
The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver - tokenadult
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-a-saturation-diver
======
DyslexicAtheist
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
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Z8sGRje90](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Z8sGRje90)
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.

~~~
Retric
The population is tiny which means even if the accident rate is low per time,
the risk per diver is extremely high.

It depends on you benchmark, but people think of police officer as a dangerous
job and they mostly die in car accidents.

~~~
fjsolwmv
Isn't there something about how general aviation pilots mostly die flying if
they don't retire from it young?

~~~
toomanybeersies
There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold
pilots. That's the saying anyway.

------
eggy
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.

~~~
JohnJamesRambo
Sorry if this is a stupid question but how far down could you dive?

~~~
5DFractalTetris
It depends on the tables and physiology, because you need to safely oxygenate
all the body's tissues with regular breathing at depth. He could probably dive
[edit: said Nitrox, I'd learned non-air Nitrox increases maximum depth but it
increases time-at-depth] Trimix until about 100m, deeper might need a
different mix.

~~~
joeguilmette
Nitrox’s maximum operating depth is ~32m at 32%. Oxygen toxicity is a quick
death. To go deeper you need to add helium and actually reduce the amount of
oxygen in the gas.

~~~
jsjohnst
To expand further, oxygen is toxic at 1.6ATA. For those unfamiliar, pressure
doubles every 10m (33ft). So if I tried to breath 100% oxygen at 33ft (aka
2.0ATA), I’d die pretty quickly. At 66ft, that caps you at about 40% oxygen.
At 99ft, you essentially can’t breath any higher oxygen concentration than
natural air.

As such, nitrox’s purpose isn’t to increase depth. It’s actually used to
increase bottom time (at a loss of max depth) without needing decompression.
You get this increased bottom time due to lower amounts of nitrogen.

I’ve logged hundreds of nitrox dives from 28% - 60% oxygen levels, but never
bit the bullet and gotten into more advanced air mixtures like Trimix. Trimix
and other specialty blends are hard to get air fills for at the places I most
commonly dive, so I keep pushing it off.

~~~
mbrameld
> For those unfamiliar, pressure doubles every 10m (33ft).

Does it? Or does it increase by one atmosphere every 10m?

~~~
jjcm
Increase by one atmosphere. If it doubled then at the bottom of the Marianas
Trench it'd be 10^330 atmospheres, or approximately 10^318 times greater than
the pressure at the center of the Sun.

------
FabHK
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]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin)

~~~
userbinator
That accident involved a pressure difference of 8 atmospheres. For comparison,
when a plane explosively decompresses, the pressure difference is much less
than 1 atmosphere, and that is enough to cause some pretty severe damage, so
you can imagine just how much more violent an 8atm decompression is.

------
gaius
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)

~~~
technofiend
The unfortunate truth for some people is unless they are very careful,
spending money behaves like a gas and expands to take all available volume.

~~~
crispyporkbites
Sure what is money for but to be spent

~~~
erikpukinskis
The other main thing is saving to be spent later.

------
kk58
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
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] [https://heinrichsweikamp.com/](https://heinrichsweikamp.com/)

[2]
[https://bitbucket.org/heinrichsweikamp/ostc4/wiki/Home](https://bitbucket.org/heinrichsweikamp/ostc4/wiki/Home)

[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BChlmann_decompression_al...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BChlmann_decompression_algorithm)

[4]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dive_computer#Algorithms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dive_computer#Algorithms)

Edit: Formatting

~~~
steve19
That dice computer looks great. Do you own one? Do like it?

~~~
aksyn
I have both the OSTC4 and OSTC3 Plus. The screens are extremely visible
underwater, with the OSTC4 having a better resolution and much larger screen
(equivalent brightness). There are quite a few YouTube videos of other
computers to compare - these stood out. As far as computers go, they have all
the features needed (even up to tech). I find having a nice piece of
technology on my wrist provides some intangible comfort, especially on
Blackwater dives :) The screen is so vivid I even managed to spot a battery
warning (forgot to charge it) on my buddies computer from distance!

~~~
steve19
Thanks. I have just started scuba diving and am looking at getting the ultra
budget Cressi Leonardo Dive Computer. Is getting that a bad idea given I am
just a newbie?

~~~
Starwatcher2001
Buying a "starter" dive computer makes a lot of sense as many divers quit
after a year or two. As your skills and interests progress, you can aways
upgrade to a better one.

It's been a while since I bought my last dive computer, but looking at the
spec for the Leonardo, it looks okay. Personally I'd prefer one that includes
a stop timer, but that's not a show stopper. The ability to download your
dives to a PC is a good one to have. Have a chat with your instructors and see
what they use and why. Enjoy your diving and keep blowing them bubbles!

------
DEFCON28
Are they unusually well-compensated for this sort of construction work?

~~~
Hendrikto
It may not be politically correct to say, but there ARE differences between
men and women. One of them is that, generally speaking, men are more willing
to take higher risks for money and recognition.

~~~
Xylakant
Saying this is politically correct. The contentious issue is the question of
why this is so. Is it because society shapes us in such a way that men are
more inclined to take risks for money and recognition. This would imply things
can change and women can be excellent saturation divers. Or is it because our
genes shape us in this way, making it impossible for women to excel at diving.

~~~
crististm
What about the society makes a compelling reason for either men or women to
take high or low risks?

~~~
Xylakant
Role models for example. Movie heroes, book or video game protagonists are
predominantly male. That shapes perception and expectations of desired and
acceptable behavior.

------
Starwatcher2001
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
Nice read about the life of aquanauts. Strange that there isn’t a modern
action/drama movie about them.

~~~
agitator
I thought the same thing. This topic would make for an entertaining movie.

------
yosito
All that for less than $60/hr.

~~~
pzone
$1400/24 is not a very fair comparison. Just to start, I bet these guys have
to sleep significantly more than 8 hours per day, and that's no different from
any other job involving strenuous labor. Also, living in a cramped pod does
sound like a drag, but if you're lying in bed with Facebook and Netflix I
think it counts as downtime.

------
cagenut
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.

~~~
tyrankh
Contrary opinion; I hate video and greatly appreciate the use of text and
picture. It loads faster, I can skim easier, I can offline consume it, and I
can consume it without headphones.

