Professional deep-sea divers who specialize in working at depths of 500ft or more are known as ‘saturation divers’. They work on offshore rigs and undersea pipelines for periods of up to 28 days on any single job, living and sleeping in small high-pressure chambers.
The Byford Dolphin accident autopsy showed that the tragedy occurred aboard a Norwegian oil rig and killed four saturation divers and one crew member.
Saturation diving is a lucrative profession, with divers earning between $30,000 and $45,000 per month.
However, the environment is intense and can be hazardous. The 1983 Byford Dolphin disaster was a major wake-up call in the commercial diving industry that resulted in stricter safety protocols being put into place.
In order to fully understand what happened during this accident, it’s important to have an understanding of decompression sickness or ‘the bends’, which is caused by nitrogen bubbles forming in the bloodstream due to the pressure change experienced when ascending quickly from a deep dive.
Exploring the deep: the risks and wonders of scuba diving
Since its inception in the 1940s, scuba diving has captivated adventurers and thrill-seekers alike.
The opportunity to explore the vast depths of the ocean is a one-of-a-kind experience that has drawn in countless divers over the years. However, as with any daring endeavor, there are risks involved that require utmost caution and preparation.
As a diver descends into the deep, the pressure exerted on their body increases exponentially. While modern technology has made the sport safer than ever, the threat of decompression sickness, commonly known as ‘the bends’, remains a serious danger.
The body’s absorption of nitrogen gas during the dive can cause devastating health consequences if the diver ascends too quickly.
Just like shaking up a bottle of soda, a rapid change in pressure can cause the dissolved nitrogen to expand and form bubbles in the bloodstream, leading to severe symptoms such as joint pain, paralysis, and even death.
Despite the risks, scuba diving enthusiasts are drawn to the beauty and mystery that the underwater world has to offer. From vibrant coral reefs to fascinating shipwrecks, the sights to behold are endless.
However, it’s essential for divers to be knowledgeable and experienced in order to minimize the risks and enjoy their dives safely. Phillip Newsum, an experienced commercial diver, emphasizes the importance of understanding the dangers of decompression sickness and taking necessary precautions to avoid it.
In conclusion, scuba diving can be a thrilling and unforgettable adventure, but it’s important to acknowledge the potential risks and prepare accordingly. With the right training and equipment, divers can safely explore the wonders of the deep and witness the beauty of the underwater world.
Decompression sickness, or ‘the bends’, is an incredibly painful and potentially fatal condition. Its symptoms can range from debilitating muscle and joint pain, confusion, paralysis and heart attack to stroke.
It is possible to treat decompression sickness in a controlled environment by placing the individual in a hyperbaric chamber where pressure can be slowly released over the course of hours or days.
It’s best to make sure the bends never happen in the first place however, which can be done by making an ascent at a slow rate punctuated by frequent stops for ‘off-gassing’ or natural exhaling of nitrogen.
Certified SCUBA divers are typically aware of this process and use a dive planner to inform when they should stop and for how long during their ascent.
But commercial divers who work on offshore rigs have to take it one step further: quite literally into depths that recreational divers wouldn’t dare attempt.
The Byford Dolphin disaster taught us just how fatal such deep dives can be if proper safety protocols aren’t followed.
The deep dive: unveiling the secrets of saturation diving
When it comes to saturation diving, the rules of recreational diving don’t apply. At depths of up to 1,000 feet (304 meters), saturation divers spend weeks working on the ocean floor, with their bodies becoming “saturated” with nitrogen. But how do they safely ascend back to the surface without risking decompression sickness?
Unlike recreational divers, saturation divers can’t decompress by slowly ascending with long pauses. Instead, they are transported to the surface in a pressurized diving bell and then transferred to a specialized decompression chamber.
For every 100 feet (30 meters) that they descend, they require one day in the chamber, where they spend their time relaxing, watching movies, and receiving food through pressurized slots.
But it’s not just a matter of safety – time is of the essence for oil companies that pay for saturation divers to work for long periods at the depths.
Once the divers reach their saturation level, their bodies can’t absorb any more nitrogen no matter how long they stay underwater. So, they simply stay under pressure and work until the job is done.
For up to 28 days – the maximum allowed by the industry – saturation divers are transported to the depths in pressurized diving bells and then housed inside hyperbaric chambers, which maintain their bodies at the same pressure level as the deep water.
It’s called the “storage depth,” where they can work as long as they need to, without having to worry about decompression.
However, even saturation divers need to decompress. The last week of any saturation diving job is dedicated to a slow and steady decompression before finally breathing fresh air again.
