Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello Hands

Anyone thinking about becoming an underwater welder please read carefully, I have been at this for 39 yr, it's been great, I started when it was booming in the oilfield, actually I have worked around the world installing and repairing and removing oil platforms and pipelines and I just wanted to pass along a reality check to the folks looking for a carrier change or there first job

1) The cost of a commercial diving school, it will cost you between 25-35K, the dive schools will tell you that there are plenty of jobs out there and they will place you after graduation in order to get you to sign on the dotted line (TRUTH IS THERE ARE NOT), there are 3 company's that do under water welding in the gulf of mexico, and with the price of oil down there is very little work right now.

2) Without formal welder training in structural and pipe with 3-5 years experience you will be just an apprentice tender/diver helping with set up and fitting up if you were even able to get on with one of the three.

3) Life in Louisiana is not for everyone, this is a different animal from the rest of the U.S of A, I grew up outside of new Orleans so it's home to me but be prepared for a different culture and way of doing business down here.

4) It will take 2-5yrs to break out as a journeyman diver, along with chasing the work as a tender, then another 3-5yr as a diver, then breaking into the underwater welding field you may be at 8yrs still paying off the loans for the dive school alone

Best advise is to get the formal training at one of the bigger welding trade schools and hit the road for a few years as a welder and see if this is what you really want to do, save your money, go to young's memorial (Morgan City La) where the cost for the same commercial dive certificate is 5k (State Vo-Tec) then see if it's for you


Good Luck Hope this helps

Mike

Mike,

Thank you for posting that! While it does not come up often here, that subject does appear from time to time. While I've never attempted that path, I did consider it at one time when I was doing a lot of work "on" the water. The impression I always got when I discussed it with the experienced was that it was akin to comparing Navy SEALS to standard duty, or Airborne division to infantry.

Your testimony bears that out. If I'd been a "trust fund" baby, I'd have likely tried it just to see if I could do it, but the risk was too high for the reward at my level.

We'll likely reference this post in the future, as I'm sure we've not seen the last question about underwater welding.

Steve S