Documents Diving & ROV Specialists
The following studies and manuals explore various techniques for carrying out diving and ROV operations, as well as analyze certain publications. It is essential to clarify that we have no affiliation with the organizations mentioned in these documents. Therefore, our decisions are impartial and not influenced by any third party. Consequently, the analysis, procedures, and guidelines proposed in these publications are those we have considered the most pertinent for the matters discussed. Readers have full autonomy to assess whether our recommendations align with their needs and interests and if joining the organizations mentioned above would be beneficial. Click on each document's cover photo for downloading purposes.
Saturation diving handbook
This Manual, which comprises four documents and an appendix, is a compilation of elements from three publications, which have been considered suitable for their purpose by recognized diving specialists in addition to diving contractors and their clients. - The saturation diving manual CCO Ltd, which was 1st published in 2014. - The diving study #5 CCO Ltd “Implement Normam-15/PDC saturation diving procedures. - The document Diving & ROV specialists “Description of a saturation system”. It has been written to provide elements that can be introduced in company manuals and give information regarding the organization of saturation diving to people who are not lucky enough to work on such systems or people who have been involved in such operations during a period of their life but need to refresh their memory. For this reason, it is designed to be accessible to people with limited diving knowledge. This manual has been updated to the latest standards in August 2021. To download the documents, click on the photos of their covers.
Book #1 - Definition and elements for preparation. This book describes the scope of saturation procedures, the reason for NORMAM 15 PLC saturation procedures, and some elements to consider when organizing a saturation diving project, such as: - Team size and responsibilities - Maintenance of the diving system - Weather and currents - Means of communications - The surface supports that can be used - Diving procedures with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) - Documentation and certifications
Book #2 - Gas supplies and chamber management This document describes safe practices and emergency procedures to manage the chambers and their supplies for safe and successful operations. It is composed of the following chapters: - Categories of saturation systems and elements controlled by the Life Support Technicians - Gas management - Chamber management - Chamber emergency procedures
Book #3 - Bell procedures This book describes the main rules for the organization of safe bell diving operations. It is composed of the following chapters: - Description of the bell and of the elements to control it - Diving operations - Emergency procedures
Book #4 - Diving accidents This document indicates and explains the accidents linked to saturation diving procedures and how to solve and avoid these accidents. It is composed of the following parts: - Summary of the diving accidents - Elements of anatomy and physiology - Accidents linked to saturation diving - Therapeutic tables COMEX - Medical checklists and records
Appendix This book provides heliox surface orientated tables that can be used to recover the divers faster than with the saturation procedure if the first compression must be interrupted for technical or another reason. The reason for providing them in the appendix is that they take too much space to be included in Book #2.
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Basic rigging and lifting procedures handbook
Surface-supplied handbook series This handbook series comprises eight separate documents, each detailing a specific aspect of surface-supplied diving operations organization. It has been written with the same aim as the saturation diving manual and can therefore be used in full or in part, provided that those using elements from these documents in their own work cite them as sources. Note that two sets of decompression tables, renowned for their reliability, are included along with the relevant documents demonstrating that two these decompression procedures are suitable for underwater work.
Book #1 - Overview of surface-supplied diving operations and scope of this series This document explains the diving methods discussed in this handbook series and their limitations. Additionally, it provides an overview of the various topics covered in each book of the series.
Book #2 - Description and prevention of accidents associated to diving operations This document provides information on the medical aspects of diving operations, including elements of anatomy and physiology, the description and management of the various diving accidents, and the use of the US Navy and COMEX medical tables. References to scientific papers are provided to explain the phenomena discussed more clearly.
Book #3 - Legal aspects of project preparation This document provides information on the organizations that publish rules and guidelines that influence diving operations, the parts of the sea under the authority of States (IMO rules), the organization of surface support diving teams, the responsibilities of the personnel and their management, and the mandatory on-site documentation and certifications.
Book #4 - Description and maintenance of surface supplied diving systems This book provides a comprehensive and detailed description of the various components of surface-supplied diving systems, including their maintenance and certification process. Numerous schemes are provided to aid comprehension of the various systems, as well as references to standardization bodies and classification societies.
Book #5 - Managing weather, communications, surface supports & underwater vehicles This book provides information on the organization of communications, the selection and implementation of surface supports and underwater vehicles, as well as managing the weather window to efficiently and safely implement surface- supplied diving operations.
Book #6 - Prepare and manage the dives This book provides information on gas management, the elements to organize for the prelaunch phases of diving operations, and relevant procedures for managing the dives, including emergency procedures. Note that it does not include elements for controlling the decompression of divers, which are discussed in Books #7 and #8.
Book #7 - Implement the MT 92 tables This document explains the structure of the MT-92 diving tables, as well as the method for implementing the air standard and nitrox procedures provided by these tables. Numerous schemes and charts are provided to clarify the different phases and the enhancements proposed, as well as scientific papers that justify the use of this table set and the various procedures it offers.
Book #8 - Implement the DCIEM tables This document discusses the same topics, using the same methods as above for the DCIEM tables
This handbook aims to promote the essential principles for organizing the lifting of various loads for diving and ROV teams involved in multiple projects. It is based on national and international standards, and provides descriptions of various lifting systems, as well as the management procedures associated with these systems. Numerous schemes are provided that are compliant with those offered by the standardization bodies, as well as charts and methods for calculating the behaviour of most loads usually transferred. As suggested by its title, this document does not include procedures for complex and exceptional load transfers.
This document discusses the problems posed by the organization of continuous diving and the limits of such operations. It defines this procedure, along with a comparison of the methods of decompression, the evaluation of additional equipment necessary to implement it, and elements for determining when it is economically realistic. Additionally, it includes a summary of acceptable and unacceptable technical solutions.
