Safety

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has recently issued a number of alerts relating to diving related incidents, sadly one of these led to a fatality. The remaining two incidents were near misses which, if not for the quick action of dive teams and crew members, may have led to serious injuries.

Alert 1529
A total loss of electrical power occurred on a barge during diving operations at 18 msw.  The loss of power subsequently led to a fire in the barge engine room.  See Alert 1529 for more details.

Alert 1528
As a result of a LARS winch wire becoming lodged between the winch body and the winch drum wall, a 300kg clump weight fell to the seabed from a DSV narrowly missing a saturation diving bell and divers deployed near the seabed.  See Alert 1528 for more details.

Alerts 1422 and 1526
In September 2018, IMCA reported the fatality of a diver during subsea lifting operations.  The incident has been heavily investigated and an update provided in May 2019.

During the time of the incident, divers were relocating a spool at 172 msw which rose from the seabed in an uncontrolled manner.  The umbilical of the diver involved in the incident was caught in the lift bag rigging which caused him to ascend with the spool.  See Alert 1422 for initial incident details and Alert 1526 for the investigation results.