News
Careers as a Commercial Diver
Take your love of diving and make it your career and become a commercial diver. A commercial diver is effectively anyone who is paid to work underwater. This could include media, shellfish, archaeological, inshore or offshore divers.
The largest employer of commercial divers is the oil and gas industry, with developments in offshore renewables, such as offshore windfarms, coming a close second.
A career as a commercial diver could take you around the world and will provide you with good earning potential and great job satisfaction. When you start out in your career, you could command a day rate of around £150 a day, but this could go up to £1300 for saturation, or mixed gas divers.
Depending on the sort of career path you’d like to take as a commercial diver will depend on the training you undertake. In order to work offshore you will have to undertake all of the required Health & Safety Executive certificates – HSE SCUBA, HSE Surface Supplied and HSE Surface Supplied Top-up. If you’re interested in working inshore, you will only require the HSE SCUBA and HSE Surface Supplied certificates.
Having experience as a sports diver will certainly stand you in good stead in your training as a commercial diver. However, there are a number of differences between commercial and sports diving. You will have good experience of buoyancy, equalising your ears and some of the kit, however your sports diving experience does not transfer to commercial diving.
The HSE tickets you gain, which are required to be a commercial diver, are really just your way of getting to work, a bit like a taxi. Once you’re on the work site you need to know what you’re doing once you’re faced with the job at hand. Ensure that the training you undertake not only includes the required HSE tickets, but also additional skills and tools training required to actually get the job done – which is what you will be paid for. This may be incorporated throughout your HSE training, or it may be provided as additional training courses, once your HSE training has been completed, such as Underwater Inspection (almost a pre-requisite for working offshore now).
If the offshore industry is the area you’re interested in, once you’ve gained enough experience and working dives, you can then go on to train as a saturation diver and complete the HSE Closed Bell course. This advanced diving certificate allows you to work at various depths using oxygen and helium breathing mixtures (mixed gas) and saturation techniques. The HSE Closed Bell qualification allows you to work at various depths using oxygen and helium breathing mixtures (mixed gas) and saturation techniquesThe HSE Closed Bell qualification allows you to work at various depths using oxygen and helium breathing mixtures (mixed gas) and saturation techniquesThe HSE Closed Bell qualification allows you to work at various depths using oxygen and helium breathing mixtures (mixed gas) and saturation techniques This ticket is often the ultimate goal for commercial divers, thanks to the excellent pay rate of over £1300 a day in the North Sea.
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
Blogs
Northern Red Sea Reefs and Wrecks Trip Report, Part 3: The Mighty Thistlegorm
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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