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Working part time?

3K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  diverstu 
#1 ·
I actually think I posted here years ago asking for advice as being a commercial diver was what I always wanted to do but in the mean time saving money for courses I ended up working on ships instead of underneath them. Now I have a situation where my leave goes on for 2/3 months at a time and what I want to ask is, is it possible to work inshore diving during this time or is it something that just wouldn't work out? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I have no idea how your rotas/contracts work, whether it's freelance or permanent etc. I've chatted with divers when we've had them in for hull inspections and opinions seemed to be mixed.

As a bit of background info, I'm lucky enough to be a ship's Officer that spends a lot of time out on deck actually working/ doing maintenance/ fixing screw ups, etc, not just sitting on my a*se in a nice white boiler suit ;-) I'm practical (which is why I can't sit still) can weld, etc. and I would say I have all of the skills you would expect someone working on deck to have.

Anyway, thanks for your time :)
 
#2 ·
I'm going to keep it short and sweet- probably not.

There are many, MANY new divers out there, desperate for work (with a relatively high number giving up in the first year or two). Inshore companies can have the odd call-out, or few-day jobs on the go, which, if you were qualified for, relatively local,and the company liked you- you could do, but goodwill would soon ebb away, if you were called back to do your 'day job' part way through the job, and they had to replace you for the last few days. For bigger contracts, and most Offshore work, CV's are reviewed, and the 'short list' of divers are sent to the client for approval, and, once you are accepted, there could be any kind of wait before the work actually goes ahead. Imagine how happy a company would be if you got home, sent the cv in, and they went through the process, only for you to call and say you were heading back to 'work' just before the job started?

I know of one or two guys who have tried doing this- one was a Diver with a company inshore for many years, and became a Fireman, due to the erratic work situation in Diving. He made himself available for callout work when he was off shift, to 'keep his hand in' and make some extra money, but he realised fairly quickly that trying to juggle two 'full time jobs' just wasn't worth the hassle, and despite knowing him, and knowing he was a good diver, it got a little wearing, I think, when a job ran over till the next day, and the boss had to call around at 8pm trying to find a diver willing to turn up the next day for 1 day's work. worth noting that he had all his tickets when it cost about £4k all in for a part 1. I imagine an outlay of around £15k would get you most of the tickets required, but if you consider that you might never get a job as a diver even if you stuck at it full time, then paying all that off would take a seriously long time.

So, short answer is probably not. You might get one or two jobs, but merely to get the courses to fit in with your leave would be some doing, and you'd spend years just paying them off, if at all.
 
#4 ·
And as a little update for you (hot off the presses, so to speak)- the chances of picking up any part time work in the current climate is much the same as for picking up full-time work- almost zero.

The diving workscopes for most offshore companies have fallen off a very high cliff, due to the an oil barrel losing 50% of its price in 6 months or so. Vessels are being moved out of the region (some never to return, mainly due to newbuilds too close to launch to cancel) and many are tied up ( in January, I counted 7 DSV's tied up idle in Leith alone). Technip have laid off all their divers that aren't on contract (surprised that they would let a little thing like contracts get in their way) and the ODIA have delayed giving their position to the RMT re. The Diving agreement for over 2 months, and they don't appear to be that worried about getting back to them at all, no doubt timing it right so that all the union members are about to have mortgages foreclosed just as they offer a pay cut....

But if you still want to try your hand at diving, then go for it!
 
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