Think of Sembcorp Marine, and most likely images of mega structures—towering rigs and majestic ships—come to mind. Despite the massive scale of operations, the company does everything well and with heart—everything from marine and offshore engineering to people management.

By Cheryl Lim

Sembcorp Marine is no stranger to most. As a leading global marine and offshore engineering group, the company is a world leader in rig building and offshore conversion and is internationally renowned for its expertise in ship repair and niche shipbuilding...

If working with marine and offshore mega-structures interest you, this is the organisation to zero in on after your graduation.

An interest in all that, coupled with the rise of the marine and offshore industry, was what inspired Gilbert Toh, an Engineer in the Health Safety and Environment Department of Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiary Jurong Shipyard, to join the company after graduating as a fresh diploma holder in 2004.

“This was my first choice, because the marine and offshore industry was booming at that time. I thought I’d just go for it,” said Gilbert, who was awarded a scholarship with the company in 2003, before his final year of study at the polytechnic.

With the scholarship, he enjoyed an annual allowance and had his final year’s course fees fully paid for. Upon graduating with a diploma in marine offshore technology and raring to go, Gilbert was happy to start work immediately, even before his transcripts were off the press.

Fellow colleague Alan Ng, a Commissioning Engineer (Mechanical) with Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiary PPL Shipyard since 2007, echoes his sentiments. “The industry is promising,” he enthused. “It is a sunrise industry with good prospects.”

An atypical day
“Every day is exciting,” said Gilbert, on being a Health Safety and Environment Engineer at Jurong Shipyard. His daily routine involves supervising personnel onboard, attending project management meetings, liaising with project managers, inspections, and the list goes on. This array of duties all point towards one aim—safety.

“Safety comes first in our operations and we have comprehensive systems and processes to ensure a safe working environment for everyone,” he said.

The Health Safety and Environment Department at Jurong Shipyard ensures maximum safety throughout its operations using the 6E philosophy—Education, which focuses on the need to teach safety measures; Efficiency, which seeks to ensure smooth operations; Evaluation, which is about auditing systems and identifying areas for improvement; Engineering, which upholds the importance of using the right procedures; Environment, which is inextricably intertwined with employee health; and Enforcement, which involves regular monitoring and inspections to help curb safety breaches.

A usual day for Alan, on the other hand, is rather different. As a Commissioning Engineer with PPL Shipyard, he charts out a plan for daily activities, as well as liaises with clients and surveyors from classification societies such as the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). Having meetings with colleagues from project management, production, quality assurance and control departments, as well as customers to discuss commissioning work are also a norm for him. Spending most of the day onboard the rig, Alan’s vocation is a far cry from the usual desk-bound job.

All in a day’s work
Although their designations read “Engineer”, Gilbert and Alan’s work revolves around people, not machinery, and it is this human-centric aspect which energises them for the job at hand.

“Ensuring that everyone gets home safely at the end of the day—that gives me the most satisfaction,” said Gilbert, beaming.

“I get the greatest sense of achievement when I see the rig delivered, and when clients are satisfied with the performance,” Alan added, referring to the commissioning of a rig, which is the final stage of the rig-building process.

However, successes and challenges go hand-in-hand, and the hurdles these engineers face in the line of work tend to revolve around people as well. Amongst the different hurdles faced, communication tends to be the “tallest”.

“I deal with people of different nationalities with different behaviours, attitudes and mindsets,” Gilbert shared. “It takes a lot of patience and understanding to figure out how to get the right messages through to them.”

In Alan’s case, communication—but with external parties—has proven to be a tough challenge. “My job scope revolves around clients and third party surveyors who have very stringent requirements which we have to follow. So we have to refer to the contract to know how to accommodate to their requests, yet need to discern whether the project schedule will be affected.”

On the flipside, such interactions between different parties have honed Alan’s negotiating skills. “The key is in understanding their needs and expectations,” he said. “When you interact long enough, you build up mutual trust and a good working relationship with them.”

Good mentors, continuous growth
Despite being a large company with a presence in Brazil, China, India, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Singapore, Sembcorp Marine’s approach to employee growth goes right down to the individual level.

Beyond safety training that relates directly to his job, Gilbert was given the opportunity to further his studies on a part-time basis, fully sponsored by the company. Today, he is one year away from obtaining a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and looks forward to advancing his career with Sembcorp Marine upon the completion of his course.

In Alan’s case, because his diploma in Mechanical Engineering was not specific to the marine industry, the learning curve was initially steep. “I entered with limited knowledge of the marine industry, so I had to learn doubly hard as compared to others,” he recounted.

However, a mentoring system at Sembcorp Marine ensured he wasn’t thrown into the deep end. “I had a mentor who guided me along. Slowly, I was the one leading the team,” Alan shared.

Sprawling more than 200 hectares over different locations and shipyards in Singapore, Sembcorp Marine has different departments and areas of expertise that employees can gain exposure to. There are opportunities for job rotation. Engineers can move on to project management, or vice versa. With the wide array of job functions in the company, the possibilities are nearly endless.

Open doors
Step into the offices of Sembcorp Marine and you’ll realise the company has an open-door culture with non-hierarchical communication channels. Workstations are separated by low partitions, and managers’ doors are usually open so staff can feel free to enter for discussions at any time.

At Sembcorp Marine, this openness also filters down to teams at the ground level. “We have a culture of teamwork. Here, you can’t work alone,” said Gilbert. “Because there are different departments doing different things, you only get a complete project when you put everything together.”

Where dynamism rules the day
“It’s a very challenging environment, and very rewarding,” said Alan. “If you love challenges and like working in a fast-paced environment, come to Sembcorp Marine.”
“You can expect to learn new things every day,” Gilbert reinforced.

If you want to be part of a dynamic organisation with heart, Sembcorp Marine is an excellent choice for kick-starting your career. With learning opportunities and character-building challenges available, you will certainly grow your potential and be rewarded for doing so. Click here for jobs in Chemical Engineering!

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