Thinking Back, Looking Forward. Divers And Diving For The Industry Into The 2000s

Underwater intervention relying on manned methods and techniques is still the core business in the offshore industry in this country. Whether the hyperbaric diver or one of the diver alternative work systems (one atmosphere diving or robotics) are used to accomplish actual work tasks at depth on the seabed, the modern philosophy in underwater operations calls for the most reliable, safe, and cost effective means of intervention which in our waters more than often turns out to be the dexterity of the human hand. Construction, IR&M and salvage heavily rely today on a complementary panoply of techniques, methods and systems whose roots bear the ties, the knots, the seeds and the sprouts of history, tradition and technology. Through an exhaustive overview of the historical aspects and of the evolution in diving technology, the record setting achievements and the milestones in the traditional Italian hyperbaric diving are evaluated against the current requirements for a technological response to the demanding needs daily raised by the offshore industry. Vocational training standards, competence assessment, qualifications, experience and work capability, safety in operations and equipment reliability are the tools for the modern diving community to cope with the everlasting underwater tasks in offshore construction, maintenance and inspection, metrology, riser and spool installation, flanged tie-ins. Historical aspects, technological evolution, appropriate legislation, progress and current status in diving patterns, codes of practice, and training standards are the keywords in this country for the commercial underwater world which, more than one and a half century ago, was stepped into by hyperbaric divers to stay and to remain.