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operation. In some cases, the rig superintendent is also the OIM; in
other cases, the rig has an OIM as well as a rig superintendent.
Offshore contractors also hire several roustabouts. Roustabouts
are general workers on the rig whose duties include unloading
supplies from boats to the rig. They also keep the offshore facility in
good repair. A crane operator runs the rig's cranes and supervises the
roustabouts. Cranes transfer supplies to and from boats. Radio
operators install, maintain, and repair complex radio gear that keeps
the rig in constant contact with shore facilities. Medics provide first
aid and are often certified emergency medical technicians (EMTs),
who can stabilize injured personnel and prepare them for evacuation
to shore.
On floating rigs, such as drill ships and semisubmersibles,
more personnel are required because in some ways floating rigs are
like ships. Not only do floating rigs drill, but also they move on the
ocean’s surface just as ships do. Consequently, floaters require marine
crews, individuals whose primary responsibilities have to do with the
sea-going aspects of the rig.
As mentioned before, some floating offshore rigs use anchors
to hold them in place on the water's surface while drilling. Other
floaters employ dynamic positioning, which involves advanced
computer-assisted equipment and special propellers (thrusters) to hold
them in position on the water's surface. Such rigs require a dynamic
positioning operator. Dynamic positioning operators maintain, repair,
and monitor equipment.
Floating rigs also require subsea equipment. Crew members
place the equipment on the seafloor and operate it from the rig on the
water's surface. Such equipment includes subsea blowout preventers.
When closed, these large valves keep high pressure fluids from
escaping to the surface should the well encounter them. Accordingly,
floating rigs employ subsea equipment supervisors (also called "subsea
engineers"), whose primary job is to keep the equipment in good

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