Working Underwater: The Story of the Commercial Diving Industry

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WORKING UNDERWATER: The Story of the Commercial Diving Industry 50
THE HISTORY OF THE ADCI FORMING ADC Sound travels very well underwater, but above the surface, being heard is not always as easy. By the 1960s, it had become evident to industry leaders that commercial divers needed an organization to communicate in their behalf. As Swann wrote in his landmark History of Oil Field Diving, “...diving contractors in the Gulf of Mexico began to realize that unless they set up an association to police themselves, the government in the form of the Coast Guard or some other body was going to do it for them. Given the competitive pressure of the business and the strongly independent nature of diving entrepreneurs, it was no easy task.” Mike Hughes, the founder of Oceaneering International, was one of the key players in the organization of ADC. “The first discussions about forming a contractor’s association started when it appeared that the union was organizing a major push to unionize divers in the Gulf.” he later wrote. “The contractors thought it made sense to have a place to meet and discuss the threat of unionization and do what we could as a group to avoid conditions which would encourage divers to depend on a union. Frankly, we were more than a little irate that divers might believe some union organizers from up north could do more for them than we would.” Another major factor in the genesis of ADC was a desire on the part of contractors to have an organization that could work to standardize diver safety issues. “There were some differences in how each contractor viewed some safety questions,” Hughes continued. “Some told the customers a [decompression] chamber would be required in a certain depth and others were willing to work without one. Some contractors stretched the decompression schedules more than others. These differences caused some concern on the part of the divers.” Hughes and others in the industry knew the importance of standardized procedures, but believed if they could find a way to work things out among themselves it would be far preferable to dealing with a union on those issues. Unions were at the height of their power in the 1960s, but that did not mean they were universally popular, especially in the South and Southwest. “The only problem was that we were a fiercely competitive and secretive group of contractors, many of whom had experienced various differences of opinions,” he remembered. “In more than a few cases, the issue was temporarily resolved with fists. Unfortunately, this seldom produced a permanent settlement.” At the time, the major players in the business were Taylor Divers, Dick Evans, Inc., Ocean Systems, World Wide Divers, and Santa Fe. Several smaller companies also had a respectable piece of the market. “The first meeting as I recall was called by Ken Wallace of Taylor Diving,” Hughes went on. “We met for dinner at Chris’s Steak House out on Broadway in New Orleans. We had some great steaks and strong martinis which resulted in not many decisions, but at least no one hit anyone else that night. It was not a bad beginning for this group.” But then, Hughes and the other interested parties got some legal advice that an association might not be the best way to go. Such an organization, a lawyer said, might give the union a way to take on the whole industry at once rather than requiring them to organize each company individually. Accordingly, they dropped the idea of forming a contractor’s association. However, developing safety standards remained an important need. In fact, it became more urgent. As Hughes explained, “The Marine Technology Society was emerging as the principal oceanrelated industry organization. Many of us became active in MTS and used the MTS meetings as a place to come together and talk about the diving industry.” Subject to constant innovation and everincreasing demands by industry, commercial divers have been given a voice—The Association of Diving Contractors International. COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. THE HISTORY OF THE ADCI 51
Page 1 and 2: WORKING UNDERWATER The Story of the
Page 3 and 4: WORKING UNDERWATER The Story of the
Page 5 and 6: An early day diver suiting up. CONT
Page 7 and 8: Mainstream Commercial Divers, Inc.
Page 9 and 10: THE HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL DIVING Wh
Page 11 and 12: Oppian in the second century A.D:
Page 13 and 14: ell was lowered into the Tagus Rive
Page 15 and 16: 1788, when John Smeaton (1724-1792)
Page 17 and 18: With the world’s first practical
Page 19 and 20: Charles Deane died in 1848, but bro
Page 21 and 22: usiness beyond salvage work to incl
Page 23 and 24: In the spring of 1841, as Green wal
Page 25 and 26: SCUBA The common perception is that
Page 27 and 28: valve. Exhaled air escaped from und
Page 29 and 30: THE UNDERSEA GOURMET George W. Full
Page 31 and 32: e used in 1972 was referred to as a
Page 33 and 34: In 1878, Paul Bert, a French physio
Page 35 and 36: A two-lock recompression tank (abov
Page 37 and 38: THE HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL DIVING 35
Page 39 and 40: During the war, the focus on diving
Page 41 and 42: diving helped revolutionize the oil
Page 43 and 44: of human divers. Progress slowed wi
Page 45 and 46: ADVENTURE ( AND TRAGEDY) BENEATH TH
Page 47 and 48: world when it recovered a grapefrui
Page 49 and 50: As the industry embraces technologi
Page 51: can get up close and have a tactile
Page 55 and 56: Again the U.S. Navy played a large
Page 57 and 58: took nearly three years and many ho
Page 59 and 60: THE ADCI CONTINUES TO BUILD UPON IT
Page 61 and 62: CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF
Page 63 and 64: SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Delgado, Jame
Page 65 and 66: SHARING THE HERITAGE SPECIAL THANKS
Page 67 and 68: The year 1989 proved to be a monume
Page 69 and 70: By 1998 the company was well into d
Page 71 and 72: services are performed from its cor
Page 73 and 74: young crew member named Ray Kronfro
Page 75 and 76: with Brennan on numerous opportunit
Page 77 and 78: During the 1950s, oil and gas produ
Page 79 and 80: and Alcatel Fiber Optics in Cable l
Page 81 and 82: divers with Eason as the site Dive
Page 83 and 84: comprehensive set of safety standar
Page 85 and 86: “Work was not steady during the e
Page 87 and 88: extensive expertise in marine engin
Page 89 and 90: custom design and fabrication of sm
Page 91 and 92: in/out for lower tunnel repairs. Wo
Page 93 and 94: Global was also one of the first su
Page 95 and 96: McClure started his diving career a
Page 97 and 98: This primary regional location of A
Page 99 and 100: photographs and video documentation
Page 101 and 102: Marine Engineering in Vina del Mar
Page 103 and 104:
years been overshadowed by W. H. St
Page 105 and 106:
Today, MHA is comprised of approxim
Page 107 and 108:
U.S. Underwater Services, LLC has a
Page 109 and 110:
Looking back on a long and successf
Page 111 and 112:
Chesapeake Bay Diving, Inc., based
Page 113 and 114:
ASSOCIATION OF DIVING CONTRACTORS I
Page 115 and 116:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR M IKE C OX Mike Co
Page 117:
LEADERSHIP SPONSORS ISBN: 978-1-944
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Working Underwater: The Story of the Commercial Diving Industry

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