News

Diver Safety is Paramount says New Partnership KB Associates & MTCS Ltd

Published

11 years ago

September 4, 2013

Managing safety risk at sea is a challenge! Commercial divers work at depths of up to 300 meters and spend weeks living in enclosed hyperbaric chambers and often face tough working conditions requiring a high level of training and competence.

With training and competence playing a key role in todays industry, the joint partnership of Maritime Training & Competence Solutions (MTCS Ltd) and KB Associates Group of Companies (KBA) is a leading initiative that will establish new benchmarks within the commercial diving and ROV industries. Both organisations have a keen passion for safety, training and competence and will be collaborating to deliver their range of services to the industry.

The joint partnership will see multiple benefits where both organisations will be sharing the knowledge to enhance the training courses offered, while both groups of clienteles are also able to enjoy broader diver / ROV competency development training at more training locations to fit their plans.

KBA Group provide an integrated professional specialist solution for consultancy and training that fosters safety excellence and quality in the Offshore Oil & Gas industry and onshore terminals construction industries.

Darren Brunton (CFIOSH), the Managing Director of KBA, brings a wide range of diving and safety management expertise to the courses planned by both companies. He has worked in the Offshore Oil & Gas Diving industry since 1990 as a diver, diving supervisor, client representative, diving system / company auditor, safety management and diving trainer with experience globally such as in the Asia Pacific, China, United Kingdom, Middle East and South American regions. Darren posses the hands-on experience of offshore operations, safety management, compliance and training deliverables in all the courses developed.

Darren commented: “We’re thrilled to forge this partnership with MTCS Ltd on the various training courses and other projects within the work scope. Strategically located in Singapore and Aberdeen KBA offers MTCS a platform to bring its brands and training to the Asia Pacific region and we gladly welcome MTCS instructors and trainees to our facility in both Singapore and Aberdeen, UK for the series of competency training courses conducted. We strongly believe that this synergy will set us apart and offers a more comprehensive solution to our clienteles.”

Some of the available KBA training courses include: Diving System Assurance Awareness – 1 Day course; Diving System Assurance – 4 Day course; OGP Client Worksite Representatives Training – 5 Day course; IMCA Air/Bell Diving Supervisor and Assistant Life Support Technician Training; Diving Technician competence courses such as DSI KBM Helmet Technician and a range of internationally accredited safety training such as NEBOSH Training from WSH Qualification to International Diploma levels.

MTCS Ltd are to deliver training alongside KBA at their new facility in Aberdeen as well as in Singapore, where they plan to run Diver Competency schemes and also a Skills Assessor course.

MTCS Ltd is a fully accredited assessment and training centre, whose head office is based in the Lake District and currently manage the largest independent assessment and certification programme for people involved in Subsea Operations such as ROV, Diving and Hydrographic Survey. Providing a full IMCA-aligned Competence Scheme Management service, MTCS Ltd ensure personnel are demonstrating competence in the offshore workplace.

Richard Warburton, Managing Director for MTCS Ltd said: “Working with KB Associates can only be beneficial for both companies, as many of our courses complement one another and the sharing of expertise will result in improved safety to divers and a better service to our clients. MTCS Ltd has extensive experience in competence working. There is an on going requirement for offshore personnel to demonstrate competence in the work place and one of these areas is in diving. The main driver for this comes from the oil companies who insist personnel are registered in some form of competence management system. This system must prove that personnel are competent, or working towards competence, in safety critical, operational and technical activities. Many of the contracting companies have had successful competence management systems in place for many years. There has, however, always been an issue regarding agency personnel or ‘freelancers’, in particular how do they demonstrate competence when they often work for a number of different companies.”

For further information on course opportunities, please contact Richard Warburton, MTCS LTD, Tel: 015394 48233 or email enquiries@mtcs.info; KBA – enquiries@kbassociates.org or +65 6546 0939.

News

Book Review: Fire on Monroe Bravo by Fred Lockwood

Published

5 hours ago

July 26, 2024

CJ and Mike

Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.

However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.

As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.

The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.

In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?

We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.

Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
Author: Fred Lockwood
ISBN: 979-8325324536

Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.

Blogs

Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 1)

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

CJ and Mike

In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!

The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.

Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!

In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.

Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.

Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.

The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.

The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.