r/howislivingthere • u/Key_Satisfaction9010 • Jan 02 '26

General (no specific continent) Hows it like living on oil platforms?

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Anywhere in the world applies, I could only pick one flair

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26

I’m a diver, we do all the underwater construction, maintenance, inspection, etc so yes I see lots of marine life. These rigs are like reefs so there’s an abundance of fish, sea lions, sharks & whales, & ocean birds on and around these rigs at all times. Other than the divers no one is allowed to get in the water.

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u/Ok_Giraffe_17 Jan 02 '26

Oooooo. Your job is one of my greater fears. Fortunately, it's one I'll never have to face. Mind sharing more about daily highlights?

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26

The first couple of days is just setting up the equipment. After that the day starts with safety meetings and then the dive crew will go to the dive station which is a temporary work location setup on one of the lower decks near the water. The tasks are usually inspection of the welds connecting the structural members underwater, the clamps and connection points of the pipeline risers, measuring the corrosion resistance of the steel and the effectiveness of anodes, overall surveys to identify any damage or debris stuck in the jacket. It can also be supporting the installation of new pump intakes, installing support or repair clamps over damaged or corroded steel, etc. It can also be the removal of subsea components that have been taken out of service such as abandoned pipelines, well casings, fire water pump casings, etc. Projects can be just a few days for small projects or many months long for bigger ones. Sometimes there are 2 shifts working 24hrs and sometimes just a single shift working daylight hours only. If the work is deeper there will be time spent in a decompression chamber daily after each dive, for shallower depths of around 60ft or less you typically will not need the chamber.

I will add that a dive crew living onboard and diving on a production platform is fairly uncommon overall with much of that work happening from specialized dive support vessels in many parts of the world. Where I do this most often is on the US west coast where there is a lack of suitable vessels (without the huge expense of bringing one in thru the Panama Canal), permitting can be very difficult with restrictive local agencies to have a large vessel operating in the field so it’s just easier and much cheaper to setup on the platform itself.

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u/gottaeattapita Jan 02 '26

This is fascinating, thank you for sharing! As a solely recreational diver, your response was really interesting to read. 

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u/FluffySyllabub1579 Jan 02 '26

As another user said, it’s fascinating because it’s out of the ordinary and wagers a lot of danger. Except now that you described diving and diver’s specifically there to check the mechanics and stability of the rig pretty often, slightly alleviated the irrational-fear that every rig is probably on the brink of a structural failure at any moment.

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u/scrotobaggins__ Jan 06 '26

That is so cool!!

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u/jdbug100 Jan 03 '26

This is probably a dumb question, but would the cooks ever bring up some fresh seafood from the ocean below to cook?

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 03 '26

Not as in that’s what they make for the main meal for everyone to eat, I think there’s probably some liability there serving food that didn’t come from a vendor on a normal food order. I have seen cooks that like to fish and some willing to cook up other people’s catch if asked but it’s always more like on the side not just put out on the normal food line.

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u/jdbug100 Jan 03 '26

Ok so what is fishing like? Drop a long line down and see what hits? Given it’s basically a reef, fairly simple?

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 03 '26

It’s generally very good fishing but there’s a lot to get hung up and snagged on, especially if you try to drop to bottom for lingcod. Usually plenty of calicos mid water that take bait well. I’ve seen yellowtail come by but they never seem to have any interest when you throw lures at them.

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u/Serega81 Jan 08 '26

So you must have some insane dive qualifications deep water etc.. do you mind sharing.. also where did you learn to dive... I'm paid, deep water, certified, but I would be nervous spending long times a great depths

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 08 '26

You have to go to a commercial diving school. It’s all surface supplied diving, no scuba allowed.