Offshore Logistics Manager — Job Description
Accountable for end-to-end planning and execution of marine, aviation, materials, and waste logistics supporting offshore assets (drilling, subsea, production), with full ownership of HSE, compliance, cost, and schedule performance.
I. Core Responsibilities
- I.1 — Develop and maintain the integrated marine and aviation schedule for PSVs/AHTS/crew boats and helicopter rotations aligned to drilling, projects, and production campaigns.
- I.2 — Lead daily operations at the shore base: load planning, backload, manifesting, dangerous goods segregation, and quarantine/non-conformance management.
- I.3 — Optimize deck load plans and weight distribution within vessel and helideck limits; verify CoG, sea fastening, and lift planning requirements with offshore teams.
- I.4 — Ensure regulatory compliance across IMDG, MARPOL, SOLAS, ISPS, IATA DGR, customs/import-export, waste and radioactive/NORM handling.
- I.5 — Manage aviation logistics: passenger manifests, weight and balance, baggage control, POB accuracy, weather/visibility windowing, and medevac readiness.
- I.6 — Coordinate port operations: berth allocation, bunkering, freshwater, provisions, vessel turnaround, pilotage/towage, and quayside safety.
- I.7 — Drive materials management: inventory controls, kitting, critical spares expediting, preservation, and returns; minimize stockouts and dead stock.
- I.8 — Lead cost control: vessel day-rate and fuel optimization, helicopter hours, demurrage/detention prevention, and invoice validation against charter party/contract terms.
- I.9 — Implement and monitor logistics KPIs (OTIF, utilization, cycle time, TRIR) and continuous improvement (lean/5S at base, bottleneck elimination).
- I.10 — Run risk and weather management: metocean monitoring, go/no-go criteria, weather windows for heavy lifts, and contingency re-sequencing.
- I.11 — Oversee waste and backload streams (hazardous, MARPOL Annex I–VI, scrap, returns to vendor), manifesting and compliance through to final disposition.
- I.12 — Chair/attend SIMOPS, logistics morning calls, and 14-day look-ahead reviews with drilling, marine, production, projects, and HSE.
- I.13 — Manage contractor performance for marine, aviation, freight forwarding, customs brokers, and shore base providers; run performance reviews.
- I.14 — Lead emergency logistics response: SAR/medevac support, spill response mobilization, and expedited sourcing/routing.
- I.15 — Maintain POB control and manifest integrity; validate travel clearances, inductions, medicals, and certificate currency.
- I.16 — Govern lifted load safety with rigging verification, certification tracking, and dropped object prevention in quayside and offshore transfers.
- I.17 — Drive digitalization of logistics workflows (e-manifests, RFID/barcode, e-POD, dashboards) and data quality.
- I.18 — Compile daily/weekly logistics reports, cost forecasts, and lessons learned for campaign closeout.
II. Required Skills and Demands
II.A Technical Skills
- II.A.1 — Marine/aviation planning and dispatch, berth/slot allocation, and weather windowing.
- II.A.2 — Dangerous goods: IMDG classes 1–9, segregation tables, limited/exceptions; IATA DGR awareness.
- II.A.3 — Load calculations: deck/crib loading, CoG, sling set selection, sea fastening, helideck W&B basics.
- II.A.4 — ERP/WMS/TMS proficiency; KPI design and dashboarding; data integrity controls.
- II.A.5 — Customs, temporary import, ATA carnet, local content, cabotage, and port health processes.
- II.A.6 — Contracting/commercial: charter parties, fuel clauses, demurrage/detention terms, rate benchmarking.
- II.A.7 — HSE/quality systems: ISM/ISPS alignment, lifting integrity, PTW interfaces, SIMOPS planning.
II.B Soft Skills
- II.B.1 — Leadership under time pressure; clear decision-making with incomplete information.
- II.B.2 — Stakeholder management across offshore supervisors, contractors, and regulators.
- II.B.3 — Negotiation and conflict resolution; escalation discipline.
- II.B.4 — Analytical thinking; scenario planning and critical path control.
- II.B.5 — Communication: concise shift handovers, dashboards, and incident briefings.
II.C Physical/Certification Demands
- II.C.1 — Fit for offshore travel; valid medical; ability to don PPE and climb vessel gangways/stairs.
- II.C.2 — BOSIET with CA-EBS, HUET, H2S awareness; HLO/HDA awareness preferred.
- II.C.3 — IMDG and IATA DGR training; lifting and rigging awareness; confined space awareness preferred.
- II.C.4 — On-call availability for 24/7 operations and emergency response.
III. Typical Tools, Software, and Equipment
- III.1 — ERP/EAM: SAP MM/PM, Oracle, Maximo or equivalent for materials and maintenance interfaces.
- III.2 — WMS/TMS and marine logistics platforms: berth/yard planning, e-manifesting, routing, e-POD.
- III.3 — Vessel tracking and metocean: AIS/VMS, DP status feeds, weather and swell forecasts.
