Staff Stories: Daniel Mehigan

I attended college to complete a PEO and NC in marine maintenance, followed by an HNC. I then secured an apprenticeship as a Marine Engineer, combining college studies with hands-on experience while working toward my Level 3 qualification and a conversion course in my third and fourth years.

After an additional year, I was ready for a new challenge with better progression opportunities, so I joined Aquatic in Peterhead, where I worked for just over two years before the business was acquired by Motive Offshore Group.

As a Mechanical Technician, I'm based in the workshop in Peterhead. I am now traveling internationally to carry out equipment maintenance, testing, and preparation of full flex-lay spreads for loadouts in the US and Singapore. This often involves taking in clients to witness tensioner testing with a sample of the umbilical to be used on the project. 

Working alongside the team at Peterhead to ensure that the equipment and projects are delivered to the client in good working order. Also, ensuring all required testing intervals are adhered to, and that equipment is set up to the client's specifications.

One of my responsibilities within the workshop is writing and signing off on job-specific lift plans. Having completed my LOLER competency course, I can now ensure that plans are made correctly, and the correct equipment and methods are used for the job in hand. 
 

My future goals are to support the business as it expands globally by helping develop new regions and workshops, while ensuring our equipment remains properly maintained and calibrated for ongoing projects.  

I also want to continue sharing knowledge and supporting new or unfamiliar personnel by demonstrating our testing process and best practices. 

We start by meeting with the workshop team for a toolbox talk, discussing the current live jobs, and the team is assigned to each specific project or task.
After that, I create a job safety analysis to cover us for our task on hand. 

I enjoy it when I can get my head around a problem or piece of equipment I previously did not understand. To then be able to resolve it and get the equipment back to being operational.  

When working overseas, I'm always confident that if I have an issue, there are dedicated teams for each field that I can turn to for assistance. 

There are lots of opportunities and room to grow within the business. New roles are always advertised internally beforehand, which is always good to see. 

Buying my first house and completing my first marathon this year in Amsterdam.

Working at my house - buying an old farmhouse means I have a full-time job outside of my full-time job.

I’m always in my garage or garden making something or fixing something, often small engines or tools from Facebook marketplace that seemed too good to be true and in fact were.

Travelling, going for a run, and taking the dog for a walk are always good too.