DivePro - Info

There's good money to be made by those willing to tackle underwater oil and gas work. Diver shortage is deeply felt.

By BRETT CLANTON

It used to be a novelty for Mike Oden to stick a thumbtack into the map on his office wall. Each tack meant the recruiter at Houston's Ocean Corp., one of the nation's biggest commercial diving schools, had landed another student from outside the U.S.

These days, however, new tacks are going up all the time. China, Colombia, Pakistan — more than 40 countries in all are represented, and the list keeps growing.

The word is out about the shortage of divers in the oil and gas industry, and the good money even young recruits can make by going into the dark and cold depths of the sea to do work few are willing and able to do.

"They'll know who they're going to work for as soon as they walk out the door," Oden said.

Demand for commercial divers has been unusually strong since last year, when damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita created a huge amount of underwater repair and inspection work in the Gulf of Mexico. New offshore exploration projects by profit-rich oil companies, here and abroad, are also fueling the search for more divers — and attracting a broader range of candidates than ever before.

"I don't think we have any doctors or lawyers yet, but I may be wrong," said Quinn Hebert, chief executive of Cal Dive International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Helix Energy Solutions in Houston.

In this climate, divers young and old have been able to name their prices, and short-staffed oil-field-services providers have been willing to pay far more than they did during the lean years for the oil business.

All the new work has also been a boon for the handful of companies that specialize in commercial diving. At least two operators have filed paperwork for initial public stock offerings in coming months, and others are posting strong earnings.

A long-standing challenge
The strong demand for divers comes as Houston's booming energy sector is seeing worker shortages across the board, from engineers to roughnecks.

Yet finding qualified divers, trained to inspect underwater pipelines or repair the bowels of offshore oil rigs, has long been a challenge.

"They're a special breed," Hebert said. "It's kind of like they're on the last frontier."

Before the hurricanes last year, about 1,000 divers were working in the Gulf of Mexico, executives with dive firms say. Now they estimate the figure is closer to 1,500.

Even with the additions, however, competition for new divers remains fierce.

Since last year, the dive companies say they have been trying to reel in more fresh dive school graduates, ex-military and even retired divers. They say they are offering everything from signing bonuses to tuition-reimbursement plans.

They are even dangling expensive diving equipment that is usually paid for by recruits, a bigger perk than it may sound. Deep-sea dive helmets, which protect the head like a hard hat while divers are doing underwater construction and have two-way radios, can cost upwards of $5,000 apiece.

Dive companies say average pay has risen about 25 percent since 2005. In their first year out of school, divers can make up to $1,800 a week when on the job. Experienced divers, meanwhile, can earn $1,000 a day and up to $200,000 in annual pay.

"The hurricanes were really a shot in the arm for this industry," said Kevin Erickson, 51, a diver from Madisonville, La., with 29 years of experience. Not only does he earn top wages, but he pays nothing for medical benefits and life insurance.

The perks, along with aggressive advertising by dive companies, have made divers keenly aware that they are in high demand, said Jim Doré, senior vice president at Global Industries, a firm with oil and gas diving services based in Carlyss, La.

"These guys have a certain strut about them now."

Dive schools busy
The buzz has also helped push up enrollment up at some dive schools.

"We're sold out until February," Oden said. "And that wasn't the norm before Katrina."

Before the storms, Ocean Corp.'s seven-month dive courses ran 18 to 20 students, and it was easy to land a spot in new classes beginning each month. Today, classes sometimes have up to 28 students, and there is a waiting list, he said.

While the romance of a career as a deep-sea diver draws some, the job's realities chase others away before they take their first job, recruiters and veteran divers say.

Assignments can keep divers away from home for weeks or months at a time. There are stringent physical requirements and long apprenticeship programs before landing the most coveted diving jobs. And, perhaps above all, there is the constant threat that something will go wrong under the water.

"There's the hum of that everywhere," Oden said.

It may not last
The frenzied demand for underwater repair teams is unlikely to last forever.

The push by oil companies into deep water may reduce the need for divers, who are mostly limited to 1,000 feet or less. Hurricane-related repair work — still more than half of total contract jobs for some dive firms — is expected to taper off in the coming months. And quiet weather in the Gulf could also cool things down.

"If we have a hurricane season like we just experienced, we're going to see things return to more normal levels," said Wade Abadie, chief operating officer of Deep Marine Technology in Houston.

For now, though, dive companies are taking advantage of the robust business climate to build and grow. Superior Offshore International of Lafayette, La., has filed paperwork with the SEC to take the company public. Cal Dive also is planning an IPO for a minority interest in its common stock. And SeaQuest Diving just this month leased new office space in Houston and, after buying out a partner, is planning for growth.

"In our industry, you've got to get it while the gettin's good," said Phil Newsum, executive director of the Association of Diving Contractors in Houston, because another downturn may be just around the corner.

Braxton Dikes, 46, a diver with Global Industries for 14 years, knows the boom-and-bust cycle of the oil business all too well. But he worries that those entering the field do not.

"Budgeting is a big word," he said. "Some of these guys just can't grasp the idea that not every day is an offshore day."

brett.clanton@chron.com
Source - Houston Chronicle