In our last issue, we looked at some of the most hazardous jobs in the engineering sector. But one stood out as being worthy of an article in its own right – saturation diving for the offshore oil and gas industry.
As a light shines from the approaching remotely operated vehicle (ROV), his limbs twitch and his arms reach out weakly as if grasping for help. His gas has long gone. His pipe snapped more than half an hour earlier and no one was expecting to find him, let alone alive. But the wait is haunting. The only ship that can deliver a diver to rescue him in time is struggling to regain control in stormy seas above. In the meantime, the helpless and horrified crew can only watch.
This was back in 2012, and saturation diver Chris Lemons has no recollection of the encounter, though he’s talked about it many times since. “I think the people who had to witness it suffered more. Some [on the boat] decided never to work with divers again.”
Saturation diving is a small world and everyone in...