Welcome to Meet Our Geoquip, our regular blog series featuring employee insights from across Geoquip Marine. This regular feature is an opportunity for the many diverse voices working in both on offshore and onshore teams to share their story, provide insights into their role in the company and offer advice to those looking to begin or continue their career in geotechnical engineering.
Today’s post features Emma Crowley, a Crewing Manager based at Geoquip Marine’s UK Office in Bristol. We would like to thank Emma for taking the time to share her story with us.
Can you tell us about your role at Geoquip Marine?
My role at Geoquip Marine involves working with the crewing team to have the right people on the right vessels at the right time. We have a responsibility to get our crew onto the vessel but also off the vessels and back home safely.
This means contacting crew members for availability, making sure they have the correct visas to enter the various countries our vessels are located in. Checking and keeping on top of COVID-19 entry/quarantine & exit requirements for all the different nationalities we work with. It’s a very busy team as our vessels work 24/7.
Part of the role is liaising with lots and lots of different internal departments and external suppliers such as Project Managers, Geotechnical Engineers, Head of Drilling, Rig Managers, Offshore Project Managers, Masters of the vessels, Port Agents, Travel Providers, and Embassy personnel, and sometimes at very short notice when urgent needs come up.
What inspired you to follow a career path into this role and the geotechnical engineering industry?
I joined the company as Office Manager in April 2019. We were much smaller then, so I was also responsible for crewing and travel bookings by myself as well as office management. Since then, the company has flourished and grown rapidly where we now have a full team of Crew Coordinators, a Travel Manager and a new Office Manager who all work extremely hard. The geotechnical industry was something I didn’t know much about until I started working at Geoquip Marine. It’s a very fast paced and exciting environment to work in where no two days are ever the same.
What do you enjoy most about your role as a Crewing Manager?
I love the variety of the role. You never know what will happen from one day to the next. From someone losing their luggage to someone testing positive on a PCR test and needing to quickly find a replacement, to someone being denied boarding a plane for some reason to a vessel crew change changing date at the last moment. It’s always very busy.
What are the key skills or attributes you need to be successful in a role such as yours?
The key skills would be organisational skills and being able to deal with multiple conflicting priorities as well as urgent requests. You need to be a good problem solver to ensure our vessels remain fully operational.
What advice would you give someone who is considering a career with Geoquip Marine, whether it be onshore or offshore?
It’s a really great place to work and the company is growing and evolving. The industry is something I had no knowledge of before I joined Geoquip Marine, but I have learned along the way with support from management and my colleagues to develop into my current role. It’s an exciting company with a great future.
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Emma!
If you would like to learn more about our offshore geotechnical site investigations, click here. You can also visit our Careers area and browse our latest vacancies and career opportunities.
