REPOST: New safety support in place for deepsea divers

The safety of divers, especially those involved in subsea industrial work, is a top priority for diving contractors. The Telegram’s Ashley Fitzpatrick writes about a facility that addresses emergency response and worker safety for offshore divers.

The Hyperbaric Reception Facility (HRF) is the only shore-based HRF in North America.
(Image source: thetelegram.com)

 
Companies using divers for subsea industrial work offshore Newfoundland and Labrador now have access to a rare facility to support emergency response and worker safety.

The new hyperbaric reception facility was built by Submarine Manufacturing and Products Ltd. in the United Kingdom for local company Sea-Force Hyperbaric. It can accommodate up to 20 divers for decompression, in the case of a catastrophic incident offshore.

Offshore divers go deep, typically living in sealed chambers onboard a diving support vessel for up to 28 days at a time. They transfer from the vessel to a pressurized diving bell to head out to work.

The deep diving is called “saturated” diving because, under the pressure, gases are absorbed into body tissues, and the tissues become saturated with the gases. The absorbed gas has to be released slowly after the dive.

Safe decompression typically takes about four to six days.

“Every year now, there’s a diving ship here every single year and when they’re here, they’re here for probably six months and there’s guys in saturation diving 24 hours a day during the six months that it’s here,” said Sea-Force Hyperbaric’s Jim Hynes.

The workers have access to hyperbaric lifeboats, but they are generally cramped spaces with divers having limited ability to move or deal with injuries during decompression.

Enter the “hyperbaric reception facility,” stationed inside the large, blue building at the NewDock yard off Water Street, near the St. John’s waterfront.

Now, in an emergency, divers’ lifeboats can be brought to land and — like a space shuttle docking with the International Space Station — be placed atop the T-shaped facility. It allows workers to escape into a somewhat more spacious, still pressurized, area with potential for more direct medical care.

The safety business

The hyperbaric facility is under private ownership. Sea-Force Hyperbaric has had help in startup from several sources.

According to online records, the federal government, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), contributed $50,000 to a feasibility study for the hyperbaric business in December 2011. In April 2012, a separate $500,000 loan was approved by ACOA for the business.

The provincial government contributed $500,000 for the purchase.

“The other over $4 million we got ourselves,” said Sea-Force’s Hynes, placing the grand total at more than $5 million.

As a business, he said, Sea-Force Hyperbaric plans to sustain itself by establishing stand-by contracts with diving companies and major offshore operators.

“The investors here went out and saw an opportunity and sort of got ahead of the curve and recognized there was a need from a health and safety point of view,” said Innovation, Business and Rural Development Minister Keith Hutchings after seeing the facility at a reception Wednesday.

The facility is portable, allowing the company to pursue contracts elsewhere in the world as well, whenever there is a lull in dive work offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

Emergency response

There have been divers killed while working offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

At least three lives were lost during attempts to move the remains of the Ocean Ranger following the loss of that rig.

At the time of the Hebron public review, The Telegram contacted the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board, requesting information from the standard forms to be submitted by companies to the offshore regulator in the event of an accident or near miss during dive work offshore.

For the 10 years prior to 2012, there were 23 reports and the incidents ranged from a diver reporting dizziness, to objects dropping onto the seafloor in divers’ work area. In one case, a crane’s headache ball was “lowered to the seafloor within five metres of the divers without divers’ consent.”

Of note, saturation diving work will be required for installation of the Hebron gravity base structure.

Phil Newsum of the Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) champions diving safety, whether commercial or recreational. Get timely updates on diving from this Twitter account.

The thrill of free diving

Image source: gapinternshipsthailand.com

Considered an extreme sport, free diving relies solely on the diver’s ability to hold his or her breath rather than using a breathing apparatus such as a scuba gear. The sport is growing in popularity these days. Unknown to some, free diving has existed for hundreds of years that “Homer and Plato [even] wrote about it,” reports 60 Minutes .

For those who chose to take up the extreme sport, the beauty of free diving lies on conquering “death-defying feats” never thought possible. As Alexander Davies of Discovery News pointed out, “Divers push the limits of human evolution by descending hundreds of meters below the surface, fighting massive levels of water pressure and minutes without oxygen.”


Image source: enzomaiorca.it

The 50-meter mark was first breached in 1962 by Enzo Maiorca. Fourteen years later, Maiorca’s fiercest rival, Jacques Mayol, hit 100 meters. And as the sport developed, divers started incorporating fins, weights, inflatable balloons, and diving sleds, going even deeper. According to the International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA), an organization established in 1992 to set global standards and verify free diving records, the deepest dive record set was 273 meters by Goran Colak in 2011.