- Study CCO Ltd No 1 “Organize air & nitrox continuous diving operations”
- Study CCO Ltd No 2 “Organize the maintenance of diving cylinders”
This document discusses incident reports related to diving cylinders and provides balanced solutions to prevent them by describing the fabrication of these cylinders, along with the types of valves and threads encountered, as well as inspection procedures and a comprehensive description of the main standards applicable to such equipment.
- Study CCO Ltd No 3 “Implement a drug and alcohol abuse policy”
This paper describes the various categories of drugs encountered. It discusses the problems they may create within a company, in addition to those that may arise from the multiple legislations in force. Additionally, it suggests solutions promoted by medical specialists to address the problem and ensure that such substances are banned from any workplace through the proactive vigilance of personnel.
- Study CCO Ltd No 4 “Strengthen the US Navy saturation diving procedures”
This study suggests reinforcements based on scientific publications and practices from recognized, competent bodies to enhance the US Navy saturation procedures, without affecting their fundamental calculations, thereby ensuring compliance with legal limits and providing a decompression procedure that is safer and better adapted to personnel involved in underwater work.
- Study CCO Ltd No 5 “Implement NORMAM-15/DPC-2011 saturation diving procedures (Today Normam222/DPC)”
The COMEX-based NORMAM-15/DPC-2011 saturation procedures, adopted by the Brazilian Navy Directorate of Ports and Coasts in June 2011, are an evolution of the previously published COMEX MT-92 procedures, which remain in force under French regulations. In addition to closely following the original COMEX procedures, this study incorporates several improvements to diving protocols adopted by the industry since the official release of these decompression procedures in 2011. This has resulted in a safe, cost-free alternative to recent saturation procedures, which has been favorably received by several scientists and companies, cited as a reference in recent scientific studies, and frequently downloaded.
- Study CCO Ltd No 6 “A Novel Method for Estimating Diver Umbilical Length in Dynamic Positioning (DP) Vessel Operations”.
This document suggests methods to address issues that IMCA and ADCI guidelines do not account in the calculations they promote for the estimation of umbilical lengths when diving from a dynamic positioning vessel, such as variations in the draft of the diving support vessel, eccentrically rotating azimuth thrusters, and the impact of currents or sudden loss of position on the bell’s location.
- Study CCO Ltd No 7 “History and evaluation of IMCA D 050 rev. 1 - Minimum quantities of gas requiered offshore.”
IMCA recently published an update of the diving guidance D 050 “Minimum quantities of gas required offshore”. This was an opportunity to recall the purpose of these guidelines and their evolution since their initial publication by AODC in July 1983. It was also an opportunity to assess whether this new revision enhances the previous one and is suitable for commercial diving operations.
- Study CCO Ltd No 8 “Set a policy for electronic devices in chambers”
This study proposes balanced solutions for the use of electronic devices in hyperbaric chambers, based on a survey conducted by QinetiQ, a company specializing in safety and defense industries, and practices commonly applied in the air transportation industry, which faces similar risks from these devices that may lead to catastrophic events during any flight. Reports from the diving industry are analyzed alongside those from air safety organizations to provide the suggested solutions.
- Study CCO Ltd No 9 “Analysis of the document IOGP 411 rev. 2021 - Recommended practices for diving operations”
IOGP is an association that groups numerous oil and gas producers, aiming to act as a pressure group towards governments to impose its point of view and practices. It refreshed its diving guidelines in 2021 with the aim of imposing them as the sole guidelines to be used in the offshore industry. This study assesses whether the revised guidelines, provided by this organization, merit consideration as a reference, as suggested by their authors.
- Study CCO Ltd No 10 “working at height during the mobilization and the maintenance of diving and ROV systems”
This document has been created in response to reports showing that numerous mistakes are made regarding work at height during the mobilization and the maintenance of diving and ROV systems. It aims not to create new guidelines but to promote those from competent bodies that the author considers relevant.
- Study CCO Ltd No 11 “About pre-dive conditioning and commercial diving”
“Pre-dive conditioning” refers to experimental studies conducted to demonstrate that preparing the diver through exercises, oxygen, substance uptake, or other methods before immersion has beneficial effects on decompression. This document provides a brief review of experiments conducted and the applicability of the tested procedures to the commercial diving industry. It also highlights the lack of means devoted to scientists and suggests possible actions that commercial diving companies could implement to support research.
- Study CCO Ltd No 12 “Aout standards”
This study is the PDF version of an article called “About standards”, published under HTML format on the website “Diving and ROV Specialists.com”. It briefly describes the function and origins of standards, the methods used by unethical pressure groups to deviate from them for their profit, and how various ethical organizations can organize to counter these pressure groups.
- Document Diving & ROV Specialists “Description of a saturation diving system”.
This document provides a comprehensive description of a saturation diving system and outlines the management system necessary to maintain it and ensure its acceptance by clients. This description is based on two existing modern systems fitted with equipment such as a diver monitoring system, automatic oxygen injection system, and others. In addition to the detailed description of the saturation system, topics such as the Certification process, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Planned Maintenance System, and audits are explained. This document has been updated in August 2021
- Study CCO Ltd No 13 “Gap analysis of NORMAM-15/DPC-2011 saturation procedures with those of NORMAM-222/DPC”
This document compares the original NORMAM- 15/DPC-2011 saturation procedures from the Brazilian Navy with the new NORMAM-222/DPC procedures published in 2023. The goal is to see if the new guidelines still follow the original COMEX procedures or if changes have been made.