Kieran, you originally worked in onshore wind energy in Scotland. Was the change intentional?
To be honest, working offshore was not part of my original plans. After moving to the Netherlands for personal reasons, I wanted to continue working in the wind industry. Then, when I got the opportunity to take on a subsea project at Deutsche Windtechnik, I was excited to try something new.

You are now a project engineer for subsea inspections. Where is your primary place of work?
Somewhere between office work and deployments at sea. The campaigns are carried out during the summer months, so that’s when I spend more time offshore. During the winter, my main focus is on preparing the logistics and infrastructure for the subsea deployments: vessels, personnel, contracts with
service providers and so on.

And what are your offshore deployments like during the summer?
That ’s when things get really exciting! I’m part of the team that collects videos and photos of the foundations, cable harnesses and seabed using a remotely operated underwater vehicle. We evaluate these images and create detailed reports of their condition for the wind farm operator.

Have you ever spotted anything unusual?
We see crustaceans and fish now and then, but I’m still waiting for something really big. Last year my colleagues met an inquisitive seal during one of the dives – it swam right in front
of the camera to see what was going on!