On November 5, 1983, four saturation divers met their morbid end as they were aboard an oil rig. Considered one of the biggest disasters in the world of diving, the Byford dolphin accident is one that served as a great wake-up call for the commercial diving industry, especially for saturation divers.
What Do Saturation Divers Do?
How Stuff Works notes that saturation divers are professionals who delve into the depths that go as deep as 152 meters or more. They do so in order to service equipment on undersea pipelines or offshore oil rigs.
While the job is quite well-paying, it is also considered as one of the most dangerous jobs out there.
Unlike other professional divers who spend a couple of hours underwater before going back to the surface, saturation divers may take as long as 28 hours for a single job. They will have to stay in a chamber that is cramped and high-pressure, where they sleep and eat across shifts.
Because of their exposure to high-pressure conditions, these divers are vulnerable to decompression sickness, which protocols have been trying to protect them against.
What Is Decompression Sickness?
According to IFL Science, decompression sickness, or "the bends," is a major issue faced by these divers. The issue surfaces if divers quickly shift from high-pressure conditions to lower-pressure areas. If this happens, the molecules of nitrogen that dissolved under pressure quickly grow and turn gaseous once more.
Bubbles of nitrogen may form in the bloodstream and disrupt blood circulation. This is when divers are at risk of falling into decompression sickness, which is a painful and potentially deadly condition that may lead to grave muscle and joint pain, paralysis, delirium, stroke, and cardiac arrests.
To prevent decompression sickness, saturation divers are advised to slowly make their ascent, take regular breaks, and let the body naturally expel nitrogen.
Byford Dolphin Accident
This famous accident involved the titular Byford Dolphin, which was a column-stabilized and semi-submersible Norwegian-operated oil rig. As per the Daily Science Journal, the structure was made to work in depths that go as deep as 1,500 feet. When it was completed, the oil rig had the most updated drilling equipment during this time.
How Stuff Works notes that a supportive job is played by workers known as tenders. They help in retracting and unspooling the thick air supply tube lines and communication wires that help link divers to the surface. Previously, tenders also had to dock the diving bell in the high-pressure quarters. Divers have to depend on tenders as they do the job.
On November 5, 1983, William Crammond, who was an experienced tender, was doing routine procedures on the oil rig. Byford Dolphin had two pressurized living quarters, which housed two divers inside. Crammond just linked the diving bell to these chambers and safely let two divers inside the first one, while the other two were already dwelling inside the second one.
Things then took a terrible turn. In usual circumstances, the diving bell would not get unlinked from the quarters until the doors were securely sealed. However, it detached before the doors even closed, which led to an explosive decompression.
The air pressure inside the chambers immediately went from 9 atmospheres down to 1 atmosphere, which was the normal surface air pressure. The explosive air rush made the diving bell fly away, killing Crammond and leaving his fellow tender, Martin Saunders, in a critical condition.
The four saturation divers were met with a far more brutal fate. Based on autopsy records, three of them were "boiled from the inside" when the nitrogen inside their bloodstream burst into gas bubbles. This led to their instant deaths.
The fourth one faced an even more gruesome death, as he was right in front of the chamber door. His body got sucked out, which led to him being torn apart and making his internal organs fly right onto the deck.
This grave tragedy serves as a great reminder of how dangerous saturation diving is. Each diving operation must conduct extensive hazard analysis and risk assessment.
The Byford Dolphin accident also led to the founding of the North Sea Divers Alliance, which comprises relatives of the victim divers. They filed a suit that charged that the oil rig did not have sufficient safety equipment. With evidence surfacing after 26 years of battling, they finally got compensation for their loss.
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