View source for Stena Seaspread diving accident

{{short description|Saturation diving bell incident with successful rescue in the North Sea in 1981 }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Stena Seaspread'' diving accident}}
{{Infobox event
| title                    = ''Stena Seaspread'' diving accident
| image                    = 
| image_name               = 
| image_size               = 
| caption                  = 
| date                     = {{start date|1981|1|21|df=y}} 
| time                     = 
| place                    = [[Thistle oil field]], [[East Shetland Basin]], [[North Sea]], Scotland
| coordinates              = {{Coord|61|21|47|N|1|34|47|E|type:event_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| also known as            = 
| cause                    = bell umbilical fouled on SALM
| first reporter           = 
| filmed by                = 
| participants             = Phil Robinson, Jim Tucker
| outcome                  = successful through-water transfer to rescue bell
| website                  = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| notes                    = 
}}

The '''''Stena Seaspread'' diving accident''' occurred on 21 January 1981, when a [[diving bell]] containing two divers had its umbilical cord severed. Both divers were rescued.<ref>{{cite news|title=Divers in Bell Rescue|agency=[[Press and Journal (Scotland)]]|date=January 22, 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Divers' dramatic plea|agency=[[Press and Journal (Scotland)]]|date=January 23, 1981}}</ref>

[[File:Stena_Seaspread_1980.jpg|thumb|right|upright=2.0|''Stena Seaspread'' in the Thistle Field, circa 1980. Photo by Mike Allen.]]

== Background ==
On 21 January 1981, Mike Allen was supervising bell dive No. 342 on board the ''Stena Seaspread'', adjacent to the [[Thistle SALM]]. Allen had also been the rescue supervisor during the [[Wildrake diving accident]] in August 1979. Just after 10 o’clock that morning, Allen's boss, dive superintendent Mike O'Meara, stepped into the control van to ask how things were going.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=O'Meara|first1=Mike|title=Written Statement by Mike O'Meara|date=1981}}</ref> Five hundred feet below, diver Phil Robinson had just returned to the diving bell to join his partner, Jim Tucker. Robinson had been conducting a [[magnetic particle inspection]] on the SALM base when he ran out of ink. While his equipment was recharging, he took a short break.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Robinson|first1=Phil|title=Written Statement by Phil Robinson|date=1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=''Stena Seaspread'' dive log}}</ref>

== Accident ==
The ''Stena Seaspread'' was a new vessel and its powerful [[dynamic positioning]] system easily counteracted the strong tidal currents running that day. But unbeknown to Allen, the tide had drawn an excessive amount of umbilical off the umbilical winch, allowing the lifeline to foul on the SALM.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moore|first1=Barry|title=Report of Investigation Carried Out On Board ''Stena Seaspread''|date=January 1981|page= 2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=O'Meara|first1=Mike|title=Written Statement by Mike O'Meara|date=1981}}</ref> With constant movement from the ship, at 1015 a projection on the massive loading buoy cut a hole in the umbilical, piercing the main gas supply to the divers. Allen heard gas flowing through his panel, and at the same time, the divers in the bell reported a drop in gas pressure.<ref>{{cite journal|title=''Stena Seaspread'' dive log}}</ref> After confirming that there was indeed a leak in the umbilical, O’Meara asked Robinson to lock out again (using on-board bell gas) to disconnect the swim line (a rope from the bell to the job site) and stow the inspection gear in the workbasket for recovery to the surface with the ship's crane.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=O'Meara|first1=Mike|title=Written Statement by Mike O'Meara|date=1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=''Stena Seaspread'' dive log}}</ref>

At 1041, during the recovery, Allen lost all communications, video, and hot water to the bell.<ref>{{cite journal|title=''Stena Seaspread'' dive log}}</ref> The main umbilical had been torn completely in half. It is thought that the workbasket had passed through a loop of the snagged umbilical. When the basket was pulled from the sea it had fibers from the umbilical outer covering attached.<ref>2W Operations Manager Barry Moore’s Investigation Report, p. 1-3.</ref> Allen established wireless through-water communications with his divers and determined that they were unharmed. Then he conducted bell checks with the divers to ensure that specific internal valves were closed.

