Offshore Engineer: Jobs, Pay and Rotations I Lived Through

An offshore engineer designs, maintains or improves the equipment and structures on oil and gas platforms, drilling rigs, FPSOs and offshore wind farms. Most offshore engineers who work on the installations themselves live there on rotation and must pass offshore safety training like BOSIET before they fly out.

Every Sunday a helicopter took me to a gas platform in the Persian Gulf, and every Thursday it brought me back. I'm Alex, a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with 18+ years in oil and gas, including Shell and Saudi Aramco. I've worked at sea, in deserts, swamps and forests, from −50°C to +50°C. Here's what the offshore engineer job really looks like.

What Does an Offshore Engineer Do?

Offshore engineering is really two jobs in the offshore industry. The first is design and development: structures, vessels, subsea systems, naval architecture and big offshore projects. Much of that work happens in offices onshore, often with consultants. The second is the engineer on the installation, who keeps operations and processing running: maintenance, repairs, reliability, health and safety, and compliance with standards and regulations.

I did the second one. At Saudi Aramco I was an offshore maintenance engineer, supporting offshore gas fields.

Today, as I write this, I work in the Caspian Sea as a senior rotating equipment engineer, and I do several jobs at once. Most of my time I'm in the engineering office, working on engineering projects for offshore platforms in the Caspian Sea. But there's no rotating equipment engineer in the maintenance and operations team, so I also cover maintenance, reliability and everything about the equipment running on the platforms today.

On the project side I write specifications and datasheets, look for ways to remove bottlenecks and give technical support to operations. When a machine fails, I take part in the failure analysis and testing.

The responsibilities are complex: you oversee machinery that has to run day and night in a harsh environment. Compressors, pumps and turbines don't care that you're offshore. When something fails, there's no shop around the corner.

Which Engineers Work on an Oil Rig or Platform?

An oil rig engineer can mean many roles in the offshore oil and gas industry. The teams on drilling rigs and production platforms are different, but you'll usually find:

• mechanical and rotating equipment engineers;
• maintenance engineers;
• electrical and instrumentation engineers;
• production and process engineers;
• drilling engineers on drilling rigs;
• subsea and marine engineers.

Before Aramco I spent about ten years at Shell, and that's where I learned the equipment I later worked on offshore.

Where Do Offshore Engineers Work?

Offshore engineers work wherever energy comes from the sea. When you read job ads, you'll usually see one of these places:

• fixed production platforms standing on the seabed;
• FPSOs and other floating production units in deep water;
• drilling rigs, for offshore drilling and well work;
• offshore wind farms, both fixed and floating wind;
• construction and installation projects for new offshore structures, pipelines and subsea systems.

Floating wind is the newest part of offshore energy. The US Department of Energy says about two-thirds of US offshore wind potential is in water too deep for fixed foundations on the sea floor. Turbines there need floating platforms. That's new technology, and it needs new engineers.

Each place has its own environmental conditions and rules. Offshore structures have to survive wind, waves and salt water, and projects have to meet environmental regulations on emissions and discharges. The equipment is different on a wind farm and on a gas platform. But the basics are the same: the machines must run safely, and someone has to keep them running.

Offshore Engineer Salary: What the Numbers Say

BLS doesn't count offshore engineers separately. So if you searched for an oil rig engineer salary, here are the closest official numbers. All are median annual pay for May 2025:

• petroleum engineers: $144,910, and $180,080 in oil and gas extraction; the top 10% earn more than $253,200;
• marine engineers and naval architects: $112,230.

Offshore jobs often add benefits and allowances for the rotation, but the bigger factor for your earnings is where you work in the global energy market.

If the Middle East interests you, read how engineers find jobs in the Middle East.

Offshore Rotation: What a Hitch Really Looks Like

At Aramco the schedule was simple: helicopter out on Sunday, back on Thursday, 12-hour shifts on the platform. I had about 60 days off a year on top of my weekends at home. I made that move abroad with my family when I was 31.

Over my career I worked many rotations. Here's what they mean in real life:

My longest hitch was 6 weeks. I talk honestly about the good and the bad side in my article on rotation work and its pros and cons, and in my video below.

How to Become an Offshore Engineer

Step #1: the degree. BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education. For petroleum roles that's petroleum engineering or a related field like mechanical, civil or chemical, and for marine roles it's marine engineering or naval architecture.

Step #2: experience onshore first. Most operators want professionals who already have the technical knowledge, skills and problem-solving habits from operating plants. My path was about ten years at Shell before my offshore job at Saudi Aramco.

Step #3: safety training and medical. OPITO's BOSIET is the basic offshore safety induction and emergency training: helicopter escape, sea survival, first aid, firefighting and self-rescue. It takes about 20 hours 40 minutes, and you refresh it with FOET within 4 years. HUET, the helicopter underwater escape course, takes about 7 hours and is also valid for 4 years. You also need a valid offshore medical certificate or an accepted equivalent, so physical fitness matters too.

Step #4: a resume built for offshore engineering jobs. Show equipment, safety and results, not duties.

If your target is drilling, see which certifications a drilling engineer really needs. And before you apply, check your resume with a scanner, because offshore ads are full of specific keywords.

How Offshore Recruitment Works

Operators hire some engineers directly. But a big part of the offshore business runs through contractors and recruitment agencies. Think drilling contractors, construction and installation companies, and service firms that give technical support to operators. So don't send your resume only to the big names. Send it to the contractors and agencies too.

Industry events and conferences help as well, because there you meet the people who hire face to face.

My own start was rough. I sent my first 300 resumes and got zero replies. My first interview, from Qatar, came after about five years of experience: around $4,000 a month without family relocation, so I said no. After I got my CEng and CMRP, I had three interviews, and one of them, Saudi Aramco, ended with an offer.

Recruiters read fast. Show the equipment you know, the problems you solved and the solutions that worked, in plain words.

Is Offshore Work Right for You?

Working offshore gives you great money, long breaks and real opportunities to grow into senior and leadership roles. But it's challenging, it's hard on families, and not every rotation is fair. Onshore roles pay less in allowances but keep you home every night. I said no to 45/15 and 60/30 for a reason. If you want to see how I made the jump abroad, here's how I found my first job abroad.

By the way, if you're planning an international career, I share everything I learned in my course.

Good luck, friends. And always respect the sea.