Team Insights: A Party Chief’s Experience

In hydrography, where every survey unveils new challenges and discoveries, specialists like Kristian Johns, a Party Chief at Elevate Offshore, play a pivotal role. With a career that has seen him navigating diverse environments and unearthing remarkable underwater discoveries, Kristian offers us a glimpse into his experiences and the ever-evolving world of hydrographic surveying.

The Fascination of Hydrography

For Kristian, hydrography is more than just a job; it’s a passion fuelled by the ever-changing nature of the field. He reflects on what drives him, saying, “The buzz for me is the variation you can experience within the field. You can go from conducting a windfarm site survey in <40m in Europe, to installing umbilicals in >2500m off of Africa just a few weeks later. This keeps things fresh!”

Kristian also shares some career highlights, elaborating, “I’ve also been involved in some unusual projects, including finding the perfectly preserved, and rather large, German LMB mine. Another close contender would be conducting ultra-deepwater multibeam surveys off Brazil, discovering new canyons and shelves. It was cool to see in real-time in front of you! Or maybe it’s just the weird creatures you see down at 2300m off of Mozambique.”

Challenges in Modern Hydrography

While the performance and accuracy of hydrographic survey equipment have reached noteworthy levels, Kristian identifies a significant challenge in the field—crewing levels. He emphasises the importance of adequate staffing, stating, “One of the biggest challenges I feel is crewing levels. It’s one of the easiest ways of cutting costs, but increases the workload and pressure on those on board. You always pull together, overcome issues and finish the job, which is a great feeling. However, the hindsight of realising that having that additional technology a few years earlier could have entirely prevented such scenarios can sometimes diminish satisfaction!”

The Future of Hydrography

As technology continues to advance, the future of hydrography is evolving. Companies are increasingly offering remote solutions, changing the way surveys are conducted. Kristian shares his thoughts on this shift, saying, “We’re seeing more and more companies offering remote solutions, which is both exciting and slightly worrying for someone who’s actively avoiding a ‘real’ job in an office and loves their time off! I guess if I can run an ASV survey from my kitchen with my morning coffee, or process data from home, then that’s not such a bad compromise!”