Saudi Aramco Divers Thrive in Depths

Opposite, top left: Fuad Asaad returns to his dive vessel after a
work dive in the Arabian Gulf. Above: Asaad and John Kennedy,
the contractor diving supervisor, plan dive work for the day.
Inset below: An Aramco diver works on the Trans-Arabian
Pipeline (Tapline) at its Sidon, Lebanon, terminal, 1952.
All those professional certifications make Asaad the first
and only Saudi diver in the company, and in the Kingdom,
with that level of training. He is currently working toward
a diving supervisor certificate granted by the International
Marine Contractor’s Association (IMCA), the governing
body of commercial diving.
Since becoming a commercial diver in 1997, Asaad has
logged countless hours underwater, so many that he is
already on his second log book.
On any given day, Asaad might be inspecting an offshore
platform, clearing the way for a rig barge, repairing
an underwater pipeline or monitoring work on a pier.
“It is an enjoyable job,” he says with a smile. “I keep
moving all the time. I learn something
new every day, and every day I must
be prepared to learn more — I
am like an open sponge to grab
anything that comes along.”
“I think of my father
sometimes,” Asaad adds. “I
remember what he told me,
and I know he was
right. I am living
that dream.” ■
(cont. from page 6)
ten there is one diver in the water
working on his own.”
A commercial diver’s time underwater is not limited
by a supply of air. On the contrary, commercial divers
have three independent sources of air. One continuous
source of air is supplied directly from a compressor on
the dive boat through an “umbilical cord” (called this
because, like an umbilical cord in a mother’s womb,
it provides everything the diver needs: air, communications
and a tangible lifeline to the surface). Another
source of air comes from a small tank the divers carry
for emergency use. The “source of last resort” is air
supplied by the stand-by diver summoned to rescue a
diver who is in trouble.
“Because we have three independent sources of air
we don’t think about running out of air,” Asaad said.
“What we think about is bottom time.”
When a diver reaches the depth at which he will be
working, his body comes under a certain amount of
pressure. The deeper he goes, the more pressure he
will experience. His body begins absorbing nitrogen
and oxygen from the air he is breathing. The oxygen
is released harmlessly from the body as CO2. But the
nitrogen remains pressurized in the body as long as
the diver remains at that depth.
As the diver begins to surface, the pressure on his
body is gradually lessened, and the nitrogen begins to
be released. Divers must make “decompression stops”
on their way to the surface so the nitrogen can be
released gradually. If the nitrogen is released too quickly
it can cause decompression sickness, a condition commonly
referred as “the bends.”
“There are two types of decompression sickness,”
Harrison said. “Type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is the least
serious of the two and is called ‘pain only’ decompression
sickness. That’s where you get the release of gasses
from your body tissues and they collect around the joint
areas creating a lot of pain — you feel as though your
joints are being popped out.
“Type 2 is central nervous system decompression
sickness, which basically means you’ve got gas bubbles
coming out of solution in your nervous system — your
spinal cord, your brain, your brain stem — and under
those conditions you don’t feel pain. What you get is
loss of sensation, paralysis, pins and needles, which are
indications of damage being done to your spinal cord
or your brain. So you can actually die in the worst
cases. You can suffocate because pressure in your brain
or spinal cord is pushing on the part that tells you to
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