Hello

[cableguy]

Hi all,

Thought I would put a post here to "get rid of that annoying yellow banner"!

I'm a qualified deck officer and SDPO, but made the jump over to offshore construction, specifically cable installation in offshore wind farms. Came across this site the other day as I am looking to top up my HND to a degree some time in the near future, and I found a couple of the threads more than useful.

So I would quite like to return the favour and am more than happy to provide advice/some good old yarns to any one who is interested. My specialities obviously include subsea cable installation, DP, general deck officering and offshore work!

Cheers and enjoy,


Greg

[HarmlessWeasel]

Hey, welcome. Any tips for cadets looking to get into DP work? I might be able to get some time on a DP ship during my cadetship if I'm lucky, but I have no idea if that will count for anything apart from to say I have limited experience of life on that type of vessel. Any ideas?

[size4riggerboots]

Hello and welcome!

[cableguy]

Hi Harmless,

Thanks for the welcome.

This is probably one of the questions I get asked most by other deckies and unfortunately there is no hard and fast answer. Unfortunately this is a brilliant example of catch 22 at the moment. You can't get DP time without a certificate, and you can't get a certificate with out DP time.

I think the best thing in the short term is certainly push to see if you can get on a DP ship before the end of your cadetship, it can't do you any harm, and even if the only thing you walk away with is knowing if you can/can't take the particular routines of a DP vessel then that's better than nothing.

Then once you've qualified (and you still want to be a DPO) push to get a contract with a company with DP vessels. As you may be aware no one can get a DP cert these days without a CoC so you won't be ahead or behind your peers, but what you might find is that to get a role in a DP company with no DP cert you would have to take a hit on terms and conditions on that first job, but then you've got a foot in the door towards DP. Alternatively see if you can find any companies with DP vessels that don't require DP certs for junior officers, the best example is Global Marine Systems (and they are how I managed to do it).

Another thing that may help you is paying for your own DP Induction course. The price is a little high, no doubt, but once you factor in day rates of DPOs you will realise that the cost will be covered with just a few days work. However this will be no guarantee, but it could help.

In the end of the day, whilst it may seem a very tough nut to crack you've just got to remember that more and more DP vessels are being built and that the average age of DPOs are on the rise, meaning that new blood has to come from some where.

Just keep on hammering away, try and get that time on a DP vessel as a cadet, and then when qualified hunt around all the offshore companies putting out as many CVs as you can.


I wish you the best of luck and enjoy!

Cheers,


Greg

p.s. sorry that sounds like a bit of a lecture, but happy to help with this and any other questions.

[cableguy]

and thanks for the welcome size4!

[endure]

Hi and welcome. I have to ask - what's a DP ship?

[GuinnessMan]

Hi and welcome. I have to ask - what's a DP ship?

Dynamic positioning vessel...

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Clanky]

Hi Greg, welcome to the forum. Good luck with the degree.

[Hatchorder]

Dynamic positioning vessel...

Oh..

I always thought it was.......

Never mind...

Good job S4R is not about!

Ian

[endure]

Dynamic positioning vessel...

Cheers

[HarmlessWeasel]

Hi Harmless,

Thanks for the welcome.

This is probably one of the questions I get asked most by other deckies and unfortunately there is no hard and fast answer. Unfortunately this is a brilliant example of catch 22 at the moment. You can't get DP time without a certificate, and you can't get a certificate with out DP time.

I think the best thing in the short term is certainly push to see if you can get on a DP ship before the end of your cadetship, it can't do you any harm, and even if the only thing you walk away with is knowing if you can/can't take the particular routines of a DP vessel then that's better than nothing.

Then once you've qualified (and you still want to be a DPO) push to get a contract with a company with DP vessels. As you may be aware no one can get a DP cert these days without a CoC so you won't be ahead or behind your peers, but what you might find is that to get a role in a DP company with no DP cert you would have to take a hit on terms and conditions on that first job, but then you've got a foot in the door towards DP. Alternatively see if you can find any companies with DP vessels that don't require DP certs for junior officers, the best example is Global Marine Systems (and they are how I managed to do it).

Another thing that may help you is paying for your own DP Induction course. The price is a little high, no doubt, but once you factor in day rates of DPOs you will realise that the cost will be covered with just a few days work. However this will be no guarantee, but it could help.

In the end of the day, whilst it may seem a very tough nut to crack you've just got to remember that more and more DP vessels are being built and that the average age of DPOs are on the rise, meaning that new blood has to come from some where.

Just keep on hammering away, try and get that time on a DP vessel as a cadet, and then when qualified hunt around all the offshore companies putting out as many CVs as you can.


I wish you the best of luck and enjoy!

Cheers,


Greg

p.s. sorry that sounds like a bit of a lecture, but happy to help with this and any other questions.

Thanks! That's really useful info, and not a lecture at all I'll certainly have a crack at it, thanks

[size4riggerboots]

Oh..

I always thought it was.......

Never mind...

Good job S4R is not about!

Ian

Filthy Man. (Actually I can't help having a little snigger to myself every time people talk about DP. Cos I'm so grown up and mature...)

[Clanky]

On the subject of sniggering and childishness, it turns out I can lip read in Glaswegian.

I was using the binoculars to check that two bits of wire jad been joined with a kenter shackle and not a bow shackle before I heaved them onto the anchor handling winch last week when I happened to catch the 2nd mate saying "ahm f**kin' soakin'" (it was pouring with rain).

The look on her face when I saod over the radio "yeah, and not in a good way either, ********" was priceless, she was checking her radio to see if she had been transmitting and then asking all the others if they had been.

I'm still not sure that she believes that I saw what she said through the binoculars.

[Chiefy]

whats wrong with using the zoom on the camera's ;-) any reasoon you wanted kenter and not bow, I used to bot bow's at the cheeck and work round it

[cableguy]

Filthy Man. (Actually I can't help having a little snigger to myself every time people talk about DP. Cos I'm so grown up and mature...)

I remember the first time I ever heard of Dynamic Positioning was in a NARAS-O lecture at Fleetwood in "the loft". The lecturer (think it was one Ian McCormac (SP?)) was talking about DP and I couple of the lads were sitting in the corner sniggering.........to my shame it took me about 5 minutes to clock on to it!