Commercial Diving

Ever since the fledgling salvage operations of men in barrels (16th Century) there have been divers selling their services commercially. By the 19th Century commercial salvage teams were firmly established in Western Europe and the USA. The post WW2 years saw an increase in the fuel resource requirements for industrialised and newly industrialised countries. Questing survey ships sent forth discovered vast supplies of natural gas and crude oil in the seas and oceans. By the late 1960s to 1970s most of these areas had drilling platforms and gas piplines running to the mainland. With the rise of the offshore platform came with it a great demand for dedicated teams of commercial divers to maintain and tend to the underwater machinery and platform supports etc.

Through the 1970s and 1980s the commercial divers thrived on the rigs and many consider this to be the 'Golden Age' of Commercial Diving with even rookie divers earning small fortunes. Bank balances were high, oil and gas output was in abundance and you could almost hear the Boom Town Rats playin' it for the boys and summing up the success.

Then the 1990s arrived and things began to slow down. The Oil and Gas extraction amounts no longer reached the capacities of the 1970s and 80s (although in 1999 it did break the record). Amid fossil fuel depletion and environmentalist concerns, offshore platforms no longer saw the output they had once reached. This along with the use of ROVs in lieu of divers has meant commercial diving is no longer the job it once was.

The trend of using FPSOs (drilling ships) has meant that commercial divers tend to operate from massive Dive Support Vessels (DSVs) which roam the seas carrying out essential work underwater for platform and vessel alike.
Commerical Diving - Present Day

The Dawn of the 21st Century has not seen the situation improve but has worsened slightly. Other countries outside of Europe and the USA are now training their own home-grown commercial divers causing the oversaturated market to be flooded further. This is also known to be creating a cheaper labour supply angering the more established and professional commercial divers. There is still a demand for commercial divers but the jobs are often few and far between and the more experienced/qualified diver is almost always chosen over the rookie. The Rise of the ROV is also impacting the employment of commerical divers. The effects are wide ranging but in Norway, a commerical diver cannot legally dive offshore without an ROV watching his every move! Potential helium shortages were an initial worry for commercial dive operators.
However the use of helium re-claimation systems that recycles the helium being used has largely ended that concern.

Most commerical divers use the highly praised Kirby-Morgan superlight (KMsl.) as their breathing systems Head Unit. It has seen many revisions since being introduced in the 1960s and the current model 'in vogue' is the Mk 27b (pictured). The KM is normally connected via an umbilical which includes an airline to the surface. Aside from providing air/nitrox/heliox gas into the helmet the KMsl is also fitted with voice communication to the surface support team. There is a second inlet which allows a small 'bailout' bottle to be connected as well. The KMsl. seals at the neck with a yoke clamp-seal allowing the entire head to be kept dry. As added redundancy the nose and mouth are enclosed inside an inner mask which allows the KM to support life even if the face visor is compromised. It is from this and the earlier dive helmets that 'Hard-Hat' Diving takes its nick-name.

In the States a commercial diver often has to lug a KMsl from job to job!

The lifeline to which the commercial diver relies upon for his life-support, communications and often warmth. The umbilical is made up of up to five cables which are all bound tightly together The respective ends connect into a sophisticated compressor, Head Unit and drysuit if applicable. The outer material is normally very tough composite Kevlar/PVC with supporting inner layers. Note the reinforcing ring that takes the strain if the umbilical goes taut. At a pinch it is possible to use the umbilical to effect an evacuation!

As far as insulation goes wetsuits are rarely used. Rugged and hard wearing drysuits are more commonly seen with neoprene or membrane types being equally suitable.
However even the insulation provided by a drysuit can be overwhelmed by the freezing conditions at greater depths and breathing highly conductive mixed gases (heliox). This in turn is overcome by the imaginatively named 'Hot Water Suit' (HWS). As the name suggests it is part of a highly effective 'radiator pump' that sucks sea-water into a heater at the surface and then pumps it down the umbilical into the HWS that can keep a diver cosy and warm for hours on end. Just don't mention any jellyfish that get sucked into the thing!

Dry gloves can be vital for commercial work as dexterity required for awkward tasks will flag without them(note the pictured example where they have been gaffer taped to the HWS). The harness allows for a large number of weights to be attached as well as the bail-out bottle.
Commerical divers are often required to bring with them their own drysuit to each and every new job.

For dives on air down to 50 meters the Wet Bell is usually deployed. Its a working platform which transports hard-hat divers to their work area. The umbilicals are often stored here and the communications and lighting are also housed in the bell. As the air pressure inside is equalised from the surface this creates an 'Air Pocket' allowing the upper body of the divers to be kept dry. This is useful as a psychological 'safe-zone' in an emergency. Compressed air is often stored outside the bell for emergency use. On the ascent after the works finished the wet bell stops at the required deco-stops (which can vary in time and depth).

For depths beyond 65 meters a dry bell is used. The Dry bell allows commerical divers who are saturation dive trained to operate at depths of up to 400 meters using exotic breathing gases. The Dry bell is exactly that, for its dry inside allowing divers to sleep and recover during down-time. The gas blend normally used used is Heliox (Helium and Oxygen) but there are others.

