decent pay rate for offshore rig welding

[s@ndw1ch_]

my son's got this thing he's trying to figure out, and I told him I'd throw it out to you guys.
He's fresh out of welding school with his pipe welding cert, and right now he's making a decent $35 an hour as a pipe welder at a paper mill here at home town.

It's a solid job, but he's got some prior oilfield experience, and he said he really misses that rotational life.

Now, he's thinking about applying for an offshore welding gig with Transocean, but he's kinda scratching his head about the pay.
He sees those routabouts working for big offshore companies pulling in less than $70K a year.

But then he looks at offshore welder pay, and it seems like it's only around 25 bucks an hour? That seems super low for a welder, especially for being out there on a rig.

So, if anyone's got any info on offshore jobs and pay rates, why is it low rates, or just any other offshore wisdom, he'd really appreciate it. any advice helps!

 

[PipeDreamer]

Offshore welding can be a good career for your son. Starting pay is about $25 an hour, which sounds decent. But the real money comes from overtime and hazard pay because of the on-and-off work schedule, usually 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. If he gets some AWS or pipe welding certs and gains experience, he could be earning $50 to $100+ an hour

The main thing is, Is he okay with those shifts and willing to get any needed offshore certs? That will mean more skills and better money

 

[trevorjenko]

@PipeDreamer is right. And curious is good, its a way to learn. Offshore welding pay can look low on paper, like $25 an hour, because of contract work and downtime between jobs. The yearly pay can be decent, but it's not steady like a regular job. Roustabouts make less, which might be what he's seeing. If he wants to go offshore , he should dig into different companies and contracts and talk to people already out there to get the real scoop on pay and what the lifestyle's like.

 

[timdiesel]

Offshore pay can be a bit misleading when you just look at the hourly rate. A lot of those listings don't show the rotations, overtime, or per diem factored in. Some gigs are straight contract where you're on 28/28 or 21/21 and you end up banking way more than a shop job once you average it out.
Look that $25/hr stuff you see is usually entry level maintenance welding or through a staffing agency, not the higher end rig work.