If you’re in the market to charter an offshore supply vessel for a specialty ocean marine job, offshore engineering, aerospace or oceanographic mission, chances are you’re already highly informed on how you need it equipped to get the job done. For starters, that always includes making sure your vessel meets stringent Coast Guard and ABS requirements relative to where you plan to go, what type of work you’re planning to do and what kind of unique requirements you might have over and above other extensive considerations.
As a 10-year Coast Guard veteran and career safety instructor, Guice Offshore HSE Advisor Tom Clayton knows offshore regulations so well, he’s a key part of why we’re able to help clients save time and money when preparing and outfitting our fleet vessels and crew for duty, often on very unusual jobs.
Together with Guice Offshore QHSE Manager Ben Brakel, Clayton keeps track of maritime regulations, industry and training standards to ensure strict compliance and crew readiness to meet both Coast Guard inspections and client expectations alike.
“We stay in constant communication with our customers to know what their expectations are and ensure those expectations transfer to the captain, crew and the vessel itself,” Clayton explained.
It’s often said that a qualified regulatory expert is a lot like an experienced police officer. Tom Clayton is both—having served in the Coast Guard in law enforcement operations, search and rescue, and as a military police captain with high-level security clearance.
“It’s much easier to understand regulations when you’ve been on the enforcement side and know what the protocols are,” he said.
When Clayton left the Coast Guard, going into the maritime safety training was a natural fit, inasmuch as boater education had always been a fundamental tenet of his service.
At Guice Offshore, Clayton and Brakel focus on training our crews for all levels of preparedness, so they can respond accordingly to different types of emergencies, as well as understand how to “GO Safely” during a normal workday.
“We convey the importance of safety training and help people understand why they need to take it seriously,” Clayton explained. “Training prepares you for your worst day, while teaching you how to prevent it. The best part is we have a smart group of individuals here at Guice Offshore and they’re really good at what they do.”
During his first year at Guice Offshore, Clayton spent time helping Brakel complete his regular annual updates of the company’s safety management systems, policies and procedures.
“The best part of this job is that I still learn something new each day,” Clayton said.