RelyOn us to attract a new generation of offshore workers

These are the words of 21-year-old, Jordan Balneaves, who has recently started working as an ITC technician at Trident Maritime Services and is counting down the days to his first ever trip offshore.

Securing a role in the oil and gas industry has been an ambition of Jordan’s for years, having left school to learn mechanical and electrical engineering at North East of Scotland College (NESCOL) before taking on an apprenticeship position.

However, in late November 2021, he found himself out of work and struggled to find a job for six months before signing up for one of the funded courses at RelyOn Nutec.  He found out about the ETZ Ltd fully funded places through a friend, who had done the GWO renewables training, so when he learned he could complete his BOSIET for free, he jumped at the opportunity.

He said: “I had a drive to work on a rig or a boat so the BOSIET was the right course for me and I have no doubt that it played a major part in me securing my job with Trident.  The delivery of the course was great, a blend of classroom and practical, and some of the training really put you out of your comfort zone but the instructors were brilliant at putting us all at ease and helping us to learn from any mistakes.  They were hugely knowledgeable and passed on their expertise throughout the course.”

Jordan is currently focussed on his two-year condensed traineeship and is keen to continue to gain as much experience as possible offshore.  His passion for working in the industry has clearly been passed through the generations as, after leaving the army, his Dad worked with a helicopter firm, and his Granda also worked offshore, so it is a lifestyle that he is used to.

He added: “Being from Aberdeen you know people in the industry and grow up around offshore folk, it’s part of the history of the city and I’m excited to now be a part of that journey.  I was very fortunate to secure a fully funded place with RelyOn Nutec and I’d encourage anyone thinking about doing the course to go for it, Jeremy and the other instructors are fantastic and have a huge amount of expertise in industry training.”