The Heliox mix is and excellent blend for very deep operations but at extreme depth a small amount of nitrogen is added to counter an anomaly triggered by the water pressure. Divers working from a dry bell normally operate on a shift basis, one diver works outside the bell and the other rests whilst acting as a stand-by diver for any problems his co-diver may encounter. The Bell is pressurized to the depth the divers are working at and stays there for the duration of the job which can take days. This eliminates repeated and time consuming decompression trips and saves on cost. Each time a new shift is due to start for the SAT Diving team the dry bell is lifted back to the vessel (while still under pressure), hooked up and then equalised (minor pressure variations) then the new dive team changes places with the old one. This done the dry bell is then lowered back to the job site for the work to continue.
At the end of diving operations the Dry Bell is winched back to the surface platform and hooked up to the main recompression chamber for a lengthy decompression which can last days!

The bread and butter of commercial diving is often considered the hyperbaric chamber. From here divers can be run on Surface Decompression Tables post-dive operations and monitored under the Life Support Technicians careful eye. Operating one of these devices takes experience and good training. Under an efficient and careful operator the divers will have nothing to worry about. Whereas an operator who isn't so good will have the divers voice their concerns through the intercom! Hyperbaric chambers otherwise known as recompression / decompression chambers are found:

In navy bases, Dive Support Vessels and commercial diver training establishments. Other places include hospitals and some wealthy health clinics.

Depending on the country you work from in the commercial diving industry will dictate what personal tools you're required to bring with you to the job. A good quality knife is often considered essential for cutting through tough cabling and material. Top of the brand list is a 'Green River' brand of dive knife, though some divers make do with any old knife as they often end up blunt and rusty by the end of the job!

Specialised tools underwater machine tools are part and parcel of underwater work.

Welding tools, Cutting and burning tools, drilling tools and surveying tools. There are more besides but I'm sure you get the picture

The initial training itself takes place over several weeks and covers the theoretical and practical aspects of commercial diving. Applicants with prior experience of scuba diving 'may' be able to use this to abate the cost and length of training. Though this is an advantage many Commercial Divers often view recreational divers wanting to 'cross over' with a baleful eye. There is a saying amongst the hard-hat divers that 'you can put a plumber to work under water but you can't take a dive instructor to work as a plumber'. It is this somewhat harsh view that represents the fact that most employers prefer to take on divers who have been tradesmen than former recreational dive professionals.

Training starts typically with a course in recreational scuba diving. Then you progress onto commercial scuba and finally surface supplied. Surface supplied is considered the bread and butter of commercial diving by many. It is considered safe, time proven and versatile. After this unless you are prior trained, courses in NDT, cutting and welding are given. After the training is complete the newly qualified diver is normally given a contact list of companies for work and cut loose to fend for himself.Commercial Diver Welding

Training for commercial divers through a dedicated training company is expensive, the price varies but in the UK it can reach in excess of £10,000! The whole concept of these training centers is a moot point among many in the commercial diving community. Many wish for an apprenticeship scheme to be introduced and the training costs to be subsidised by the diving companies. But the fact remains that there is an eager supply of applicants (tempted by often exaggerated earnings by the training organisations) willing to pay for training, which in-turn keeps the companies going.

The actual training tends to differ from country to country so it isn't fair for me to give one example of what the actual instructional methods and techniques are. We are also against the concept of paying such vast sums to commercial training organisations that cannot guarantee work at the end of it hence our slightly biased stance on the training section.

I would strongly suggest that anyone considering a career in commercial diving to think twice. Work is no longer as abundant as it once was and the industry is currently flooded with wannabe divers, many of which end up with only an expensive certificate on the wall to show for their efforts! That said no industry can last if it has no fresh blood to to fill the ranks.

Still fancy your chances? Then click on the links below and good luck! You'll need it!

Planning a career offshore or wish to know more about life working aboard an oil rig? Click the Offshore links below.

If you do your training here you'll be up in the Highlands of Scotland far north of Glasgow.
There's not much to do up in Fort William and the region is home to some of the wettest weather in the British Isles.
The Winter condition's mean courses run here are no fun at all and it's no mistake that there are few spaces spare in the summertime for courses.

The diving area in Fort William is a mile-long pier that was built in the Victorian Age by engineers. Courses are typically no more than 12 students at a time with about 2 instructors per group.
Students are responsible for setting up and dismantling all equipment such as the Kirby-Morgan Helmets (plus 'band' mask) and umbilicals.
Every day, once the course is in full swing means there is little time to spare. You'll be occupied down at the pier either diving or supporting the dive operations via tendering, radio work, logging etc etc.

The food at this place leaves much to be desired.
You get breakfast, a small packed lunch and an evening meal Monday to Friday. During the weekend there is reduced meal coverage. There's 'usually' no diving on the weekend HOWEVER, if you have 'problem child' student-divers then you'll find that even if YOU are up-to-date with your divers, the instructors will call everyone in on the week-ends to play catch-up.

The course at Fort William lasts 8 weeks and accommodation is provided on-site.

A recent rival to the more 'established' Dive Schools is the Commerical Diving Academy at Dunoon.

Using the lake Dunoon as it's base to train divers the school has advantages over Fort William as it's closer to Glasgow and tends to get less poor weather conditions.

While the training techniques are similar there is no Saturation Diving training facility here (unlike Fort William).
A free dry suit is offered to students who complete commerical dive training here.

The only Commerical Diving School in England was Fort Bovisand in Devonshire.
Just around the bay of Plymouth this, unlike Fort William where the school is adjacent to the old ruins of a Fort) is within the confines of Fort Bovisand.

As such a long trek up and down the forts hill is done each day by weary commercial dive-students.
Recreational dive courses were offered here but no ROV training.

Arguably the best Training School out of the lot. Yet several years ago the place closed down due to a combination of reasons.
It's current fate is unknown.