Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK – JFD has finished mating trials of the company’s Lloyd’s-classed portable hyperbaric rescue facility (HRF) with two self-propelled hyperbaric lifeboats (SPHL) on Boskalis’ DSV BOKA Atlantis.
The program lasted 11 hours with no complications, and represented a significant advancement for hyperbaric rescue, JFD claimed.
The entry locks of the port and starboard SPHLs were pressurized to 305msw, equivalent to the equipment’s maximum working depth. According to JFD, the speed at which the SPHLs are mated is critical as transferring the divers as quickly as possible can help save their lives.
It was important, therefore, that the trials simulated the maximum duration anticipated for safe transfer of the divers from each SPHL into the HRF.
The program was performed in a controlled manner using hydraulics to lower and align the SPHL, allowing the operator to retain optimum control in order to ensure a successful rescue operation.
Should an offshore emergency evacuation be called for, even when saturation divers have reached the surface via a hyperbaric lifeboat, they still need to undergo decompression process to gradually return them to sea level before being exposed to atmospheric pressure.
For this to happen, a hyperbaric rescue system is needed. Although the preference may be to transfer the divers to a fixed hyperbaric rescue center, this can be problematic depending on time constraints and the location of the diving campaign.
Access to a portable HRF at the nearest available port is therefore important to allow the divers to start decompression sooner, and the process must be handled carefully to ensure no risk of decompression sickness.
11/14/2018