Unlike the ''Wildrake'' bell, which was lost in the dark on the seabed, the ''Seaspread'' bell was still suspended by its lift wire. The main winch was functioning, so at 1122, Allen and O’Meara began hoisting the bell slowly to the surface. At 134 feet from the surface, Robinson and Tucker ordered Allen to stop the lift as the bell was losing pressure.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=O'Meara|first1=Mike|title=Written Statement by Mike O'Meara|date=1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=''Stena Seaspread'' dive log}}</ref> The source of the leak could not be established, and Allen was forced to return the bell to its working depth. At 1147, O’Meara declared an emergency and began notifying nearby diving support vessels to come to his aid. It was later established that the divers had neglected to close the bell internal [[pneumofathometer]] valve behind one of the diver's tethers.<ref>Letter to Michael Smart from Mike Allen. July 29, 2012.{{better source needed|date=January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moore|first1=Barry|title=Report of Investigation Carried Out On Board ''Stena Seaspread''|date=January 1981|page= 3}}</ref>

== Rescue ==
{{Convert|20|mile||abbr=off}} to the south, the [[semi-submersible]] ''Uncle John'' was stationed beside the [[Brent oil field|Brent Bravo]] platform just as it had been during the ''Wildrake'' accident. When the emergency call came in at 1158, [[Compagnie maritime d'expertises|Comex Diving]] was monitoring a subsea pumping operation with an [[Remotely operated underwater vehicle|ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle)]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Macadam|first1=John|title=Diary, Barge Master of the ''Uncle John''|date=1981}}</ref> The crew immediately recovered the ROV while the captain of the ''Uncle John'' began the process of dewatering the massive legs of the vessel.<ref>Letter to Michael Smart from John Macadam, October 23, 1996.{{better source needed|date=January 2020}}</ref> Normally it would have taken three to four hours to deballast the semi-submersible to raise it to transit depth, but the captain accelerated the process by executing an emergency deballast, pumping water from the legs through huge fire cannons mounted on the aft end. As the ''Uncle John'' headed north on its rescue mission, huge rooster tails of cascading seawater trailed behind.

Three hours later the ''Uncle John'' arrived alongside the ''Seaspread'' to begin the rescue.<ref>{{cite news|title=Trapped divers saved after race against time|agency=[[The Herald (Glasgow)]]|date=January 22, 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Divers in Bell Rescue|agency=[[Press and Journal (Scotland)]]|date=January 22, 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Macadam|first1=John|title=Diary, Barge Master of the ''Uncle John''|date=1981}}</ref> {{Convert|400|ft}} below the surface, Robinson and Tucker were keeping warm in thick mummy bags and using breathing masks which removed carbon dioxide from their respirations, and recycled their expired body heat. After the ''Wildrake'' accident, the diving industry recognized the futility of using space blankets as protection against [[hypothermia]]. Norway's Underwater Institute conducted thermal studies to test survival systems for stranded divers,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Project Polar Bear: Testing of diver thermal protection in a simulated 'lost bell.'|journal=Report No. 2-80|date=1980}}</ref> and Wharton & Williams Taylor Diving,<ref>{{cite news|title=Men, bell equipped with latest technology|agency=[[Press and Journal (Scotland)]]|date=January 22, 1981}}</ref> in conjunction with a local technology institute, developed a new survival suit with high heat-retention properties. Robinson and Tucker were using those suits.

In the ''Seaspread'' bell van, Allen and O'Meara discussed their options for rescue. They knew where Robinson and Tucker were, but they could not raise them to the surface. They decided to transfer the divers to a second rescue bell.<ref>Allen, Mike, Telephone Interview with Michael Smart, August 17, 2012{{better source needed|date=January 2020}}</ref> This rescue option had also been considered during the ''Wildrake'' diving accident but had been rejected.<ref>{{cite book|title=Into the Lion's Mouth: The Story of the ''Wildrake'' Diving Accident |last=Smart |first=Michael |location=[[Medford, Oregon]] |publisher=Lion's Mouth Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-615-52838-0 |lccn=2011915008 |page=193}}</ref>

On board the ''Uncle John'', Comex diving superintendent George Head lowered the rescue bell with divers Joe Puttnam, Richard Taylor, and Ken Iversen inside. At {{Convert|400|ft}} below sea level, they established a swim line between the two bells, took a hot-water hose to the stranded divers, warmed them up, then made the transfer by leading Robinson over first, then Tucker. For their part in the rescue operation, Puttnam and Taylor received the [[Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48752|date=1 October 1981|page=12503|supp=y}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{1981 shipwrecks}}
{{Underwater diving|hisdiv}}

[[Category:Commercial diving accidents]]
[[Category:History of the petroleum industry in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Shetland]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1981]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in Scotland]]
[[Category:1981 in Scotland]]
[[Category:Oil and gas industry in Shetland]]