The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

217 点作者 tokenadult大约 7 年前

11 条评论

been there. done that :)not as dangerous as the article says. at least not the diving part. most of the injuries are people mishandling high-pressure systems (valves, plumbing), electrical hazards (water+electricity), gas leaks, burns ... basically anything that can go wrong on construction sites, but only you're out at sea exposed to the elements. those few times that accidents do happen with divers in a saturation chambers / diving bell (aka "in the bin") it's cited for decades. people are naturally scared of darkness, deep water. so when accidents do happen it makes for a gripping story told over and over. how else to pass time when you're waiting on the weather to get better on a rocky boat.what's pretty cool is the survival training, e.g. practice escaping from a sinking helicopter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Z8sGRje90" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Z8sGRje90</a> I have seen big tough man in their 40ies panic and in tears trying to stay calm while the sinking helicopter fully floods, and you can't open the doors until the cabin is fully flooded.Another good one: part of the course is simulation of a burning rig. they lock you into a warehouse heated to around 60-70°C breathing air with a gas-mask, full body safety clothes (the heat alone can make you panic), then you have to navigate through a metal maze with a buddy (you're linked to your sobbing partner over radio-comms), and it's pitch black. You are only allowed to get out together and if one of you it bucks up you start over. Fantastic character building and understanding your mental limits.Sometimes I sit in front of my code thinking why did I get out of this job. I fought so hard to get there and gave it all up for computers & code. The truth is that most of the time offshore life is quite boring. Guess my boredom with software made me go into IoT since I get to mess with physical systems again.

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eggy大约 7 年前

I worked as a technical diver, not a saturation diver, with full-face comms and Nitrox and spare air, servicing underwater hydraulics/electrical systems for over 450 dives. No need for extended stays underwater or lengthy decompression. Most injuries were related to the physical labor around heavy moving machinery and tool usage. Glad to say there were few injuries and these were all minor injuries of those involved. The important technical point is that the largest increase in volume takes place in the first atmosphere or 33 ft (10 m) under the surface. The inverted bucket example of a full bucket of air going from full of air to half air at 33 ft below surface. It goes from 1/2 full of air to 1/3 at the 2-3 atm change. And that's where most typical recreational diving takes place with a maximum of 30 m to 40 m (100 ft to 130 ft). Diving in confined spaces with the surface blocked by structure or machinery, and with the occasional oil leak causing visibility of less than 24 inches due to light diffusion provided for a mix of challenging tasks while staying calm and rational. I miss that part of it all.

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FabHK大约 7 年前

The decompression accident alluded to in the piece was the Byford Dolphin diving bell accident. The wikipedia description [1] contains this rather graphic paragraph:> [...] Hellevik, being exposed to the highest pressure gradient and in the process of moving to secure the inner door, was forced through the 60 centimetres (24 in) diameter opening created by the jammed interior trunk door by escaping air and violently dismembered, including bisection of his thoracoabdominal cavity, which further resulted in expulsion of all of the internal organs of his chest and abdomen, except the trachea and a section of small intestine, and of the thoracic spine. These were projected some distance, one section later being found 10 metres (30 ft) vertically above the exterior pressure door.[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin</a>

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gaius大约 7 年前

I know so many guys who planned to do this for 2-3 years to make some money and 20+ years later they’re still doing it, they (or their wives) spend the money faster than they make it, and their bones are getting brittle from the nitrogen...(Former professional diver but I never did North Sea etc)

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kk58大约 7 年前

Sat diving in oil and gas is primarily conducted off a "DSV" aka diving support vessel. Usually SAT spread ia required for subsea work below 40m to 130m. While it is theoretically possible for deeper sat dives, the burn rate of oxygen at deeper depths is quite high which results in big increase in diving crew to 1 manhour of job. Most diving crews also hhave a DMT or diving medical tech. Kinda like diving ER. Mostly this stuff is safe but sometimes divers get disoriented or make mistakes which results in hazards.

aksyn大约 7 年前

I got into diving a couple of years ago, and managed to combine the two passions - there's an Open Source diving computer[1], and it's fascinating to read through the source[2].I was surprised on looking into it more that we're really just winging it algorithmically + safety margins, based on research done in the 60s. The empirical research basically consisted of the Navy et al. throwing people in at depth, and seeing what got them "bent".Everybody's physiology is different though, and there are a large number of factors over-and-above that which affect whether you'll suffer Decompress Sickness (DCS).Whilst there have been some iterations on Bühlmann[3] such as VPM-B[4] (which is based on bubble diameter vs. tissue compartment loading), the field is still lacking IMHO.Not really through any fault of their own, it's just very difficult/expensive to peer into the body whilst they're down there to see what's going on, and it seems we'd need a large sample size due to individual physiology playing a part. Still, the algos seem to work... most of the time. Just don't drink too much alcohol, sleep well, hydrate. And do your stops! :)Interestingly, saturation divers / Navy generally don't use a computer as the divemaster singularly plans the dives for the group with massive safety margins. As they're already saturated, they're generally not doing stops "outside" in the wet anyway. If they do have a computer, it will even have the tables/algos removed from it.[1] <a href="https://heinrichsweikamp.com/" rel="nofollow">https://heinrichsweikamp.com/</a>[2] <a href="https://bitbucket.org/heinrichsweikamp/ostc4/wiki/Home" rel="nofollow">https://bitbucket.org/heinrichsweikamp/ostc4/wiki/Home</a>[3] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BChlmann_decompression_algorithm" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BChlmann_decompression_al...</a>[4] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dive_computer#Algorithms" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dive_computer#Algorithms</a>Edit: Formatting

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DEFCON28大约 7 年前

Are they unusually well-compensated for this sort of construction work?

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Starwatcher2001将近 7 年前

A few years ago I did a "hard hat" diving experience that gives a teeny, tiny view into what these divers experience, and wow did it increase my respect for them.It also included being compressed in the "pot" down to 50m and getting narked to hell. Any UK bods fancy trying the experience lookup "York Diver Training".

NKosmatos大约 7 年前

Nice read about the life of aquanauts. Strange that there isn’t a modern action/drama movie about them.

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yosito大约 7 年前

All that for less than $60/hr.

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cagenut大约 7 年前

As much as I appreciate this type of content/story, its really starting to get old to read multi-paragraph descriptions with the very occasional drawing trying to tell me what the chamber looks like, when in 30 seconds of text-on-video with cuts and arrows they could have given me twice the info and left me with a much clearer understanding.

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