grants the oilfield newbie the same latitude!

Thailand is a great place to live and party btw, but it sucks working here.

Just sayin'

Good luck on your quest.

[thaihome]

...In aussie there is/will be tons of working coming up over the next few years, two big projects that spring to mind are Gorgon and Wheatstone (both massive projects)....let me put it this way....based on what is coming up if you cant get a foot in the door and get a start in the offshore game in Aussie in the next few years, then it aint your destiny...

Would agree, there are 4 LNG plants that are going to be built on Curtis Island. Each plant is going to need several thousand people each. QCLNG is gearing up now.

Curtis Island LNG

I think it total there are something like 9 plants being built or in the planing stages in Australia over the next 10 years.

RH

[houseinbkk]

At the moment with the Aussie dollar being so strong the best place to work offshore is Australia,

We could debate that one, as working in Aussie also has some very high tax rates attached to it...

Is it the same for expat workers on business/temporary work visas? and just out of curiosity Is it possible to work in Aus via a limited company to offset the high taxation.

[Soutpeel]

At the moment with the Aussie dollar being so strong the best place to work offshore is Australia,

We could debate that one, as working in Aussie also has some very high tax rates attached to it...

Is it the same for expat workers on business/temporary work visas? and just out of curiosity Is it possible to work in Aus via a limited company to offset the high taxation.

Yes...workng in Aussie legally you will be paying the PAYE as a local, regards via a limited company, never looked into this as regards the Aussie tax rules