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Commercial offshore diving

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Internationalairport (talk | contribs) at 10:30, 10 August 2013 (several international companies often competed in pressing (å presse) the tables further. Status was acquired by beating the records. Effectivity put [more] money in the till). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

One type of individual setup for commercial offshore diving

Commercial diving offshore is a branch of commercial diving, with divers working in support of the exploration and production sector of the oil and gas industry in places such as the Gulf of Mexico in the United States the North Sea in the United Kingdom and Norway and along the coast of Brazil. The work in this area of the industry includes maintenance of oil platforms and the building of underwater structures used in the production process.

For many newly qualified divers, this is the entry point to the industry. The lack of experienced divers and the excess of qualified divers within the industry push down wages for younger, less experienced divers beginning their careers. The low wages, relative inexperience of the workforce combined with difficult and dangerous operating conditions make offshore diving the most dangerous[citation needed] area of employment for professional divers. Workers often live and work on the platform or ship for several weeks at a time, working 12-hour shifts without any days off.

Equipment used for offshore diving tends to be surface supplied equipment but this does vary depending on the nature of the work and location. For instance Gulf of Mexico based divers may use wetsuits whilst North Sea divers need drysuits or even hot water suits due to the temperature of the water.[1]

Timeline

  • The first commercial offshore saturation dive was performed by Westinghouse in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Betsy in March 1966.[2]
  • A casualty of commercial diving in North Sea oil exploration occurred as early as October 2, 1967[3]

North Sea

In Norway's sector of the North Sea, 17 divers died during a 20 year-period from 1967 — 11 individuals were British.[4] In 2013 media said "During the pioneering period, most of the [oil] companies related to (forholdt seg til) dive tables based on research by U.S. Navy. The dive tables were supposed to ensure that the divers avoided so called bends. The problem was that the U.S tables were formulated for divers during a transportation phase in a crisis situation. Not for shift work over several hours. The tables were also created for survival possibilities during an acute (akutt) evacuation—not necessarily concerning oneself with issues of long-term health. Authors Kristin Øye Gjerde and Helge Ryggvik indicate that several international companies often competed in pressing (å presse) the tables further. Status was acquired by beating the records. Effectivity put [more] money in the till."[5]

In 2012 European Court of Human Rights stated it will try the case of three commercial divers that lost their case in Norway's supreme court in 2010.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Beyerstein G. (2006). "Commercial Diving: Surface-Mixed Gas, Sur-D-O2, Bell Bounce, Saturation". In: Lang, MA and Smith, NE (eds.). Proceedings of Advanced Scientific Diving Workshop: February 23–24, 2006. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
  2. ^ O'Neill, WJ (2010). "Where it began: The first commercial offshore saturation dive". Offshore. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
  3. ^ "3 Dødsulykker under dykking i Nordsjøen 1965–1990". Retrieved 2011-09-08.
  4. ^ Gray, Sadie. The Times. London http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3613778.ece. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Maugesten, Hanne Marie (2013-08-09). "Pionéren - Vi kan takke Magn Muledal og hans kolleger for velferden vår, mener Aksle Hennie. Han spiller nordsjødykker i ny, norsk film". Aftenposten A-magasinet (in Norwegian). pp. 14, 16. I pionértiden forholdt de fleste selskapene seg til dykketabeller basert på forskning fra den amerikanske marinen. Dykketabellene skulle sikre at dykkerne ungikk dykkersyke, såkalt bends, eller trykkfallssyke. Problemet var bare at de amerikanske tabellene var utarbeidet med tanke på dykkingen som en transportetappe i en krisesituasjon. Ikke for skiftarbeid over flere timer. De var også utarbeidet med tanke på hva som var mulig å overleve i en akutt evakueringssituasjon, ikke nødvendigvis med tanke på hva som var helseskadelig på sikt.
  6. ^ http://www.dagbladet.no/2012/06/27/nyheter/nordsjodykkere/strasbourg/22304574/
  7. ^ http://e24.no/lov-og-rett/pionerdykkerne-faar-saken-opp-i-strasbourg/20247370
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