All in all, saturation diving is a complex, fascinating and perilous operation that requires exceptional knowledge, experience and equipment to ensure the safety of those involved.
In the dangerous world of saturation diving, a routine operation can quickly turn deadly. In order to make such high-risk missions possible, it takes an entire team of specialists, including life support technicians, dive control teams, and even cooks.
But among all these crucial roles, the tenders hold a particularly vital responsibility. They are in charge of handling the air supply and communication lines that connect the divers to the surface.
The gruesome fate of a fourth saturation diver
On November 5, 1983, a team of experienced saturation divers and tenders were conducting a routine operation on the Byford Dolphin, a semi-submersible oil rig in the North Sea. The rig had two pressurized living chambers, each holding two divers, and the tenders were working to connect the diving bell to the chambers.
Once connected, the divers would be able to safely enter the chambers and begin their decompression process.
Everything was going according to plan, until the unthinkable happened. Without warning, the diving bell detached from the living chambers, creating what is known as an explosive decompression.
This caused the air pressure inside the chambers to drop from nine atmospheres, the pressure experienced at hundreds of feet below the water, to one atmosphere, the normal air pressure at the surface.
The sudden change in pressure sent the heavy diving bell flying, killing one of the tenders, William Crammond, and critically injuring his colleague, Martin Saunders.
But the fate of the four saturation divers inside the living chambers was far worse. Three of them, Edwin Arthur Coward, Roy P. Lucas, and Bjørn Giæver Bergersen, were essentially boiled alive from the inside out.
The intense pressure caused the nitrogen in their blood to violently erupt into gas bubbles, killing them instantly. The fourth diver, Truls Hellevik, suffered an even more gruesome fate. Hellevik was standing in front of the partially opened door to the living chamber when the pressure was released.
His body was sucked out through the narrow opening, tearing him apart and ejecting his internal organs onto the deck.
The Byford Dolphin tragedy remains one of the deadliest accidents in saturation diving history. The exact cause of the explosive decompression is still a matter of debate, but it is believed to have been caused by a failure of the locking mechanism that held the diving bell to the living chambers.
The Byford Dolphin accident autopsy revealed the horrific deaths of five deep-sea divers due to explosive decompression. The tragedy brought attention to the dangers of saturation diving and led to significant safety improvements.
The deadly consequences of explosive decompression
Saturation diving is an incredibly demanding job, both physically and mentally. Saturation divers can work at depths of up to 1,000 feet, where the pressure is so intense that nitrogen and other gases can dissolve into the bloodstream.
To avoid decompression sickness, saturation divers need to spend long periods of time in decompression chambers before returning to the surface. This can take days or even weeks, depending on the depth of the dive.
The job of the tender is crucial to the success of any saturation diving operation. They are responsible for managing the umbilical, the lifeline that connects the divers to the surface.
They also assist in docking the diving bell to the living chambers, a process that requires precision and attention to detail.
Tenders need to be highly skilled and trained, with a deep understanding of the risks and challenges of saturation diving.
In the aftermath of the Byford Dolphin tragedy, safety regulations for saturation diving were tightened. Diving bells were redesigned to prevent explosive decompression, and safety procedures were put in place to ensure that the locking mechanisms were properly secured before the diving bell was detached from the living chambers.
Today, saturation diving is still a high-risk job, but thanks to these safety improvements, it is a much safer profession than it was in the past.
Hard lessons learned
The discovery of oil off the coast of Norway in the 1960s led to an oil boom in the North Sea, but safety was often neglected.
Between the 1960s and early 2000s, a total of 58 diving deaths occurred in the North Sea alone. One of the most tragic cases was that of The Byford Dolphin in 1983, which at the time was considered one of the worst oilfield disasters ever recorded.
Philip Newsum from The Association of Diving Contractors International explains how this accident resulted in sweeping changes for commercial diving procedures worldwide – emphasizing risk assessment and hazard analysis with built-in redundancies to eliminate human error or faulty equipment.
In order to provide further safety measures, some rigs are now equipped with special hyperbaric lifeboats designed to protect saturation divers from natural disasters without having to expose them back to surface pressure first.
Delayed justice for the families
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until 2009 that families affected by The Byford Dolphin incident saw any restitution from the Norwegian government responsible for operating it.
An undisclosed sum was paid out to all 6 victims, including an injured Saunders – a report even suggested that faulty equipment rather than human error had been responsible for their disaster. Finally, in 2016, The Byford Dolphin rig was taken out of service and laid to rest – but not before hard lessons had been learned by many.
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