March 24, 2006

Funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs

Location: Latitude 63° 45' S, Longitude 55° 32' W

Air Temperature: -5.2°C

How to become a driller

As we are on board a relatively small vessel surrounded by scientists and budding scientists, I suppose it's not unreasonable to expect to be asked questions, and in my job I get more than my fair share. However the one recurring question that all of us on the rig floor have been asked is how did you get to be a driller? What qualifications do you have? Did you go to drilling school? Now ask me an easy one, like how did you get a BHA stuck 4 mtrs in the ground, I've been practising the answer to that one. As there is no easy answer, no drilling school and no recognised route that ends up on the drill floor of a small rig stuck on the back of a research vessel in Antarctica, I thought the best way to go was to look at our back grounds and see if there was a common denominator.

I left school at 15 to go to sea as an apprentice deck officer, I quit at the first bit of college and started working as deck hand on trawlers and then supply boats. From the deck of a supply boat a drilling platform looked like a better place to be. I started as a roughneck and the best part of 30 years later I get to be whatever I am now.

Danny the night shift driller, left school at 16 and served his apprenticeship in a ship yard as a welder and fabricator. Then went to work for Seacore 18 years ago as a welder, got put on the rig floor as roughneck and worked his way up to driller and has run jobs as supervisor.

Ron, started working as a roughneck for his father at 15. Over 50 years later he is still pushing meters and a lot better than most of the younger men on here at handling tools.

Julian the rig mechanic, left school at 16 served an engineering apprenticeship with agricultural machinery, then came into drilling 10 years ago.

Jango the electrician, started an electrical apprenticeship at 15 in the Cornish mines, with the closure of the mines, started working in the drilling industry.

Shilo, unofficially left school at 14 to work on his fathers fishing boat, worked the fishing fleet as a successful skipper until coming to Seacore as a tug skipper, then ended up on the rig floor.

Neil, very similar to Danny, trained as a welder, now a roughneck and on his way up.

Mike, now he tried not to be a driller and was training to be a teacher, but thankfully saw the error of his ways, was offered a job as roughneck during a game of rugby, quit college and 24 years later is on here as the piggyback specialist.

Matt, There has to be one!! The exception, he wasted 4 years getting a degree in Chemistry and then started real work as a roughneck, working his way up to be driller.

So in summary, 7 out of the 9 of us left school at 16 or earlier, Only 1 has any higher education. Only 1 went straight into drilling. All of us have been known to enjoy the occasional cocktail before dinner, 7 out of the 9 smoke. There are 11 ex wives and roughly $ 90,000 a year in maintenance payments. 7 of us live within 30 miles of each other. All of us cheat at Euchre. 161 years of drilling experience, any one of us would work a 24 hour shift without thinking it unusual and we all have to wash our hands after a days work.

1 driller, 2 welders, 2 fishermen, 1 schoolteacher, 1 electrician, 1 chemist and a tractor mechanic.

So what do you need to get to be a driller, just luck I guess, and to be a crew? The answer is in the picture. 

-- Andy Frazer

The Cornish flag and snow on top of the rig.

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