- III.4 — Aviation planning: helicopter scheduling, POB systems, weight and balance calculators.
- III.5 — Load engineering: lift plan templates, CoG calculators, load chart references.
- III.6 — HSE and compliance: incident management systems, training/cert tracking, audit checklists.
- III.7 — Yard operations: forklifts, cranes, certified rigging, calibrated weighbridges, barcode/RFID scanners.
- III.8 — Analytics/reporting: spreadsheets, data visualization, KPI dashboards, ETAs/critical path trackers.
IV. Work Environment
- IV.1 — Mixed shore base and offshore presence; primary base at port/supply base with periodic offshore visits.
- IV.2 — Shifts/rotations: shore base weekday shifts with on-call; during campaigns, 24/7 coverage via duty roster. Offshore visits commonly 14/14 or 28/28 short tours for alignment/audits.
- IV.3 — Travel: 25–50% based on campaign intensity, multi-port coordination, and regulatory engagement.
- IV.4 — Environmental conditions: outdoor quayside exposure, noise, weather; adherence to port and site PPE/HSE requirements.
V. Reporting Lines and Interfaces
- V.1 Reporting to — Offshore Operations Manager or Supply Chain/Logistics Manager; functionally aligned with Drilling/Projects during campaigns.
- V.2 Direct reports — Logistics supervisors, dispatchers, shore base coordinators, yard foremen, manifesters, and expeditors.
- V.3 Key interfaces — Offshore Installation Managers, Marine/Helicopter contractors, Drilling/Completions, Production Ops, Subsea/Projects, Maintenance, HSE, Procurement, Finance, Warehousing, Customs/Port Authority, Security, Waste management vendors.
- V.4 Governance — Participates in SIMOPS and MOC reviews; chairs daily logistics call; sponsors contractor performance reviews.
VI. Career Ladder
- VI.1 Next roles — Senior Offshore Logistics Manager, Regional Marine & Aviation Manager, Supply Chain Manager (Upstream), Offshore Operations Manager.
- VI.2 To progress — Multi-asset campaign delivery, cost-out record, zero LTI tenure, complex SIMOPS exposure, audit credentials, and cross-border project logistics experience.
- VI.3 Development — Advanced IMDG/IATA, HLO competency, lean/continuous improvement certification, commercial/contract law modules, leadership training.
Deliverables & Interfaces
- Deliverables — Daily marine plan; aviation manifests and POB; 7–14 day look-ahead; deck load plans; DG declarations; customs packs; cost tracker and accruals; KPI dashboard; incident/near-miss reports; campaign closeout report.
- Receives from — Drilling/production schedules, material reservations, work orders, weather forecasts, vessel/aircraft availability, contractor status, regulatory notices.
- Hands off to — Offshore supervisors (execution plans/manifests), marine/aviation contractors (dispatch orders), warehouse/yard (picking/kitting), HSE (audits/incidents), Finance (accruals/invoices), Procurement (contract performance data).
Toolchain Snapshot
- Planning — Marine and aviation schedulers, berth/yard planning tools, critical path trackers.
- Execution — WMS/TMS, e-manifest and e-POD, RFID/barcode, weighbridge systems, lift plan calculators.
- Visibility — AIS/VMS dashboards, DP/ETA feeds, metocean/weather intelligence.
- Governance — HSE incident systems, training/certification trackers, audit/inspection apps.
- Finance — Cost trackers, rate card databases, demurrage/detention calculators, invoice matchers.
Progression Trigger
Typically promoted after 6–10 major campaigns or 24–36 months in-role with sustained KPI delivery (OTIF = 95%, marine utilization = 80%, TRIR = 0), completion of advanced IMDG/IATA modules, and demonstrated leadership in at least one emergency response or complex SIMOPS operation.
Key Equations and KPIs
- Vessel utilization: \( U_v = \frac{\text{productive sailing time}}{\text{total contracted time}} \times 100\% \)
- Deck load utilization: \( U_d = \frac{\sum w_i}{W_{\max}} \times 100\% \)
- OTIF (On-Time, In-Full): \( \text{OTIF} = \frac{\text{deliveries on time and in full}}{\text{total deliveries}} \times 100\% \)
- Demurrage cost: \( C_{\text{dem}} = r_{\text{hour}} \times h_{\text{dem}} \)
- Inventory turns: \( \text{Turns} = \frac{\text{annual usage}}{\text{average inventory}} \)
- Logistics cycle time: \( T_c = T_{\text{pick}} + T_{\text{staging}} + T_{\text{port}} + T_{\text{sail}} + T_{\text{offload}} \)
- TRIR: \( \text{TRIR} = \frac{\text{recordable injuries} \times 200{,}000}{\text{total hours worked}} \)
- Forecast accuracy (MAPE): \( \text{MAPE} = \frac{1}{n}\sum \left| \frac{A_t - F_t}{A_t} \right| \times 100\% \)
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