MIRI: For 42-year old senior mechanic Rockerfella Jutie, working in the oil and gas industry has given him the privilege to travel all over the world.
Rockerfella Jutie
The countries he has visited over his 24-year career include Azerbaijan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor, Qatar and Dubai.
In his own words, he started out as a ‘tukang isi minyak’ (assistant) and worked his way up to where he is today.
In his opinion, this is the best way to learn the trade as working on a barge or oil rig requires one to have encompassing knowledge of how things work, even if it doesn’t specifically fall within one’s job scope.
At times, one has to improvise where possible.
Currently, he works as a senior mechanic on a barge which carries a crew of 300.
They are tasked with maintaining oil rigs and platforms.
When on duty, his day starts as early as 4am as his 12-hour shift begins at 6am.
He starts by checking out the machines and equipment under his care and making sure everything is functioning the way it is supposed to.
If all goes well, the day will be quite uneventful.
However, if something goes wrong, he probably won’t even have time to eat a meal, he told the BAT team.
He said that one of the biggest challenges for offshore workers is dealing with the 3 to 4 metre high waves.
Senior mechanics working for local companies earn an average of RM3,000 to RM4,000 per month.
For international assignments, the pay can reach as much as US$500 per day, not inclusive of overtime.
However, the opportunity for higher income can come with a high risk, said Jutie, especially if a person is posted in hotspot areas such as Nigeria.
When he is not working on the barge, Jutie supplements his income by doing odd-jobs until his next stint on board.
Currently, he works 45 days on the barge followed by 45 days of rest.
When asked about the risk of working offshore, Jutie said that most accidents he heard of came about because people did not follow the required safety requirements and processes.
He said workers should never take these procedures for granted as they are there for a reason.
He said safety is a personal responsibility which workers should practise.