Regarding experience for the offshore operators, I've heard that 'experienced' is several thousand hours, with relevant experience; they lump 1000 hours of non-offshore in with 250 hours of non-offshore. Of course, not being on the inside, I have this second-hand, so I don't know how accurate it is, but I've had it froms several different sources. Certainly, you won't even make it past the initial screening without an IR (ME IR for some companies).