A lot of people may ask, “Why go down at all knowing how extreme the sport is?” For some enthusiasts though, they do not see free diving as an extreme sport – they see it as a adventure. As champion free diver Tanya Streeter explained to 60 Minutes’ Bob Simon, “It is journey of self-exploration.”


Image source: news.com.au

Phil Newsum believes that safety should always be a priority in diving, whether free, or commercial. Select updates about the diving industry are available at this Facebook page.

Making fish of men: Where are artificial gills?

Image Source: zidbits.com

There’s a certain amount of god-playing when humans deign to stay underwater for days. But to developers of artificial gills, this is a practical solution for both an economy and a scientific world that are pushing submerged explorations into deeper reaches.

USA divers, in particular, welcome this breakthrough as sea-borne job opportunities multiply. The country also prides itself in hosting an extensive network of divers who participate in marine contracting and non-profit services such as search and rescue operations for coastal disasters.

Diving has a strong hold in this country, with non-profits like Phil Newsum’s Association of Diving Contractors, International (ADCI) participating with federal agencies in a gamut of diving-related operations. One of the most compelling arguments for funding the invention of artificial gills may be search and rescue operations, such as that ADCI had to lead in Minnesota, following the collapse of a highway bridge into a river. The agency has a wealth of stories to tell its frequent partners, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Labor, about long-haul diving operations.

Image Source: businessweek.com

Artificial gills broke into the scientific imagination back in 2006, when ”LikeAFish”, an Israeli inventor’s pet project, made headlines. The aptly named invention harvests oxygen from water through a closed-circuit system that pumps breathable gas in an airbag, a more ergonomic departure from the clunky oxygen tank.

This is the first viable model for artificial gills for which the inventor, Alon Bodner, sought patents. The U.S. military took no time to swim in the idea by taking Bodner’s concept for a run of other designs while retaining the battery-powered and airbag-facilitated mechanism of the invention. The device has also been baptized as “Microfabricated Biomimetic Artificial Gill System” or MBAGS, which could subsequently rearrange the SCUBA acronym into “self-contained open-circuit breathing apparatus.”

Image Sourge: spiegel.de

If all goes well, artificial gills are set to conquer commercial markets in this decade. Bodner’s invention had been given around 10 years since its inception to survive the testing channels and be adopted for commercial use. At least, this soaks sci-fi expectations that artificial gills will break out from the sides of the human neck.  


Phil Newsum is one of the most reputable divers in the United States aiding marine operations and providing divers’ training through his leadership of ADCI. More commercial diving information could be found here.

Underwater archaeology leads to worlds movies are made of

Underwater archaeology has the makings of a ruse. Archaeological sites demand prolonged surveys and excavations. Gathering fossils and artifacts could be an endless search. These operations will be cut short underwater, within the span of human breath. And while scuba gear stretches possibilities in netherworlds, it also has its limits.

Image source: newswatch.nationalgeographic.com

Still, it’s a promising method that tracks history where it passed. Submarines and remote sensors could be deployed for more explorations, but these could not replace that moment of pure scientific insight that connects clues and artifacts to each other. Human discernment, first of all, points out “submerged cultural resources”. These are sites bearing the imprints and other evidence of humanity’s existence. Shipwrecks, geological formations, and historical remains of monuments are examples.

Image source: guardians.net

Despite its risks and logistical constraints, underwater archaeology is regularly practiced. It has been a great service in bringing to surface prehistoric upheavals, such as early migrations to the New World and bygone maritime cultures in Northern Europe.

Shipwrecks are easy points of interest. The muted splendor that surrounds sunken vessels and battleships is of a cinematic quality that writes its own screenplay. It is not by accident that James Cameron imagined a love story and a billion-dollar remodeled ship after hauling Titanic up for air. The sea’s detritus has a way of preserving secrets of the past and lending an aged kind of romanticism to how historians interpret it.

Image source: unesco.org

Underwater archaeology naturally demands scuba training. Most archeologists who have been involved in land digs contend with this problem when the historical trail leads them underwater. Phil Newsum and the Association of Diving Contractors International can assist in training, particularly in deep sea diving. For more information, visit this Facebook page.

Guam's extraordinary underwater critters

The glut of tourists flying in for the Caribbean’s famous dive spots has seasoned divers looking for other watering holes. The vast Pacific reassures them of the supply of open water. Guam is one of those diving spots that have outgrown ersatz tourism and come out as stars of their own.

Image source: commons.wikimedia.org

It would take special dives to reconnoiter with the renowned underwater critters, numbering in thousands of fish species. Guam has dozens of diving spots, popular in their own right for specific features. The Blue Hole is a natural choice for underwater archaeology, a 60- to 300-ft. plunge with sightings of the World War II wrecks of the SMS Cormoran (a German vessel) and the Tokai Maru (a Japanese one). A way’s side from the island’s northern coast, divers negotiate a 100-ft. dive in search for the Napoleon wrasse, a lumbering humphead with, reportedly, an amicable mien that balances out the thrill of dealing with non-malicious shark species. It also lurks among uncorrupted corals, of the kind Australia might put in tourism campaigns, but they’re stashed in a secret world only experienced divers could maximize.

