Diving Today

11 May 2011 Aberdeen Branch Evening Meeting

Chairman Derek Beddows, BP

Sponsored by Bibby Offshore and KD Marine

Report  

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Overview

Since the early to mid nineteen sixties when offshore exploration began to take off in the North Sea, the industry has relied upon divers who were prepared to put their lives and health at risk in order to help bring oil and gas ashore. Diving continues to be a mainstay in the North Sea oil and gas industry and tonight’s meeting has something for everyone, from the casual observer interested in a quick introduction to offshore diving, to those wanting an update on the latest technology, innovations and activities. 

This evening’s chairman was Derek Beddows, BP’s Global Diving Authority, who got the proceedings started with an overview of the long and arduous journey that has seen the North Sea transformed from a region with very little in the way of diving safety management systems to a place where we can proudly say that we have learned from the mistakes of the past to help make a safer workplace in the future.

This was followed by presentations from the main speakers from Bibby offshore, KD Marine and Subsea 7 and the evening closed with a ‘tech-byte’ from Unique Maritime Solutions.

Presentations

Everything You Wanted To Know About Diving But Didn’t Like To Ask!

Mike Hawkyard, Bibby Offshore

Humankind has always held a strong fascination with the oceans, whether it is to explore their hidden depths, to exploit rich bounties or both. From the earliest pearl diving to modern day, from SCUBA to Saturation, the human physiology remains the same but techniques and contraptions used for exploring the seas have changed considerably as man has himself evolved and developed new technologies to overcome the difficulties. So how did it all start? What has changed since the first forays into the depths? What on earth are ‘the bends’? What is SCUBA, what is Saturation Diving, and what on earth is next? Diving, the next generation!

Sean Pople, Subsea 7

Installation-based Diving

Hamish Petersen, KD Marine

Diving on and around offshore facilities offers many and varying challenges to the operator and to diving contractor from simple access and egress to regulatory compliance. Albeit that diving per se has not changed much over the years the diving industry has adapted its approach in many ways, and KD Marine are typical of how a contractor can innovate technical and practical solutions in an ever changing environment.

Tech-byte

Steve Burns, Unique Maritime Solutions

Steve introduced the PDE or Umbilical supplied rebreather, a quantum leap forward in commercial diving. This technology is the culmination of 5 years of development and testing and it offers comprehensive monitoring systems and built in redundancy safety features.