Saudi Aramco Divers Thrive in Depths

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surface.” He pauses and sums up the reality, “When
one of us hurts, we all hurt.”
A special unit
The company’s Marine Underwater Inspection
and Repair Unit does exactly what the name
implies. It is the only unit that performs crucial
subsea inspections and repairs to the company’s
extensive underwater infrastructure.
“Diving services are not only important to our
marine operations, they are critical to the whole company,”
said Abdulsalam A. Yousef, manager of Saudi
Aramco’s Marine Department. “Our divers must be
jacks of all trades. They must be proficient in welding,
pipe fitting, cutting and a whole assortment of
other mechanical skills. Because offshore, what you
see above the water is only the tip of the iceberg. We
depend on our divers to make sure that what you see
above the water is standing with no problems under
the water. In our business, if the bottom of the iceberg
is not solid, you have big problems.”
Ahmed Abdullah Al-Kuwaihes, superintendent of
Marine Department’s Tanajib Offshore Operations,
explained, “With oil exploration and producing, you
either have onshore or offshore. In the offshore you
have pipelines covering almost all of the seabed area
in the Gulf. Some of these pipelines have been there
for 40 or 50 years, since the discovery of the Safaniyah
field. All these pipelines require inspection and maintenance
and repair. Only divers can do this job.”
As if maintaining the infrastructure that is already
in place isn’t enough, Saudi Aramco’s massive offshore
expansion projects have created even more jobs for
company divers. To meet the additional requirements, the
number of dive boats in operation was recently increased
from five to seven, representing a 40-percent increase in
operational capacity. “If everybody else expands by 40 percent,
then we need to expand by 40 percent to support it,”
said Harrison.
“With the increase in offshore activities, it has become
a very busy operation here in Tanajib,” said Al-Kuwaihes.
“Tanajib is the heart of offshore activities, and we support
them all. A few years ago we had maybe 8 offshore drilling
rigs at the most. Now there are close to 30 rigs. We are supporting
Manifa field development, Berri field expansion,
Safaniyah field expansion, Qatif field development, Karan
field development — and these are just the projects — in
addition to our day-to-day operations. Sometimes the dock
is so congested with boats you cannot see the sea.”
Sultan Al-Ahmadi prepares for a dive in the Arabian Gulf with the
help of dive supervisor John Kennedy, middle, and Gopal Laku.
The company currently employs approximately 120
divers, and they all work as contract employees. The divers
work 56 days on and 30 days off. “So if there are 120 divers
at present,” said Harrison, “almost half of that number will
be on leave. Every week some divers go out and some divers
come in. There’s a continual rotation.”
Most of the divers are in the Kingdom on what is
known as a Seaman’s visa, or Seaman’s card. Because
of the rules that apply to Seaman’s visas, the divers aren’t
allowed to spend any more time onshore than it takes to go
from the airport to the dive boat. In most cases, that even
means the dock. Once on the boat, that is where they live
and work until they go out on leave.
With all this underwater work, it might seem surprising
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4 Saudi Aramco Dimensions