AN OFFSHORE crane veteran has just celebrated his 40th year since entering the sector.
John Morrison who is international director for mechanical handling services at EnerMech, began his career in Aberdeen after completing a general engineering apprenticeship in 1976 when the city was on the verge of being transformed by the discovery of oil in the North Sea.
At the time he recognised the many career opportunities that lay within this “new” industry and worked in a number of positions with offshore crane companies over the next 12 years, gaining an engineering degree along the way, before forming his own business in 1988 with co-director Bert Middleton.
John said: “There have been many changes of the last four decades, including a much stronger emphasis on having the correct procedures and processes in place, and at EnerMech we regard safety to be paramount in everything we do.
“EnerMech has an excellent apprentice and graduate programme and we are proactive in attracting the next generation of designers, technicians and engineers but the downturn led to large numbers of people leaving the industry.
“It is forecast that we are facing yet another skills shortage and it may be more difficult to get young people to consider a career in cranes and lifting, but the job has everything – engineering, electrical, hydraulics and mechanical – and to my mind is a very exciting place to earn your living.”
John also marked another milestone when he attended the 24th International Offshore Crane and Lifting Conference, having served on the organising committee for 17 of those 24 years.
