Magnus Black

am currently working on the MV Kallista Helen as Mechanical Technician. She’s was built in 2021 and is owned by Inverlussa Marine Services and is fitted out with a mechanical treatment system. I was lucky enough be part of a brand new crew on the arrival of the boat and played a part in the design and install of the £2.7 million thermolicer system before it was commissioned in September 2021. Working within a crew of 4 we operate on a 3 week on/off shift pattern working 12 hour shifts. My job on board is to operate and maintain the system, which is used to de-lice farmed salmon. The vessel operates within any of Scottish Sea Farms sites between the West Coast, Orkney and Shetland. The job requires a good understanding of mechanical, pneumatic and electrical systems. On a day-to-day basis the job includes; operation of the system, routine/preventative maintenance and servicing, reactive work/troubleshooting to fix any breakdowns, ordering/stock keeping of spares inventory, liaising with farm managers and outside contractors, cleaning/disinfecting the vessel and general deckhand duties associated with working on a boat.

In April 2023, I was offered the promotion to be the senior technician on my shift. This job role involves all the same tasks as my previous technician role, plus some extra jobs and a lot of added responsibilities associated with management. These include; being the sole contact point for SSF on the vessel and taking the lead on daily operations. It also includes liaising with senior management to organise the day-to-day plans for the vessel and all office duties, including daily vessel and treatment reports, various health and safety documents and taking charge of all planned maintenance/organising outside contactors. Other duties include; all purchasing for the vessel; spares, incidentals, PPE etc. required for the system and staff. Organising and booking travel and training courses for SSF crew.

After working on the Orcadia II as treatment technician for Mowi, the client on-board, I was delighted to be asked by Scotmarine if I wanted to work for them as crewman when the job became available. I jumped at this opportunity and loved the job. The boat is a Damen 2613 Multicat, twin 290 HS Marine cranes and 50T bollard pull. She was a fantastic boat to live and work on and we had a great crew. We were based mainly on the west coast and western isles, with the occasional trip down to Ireland, working 3 weeks on/off. This job role included watchkeeping, boat handling, crane/lifting operations, deck duties, engine servicing/maintenance, fuel bunkering etc and routine planned maintenance. The boat was maintained to a very high standard and we took a lot of pride in this. I also did a large proportion of the cooking on board. Unfortunately after the boats contract with Mowi ended in November 2021, the Orcadia II was sold to Dutch company Multraship, so unfortunately this job came to an end.

Working a two on/off rota on the M.V. Orcadia II, a treatment vessel operating across all of Mowi’s 49 sites on the west coast of Scotland. On board my main tasks involved the day to day running and maintenance of the Thermolicer system on the deck, which is a mechanical warm water treatment for sea lice removal. My duties also involve general boat work including deck work, capstan operations, generator/compressor maintenance, splicing, crane/lifting operations etc. This job offered me a great insight into the work boat industry and I definitely felt strongly that this is the direction I wanted to go.