Image source: commons.wikimedia.org

Over 20 new species of mollusks are also clacking against the sea wall. Amateur divers can content themselves with shallow acquaintance: 30 feet into a dive spot called the Blue & White, invertebrates slither around for a primordial fish eyeview. Shy of those, schools of pyramid butterfly fish are already a magical scream for first-timers.

Image source: commons.wikimedia.org

Phil Newsum is the executive director of the Association of Diving Contractors International, Inc., which promotes safety measures in commercial diving. More diving features here.

Of diving sites and marine protected areas

Several days ago, when the USS Guardian ran aground on the Tubbataha Reef, the issue of guarding protected marine areas has become alive anew.

Image source: tripadvisor.com

Although both parties chose to remain silent about the matter, speculations have spread like wildfire on the Web: that the minesweeper’s commander has violated certain marine and environmental laws by crossing protected area borders and allowing his troops to take pleasure in plunging onto the restricted Palawan ridge.

But this still remains an allegation that needs concrete confirmation.

You can’t just dive anywhere

Image source: nationalgeographic.com

If a well-decorated marine officer has obtained no special treatment regarding the violation of protected area laws—since he and his troops are under investigation—this shows that no one is above the law. Diving enthusiasts aren’t allowed to dive anywhere they like and as they please. Diving laws may differ substantially from country to country. Typically, diving proscriptions are implemented for the protection of sea areas declared legally as natural marine resources where a number of endangered and unique species are present, or historic places where rehabilitations and scientific explorations are currently being done.

Nonetheless, the dilemma of being caught and put to public infamy could easily be avoided. Diving, as it is a very serious activity, should always be associated with firms that ensure high standards of safety for underwater operations and believe in the idea of providing students and clients excellent diving education.

Diving companies like the members of Phil Newsum’s ADCI know very well where the best and safest diving places on earth are.

Image source: best-diving.org

More updates on commercial diving and related topics can be accessed at this blog.

The Netherlands: Fugro Develops New Version of DeepWorks ROV Simulator

This article was taken from www.subseaworldnews.com. For the full article, click here.



Fugro has developed a new version of its DeepWorks ROV simulator for the Saab Seaeye family of electric ROVs, supporting console integration of the Seaeye Tiger, Lynx, Cougar XT and Panther XT/XT Plus models. To cater for the training needs of a mixed fleet of ROVs, Fugro Operating Companies in UK, Singapore, UAE, Brazil, and Australia will be the first to benefit as an enhanced set of training configurations is rolled out across the company.

DeepWorks now allows rapid building and evaluation of new electrical ROV configurations, helping operators find the best arrangement and mountings for cameras, sonars and tooling while ensuring the vehicle remains dynamically stable. As the range of missions electric ROVs undertake grows, DeepWorks offers a very cost effective way of building and testing multi-mission capability.

For pilot training, the most important feature is replication of the Seaeye overlay which tells the pilot where the ROV is, its depth, pitch and roll and camera tilt angle. Replicating the actual user interface means that when pilots go offshore the console feels immediately familiar and missions can be performed as practised. Other built-in features to improve pilot skills and responses include independent viewpoint control, sonar interpretation and fault simulation at any point in the mission.

“Our investment in designing DeepWorks as a versatile simulation platform capable of providing simulation of any type of ROV is now paying off,” said Dr Jason Tisdall, Fugro’s Robotic Technologies Business Line Manager. “In just a few months we have integrated DeepWorks with the Saab Seaeye surface and hand control units, and delivered an ROV pilot trainer with true electric thruster response, accurate navigation overlay and realistic training scenarios for five of the most popular models of Saab Seaeye ROV.”

Accurate electric thruster modelling gives the vehicle true behavioural responses to pilot demands. This creates the highest levels of realism when training and rehearsing key mission tasks such as docking, navigation by camera and by sonar, close inspection or tool deployment. Thrusters have initially been tuned for the Seaeye Tiger ROV, with other models to follow.

DeepWorks allows trainers to assess pilot skills by determining how long it takes them to complete tasks, how smoothly they operate the controls, and how well they respond to faults and deal with hazards. DeepWorks can also be used for assessing the overall mission difficulty and skills competency required. This allows operators to manage their pool of pilots more effectively and target training better. A further benefit of the DeepWorks electric ROV simulator is a substantially lower price point than DeepWorks for hydraulic ROVs.