Charting a career from ship to shore

I decided on a career in surveying while at college in North Carolina, pursuing a degree in marine technologies. From my very first outing on the school’s research vessel, I was hooked. I loved the time spent at sea and I was fascinated by the data we were collecting. After graduating in 2019, I applied for a position at Fugro, impressed by the scale and energy of the company, and the focus on innovation. It felt like a place where anything is possible, so I was thrilled when Fugro offered me a surveyor position based out of Lafayette, Louisiana.

A career move from ship to shore

My first two years with Fugro were spent offshore, as envisioned. I was placed on a number of Fugro and third-party vessels, acquiring geophysical survey data to support traditional and renewable energy projects off the US East Coast and the Caribbean, as well as marine construction jobs in the Gulf of Mexico. It was work that I enjoyed, but I also knew that Fugro was doing some amazing things via our global Remote Operations Centres (ROCs), so when a position opened for a remote surveyor in Houston, I jumped on it.

I officially joined the Americas ROC in October 2021. Initially, it was a little surprising to realise how much I didn’t know about the multitude of survey services we offer. I was well versed in preparing and acquiring geophysical survey lines, as an example, but things like sonar calibrations and anchor plots were brand new to me. That’s the nature of a physical vs. digital working environment. Offshore, you may be placed on a rotation for the same project (and scope of work) for a year. In the ROC, you are likely to work on multiple projects involving various technologies every single day.

Capitalising on collaboration

In addition to expanding the scope of my technical knowledge and growing my digital skill set, working at the ROC has offered new opportunities for collaboration. I’m now routinely engaging with Fugro’s innovation team, liaising with external clients, and communicating with project managers and IT staff on ways we can grow our remote services. Occasionally, this collaboration even gets me back out to sea. This was the case recently when I supported a subsea positioning project in the Gulf of Mexico. Part of that arrangement was for me to help establish a remote services solution for this work in the Americas. By accomplishing these services remotely, we will effectively eliminate the need for crew to travel to the project site, thereby increasing overall project safety, efficiency and sustainability. 

Sharing the opportunities

Mine is not the only career benefiting from remote and autonomous capabilities, of course. Through digitalisation of our services, Fugro’s marine survey team—and the industry as a whole—is becoming more diverse and inclusive. The requirement for long deployments away from family and friends is no longer a barrier to entry, while the increased demand for computer-based skills is helping introduce the field to a wider variety of technical and educational backgrounds. It’s an exciting time to be working in offshore survey and I’m proud to be part of the Americas ROC team. I definitely did not see an office-based career for myself when I started with Fugro three years ago, but being part of the company’s digital transformation has been both personally and professionally rewarding, and I look forward to continuing to grow in this new digitally-enabled realm.

Learn more

Fugro is leading the transition to remote and autonomous operations and through our global network of remote operations centres, we provide remote survey, inspection, piloting and positioning services to the maritime industry.

Did you know?

Fugro’s global network of ROCs are significantly contributing towards our sustainability goal of net zero emissions by 2035.

About the author

Paige McCaleb is Americas ROC Surveyor at Fugro