New ROV operations manager appointed

Renowned subsea training and trials facility, The Underwater Centre, has appointed Steve Cullen to the newly created role of ROV operations manager, where he will lead the development of the Centre’s ROV training and trials activities.

He joins the Centre from Ashtead Technology and Subsea 7 where he took up similar training roles, with responsibility for ROV personnel’s technical and engineering training.

Cullen brings a wealth of experience to the Centre, having worked offshore for more than 23 years in various positions from ROV pilot to offshore operations manager.

He also has a Master’s degree in education and spent six years working for the Highland Council as a secondary school teacher, teaching a variety of Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects.

Cullen will help to judge the Mate (Marine Advanced Technology Education) ROV Scotland competition, taking place at RGU. The competition is designed to challenge students to apply the Stem skills they are learning in the classroom to solving problems from the marine workplace.

At the Centre, Cullen is most looking forward to developing the ROV training portfolio and trials capability in order to meet the advancing technological and operational needs of the ROV industry.

“The main thing that I feel I bring to the Centre is a current and comprehensive experience of the ROV industry and its development needs for the future,” he said.

“The priorities I see for my role are to consolidate the training already underway for work class ROV and observation class ROV courses and enhance the training delivery by adopting an agile approach to the content offered to clients.

“We will develop a modular approach which will allow a bespoke programme of training to be built up from shorter, targeted modules.

“Other priorities are to enhance the training and trials capability with the integration of new technologies such as those offered by our key supporters, such as Kongsberg and FMC Schilling, to help train a potential workforce to support the ROV operating market.”

General manager Steve Ham described Cullen’s appointment as ‘very significant’ for the Centre.