Careers as an ROV Pilot Technician
ROV pilot technicians are employed around the world to work with a variety of different Remotely Operated Vehicles in a range of situations and industries. ROVs vary in size from 140 tonne sea bed ploughs to mine hunting ROVs weighing only 2 or 3 kilograms.
Thanks to the recent surge in demand for ROV pilot technicians, The Underwater Centre has almost doubled the number of ROV courses offered, up from 7 courses in 2007 to 12 in 2009.
These figures reflect the global demand for ROVs recently highlighted in a report from analysts, Douglas-Westwood, which revealed that expenditure on work class ROV operations had more than doubled since 2002. The energy analysts predict that by 2011, $1.458billion will have been spent in this sector.
On completion of the course with us, graduates can be employed as a base technician with an ROV company and progress to an offshore role on a smaller low cost vehicle or be a junior member of an 8 man team working with a larger ROV costing anything up to £3 million. A recent survey shows that 70% of graduates from the Centre have secured relevant industry jobs.
ROV pilot technicians can be put under a lot of pressure as the drilling rig or support ship is dependent upon the ROV’s reliability for work. The high cost of shutdown of a hydro electric plant or fish farm for an ROV survey can lead to equal pressure. ROVs are used in a vast array of differing industries, including dam inspection, subsea construction, police work, and archaeological finds, along with the defence industry.
Not only do we train individual students, we are also used by industry to train teams of pilot technicians. For example, Fugro send around 75 students a year to learn ROV piloting skills in lifelike scenarios, along with other companies such as Maridive, Codero, SubSea7 and Pod Vod Servis.
Salary rates vary and are based on demand and can range from £150 to £500 per day. Experience and supervision qualities also impact that day rate. Some large ROV companies employ staff on a full-time basis, while others employ purely on a day rate basis.
For more information on careers in the ROV industry, give one of our student advisors call or visit us on an introductory day and speak to our instructors.
Further Information
