Working Underwater: The Story of the Commercial Diving Industry

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MARINE DIVING TECHNOLOGY CLASS OF 1973–SANTA BARBARA CITY COLLEGE Marine Technology Program Instructors: Bob Christensen, Jim Parker, and Ramsey Parks. Friendships forged and lessons learned forty-five years ago still bind the 1973 graduates of the Marine Diving program at Santa Barbara City College. Twenty-six of the original forty-four classmates in the Class of 1973 entered the workforce immediately after graduation. As many as fifteen are still active in the industry and a number have developed their own companies, ranging from a tourist submarine business in the Asia Pacific to a civil engineering diving firm in San Francisco. Graduates of the Class of 1973 have managed the deepest dive ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, developed underwater welding and nondestructive testing technology, and participated in the top-secret mission to recover a Russian nuclear submarine. “Our class was unique because of the close bonds created together at the MT Noble Street shop playing volleyball, building Jorgie’s Reef on the beach near SBCC, learning to operate Otto’s boats out of Santa Barbara Harbor, and making dives in the ADS IV bell system offshore,” says Tom Belcher. Another graduate, Gary Kane, notes that, “Our instructors were legends in the industry and became a major influence on all of us.” Three of the instructors best remembered by the Class of 1973 are Bob Christensen, Jim Parker, and Ramsey Parks. They conducted classes for the two-year program that included everything from physical oceanography to fundamentals of marine engines and compressors, and from underwater construction to marine law and economics. “We couldn’t ask for any better and they certainly trained us on how to act, figure out, and defend ourselves and to develop our abilities and skill sets into what we were to become,” comments Belcher. “We were trained professionally by our great teachers and we owe them big time,” adds Pete Metson. “They provided us with the opportunity to have a successful career, make a lot of money, and work with a lot of great people.” Among the graduates who went on to successful careers in the industry are Gary Kane, John McClure, Pete Metson, Tom Belcher, Tom Ulrich, Ray Chamberlain, William “Billy” Robinson, and Greg Bryant. Ulrich grew up in Santa Barbara and had his scuba certification by the age of fourteen. His early career took him to many locations including the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, Mexico, Japan, the Pacific Basin, and his current home in Alaska. He has made it through the ranks to become Alaska Regional Manager and Vice President with American Marine International. Chamberlain has spent forty years offshore working in diving internationally, ROVs, and as a client’s representative. Chamberlain believes that the marine technology program at SBCC gave its graduates the skills and confidence to pursue their ambitions. “I have fond memories and lots of gratitude for our instructors,” he says. Metson went to work for SubSea International soon after graduation and wasted little time in rising up the corporate ladder, eventually becoming the number two man. Metson was involved in building the first permanent North Sea fixed platform jacket installations in the BP Forties Field. He obtained his MBA from Tulane and completed his dive career by helping build SSI into a mega-firm that is now a major part of SubSea Seven, one of the largest underwater contractors in the world. Kane left Santa Barbara and spent the next ten years establishing himself in the industry, working with Metson, Belcher, Ulrich, Robinson, Chamberlain, and others in the North Sea. After returning to the Gulf of Mexico, he continued working offshore where he supervised a working saturation dive to 1,073 feet, a record still today. Moving on in his career, he opened his own consultancy company in 1996, which he sold in 2015. An active writer, he has written over a dozen articles for Underwater Magazine. WORKING UNDERWATER: The Story of the Commercial Diving Industry 92
McClure started his diving career as a Navy diver in the rivers of Vietnam. After discharge, he graduated from the new SBCC Marine Technology Program. McClure’s commercial dive experience includes thousands of hours underwater, involving a full spectrum of projects deep to shallow, from simple to complex, using many modes of diving. He worked for Union Carbide for fourteen years, becoming project manager, and is currently Vice President/COO of Pacific Subsea Saipan, Inc., engaged in tour submarine operations in Asia. Belcher’s varied career has involved him in dive projects throughout the world. He founded Underwater Resources in 1982 and spent thirty-five years performing shallow/deep air, gas diving services to 230 feet, ROV and sonar inspections, and heavy civil construction. Belcher developed techniques, equipment and methodology to conduct tethered dive penetrations within flooded tunnels/pipelines up to 3,000 feet to perform internal inspections and repairs. Robinson worked in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, conducting air, gas, and sat diving. He is a talented leader of people and became operations manager for geophysical survey projects. Robinson is experienced in all facets of shallow and deep-water diving. Bryant worked throughout Southeast Asia and became the diving superintendent of a 1,000-foot saturation system in the Philippines. He received a BSME degree from Cal Poly and became an assistant professor in the Marine Technology program. He then became a Professional Engineer and partnered with McClure in Pacific Offshore Contractors before becoming robotics system manager for NASA’s space station. Bryant has also worked for Walt Disney and Universal Studios and was involved in the motion picture, The Abyss. Bryant remains active as a commercial diver and engineer. Two of the Class of 1973 were lost while working. Richard Walker died at 500 feet in the North Sea and another classmate, Ron Smith, was killed during an accidental detonation of explosives. “The memories of Dick and Ron and the circumstances of their deaths still to this day play a part in my professional decisions,” says Kane Those from the Class of 1973 who went on to careers in the industry include: Tom Belcher, Gib Blevins, Greg Bryant, Ray Chamberlain, John Colgate, Ken Corsen, Walt Croson, Andy Culwell, Burt Davis, Hal Epstein, Gary Fisher, Bob Hargis, Wade Harris, Pat Helmstetter, Gary Kane, Joe Krivi, Leslie Lynch, Gary Margadant, John McClure, Pete Metson, Craig Roberts, Billy Robinson, Bill Rudolph, Ron Smith, Jack Spinney, Jim ‘Diego’ Terres, Tom Ulrich, Richard Walker, and Russ Westfall. “Our Class of ’73 was on the cutting edge of changes in deep diving technology, and we were among the pioneer divers and technicians who responded to the industry need to expand limits and work deeper,” comments McClure. “We have remained connected over the years both professionally and socially. Sharing common goals and life experiences with classmates is the adhesive that bonds us together today.” Top: Marine Tech Field Lab, Bell Diving Class. Below: Left to right: John McClure, Tom Ulrich, Billy Robinson, Gary Kane, Ray Chamberlain, Pete Metson, Greg Bryant and Tom Belcher. SHARING THE HERITAGE 93
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WORKING UNDERWATER The Story of the
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WORKING UNDERWATER The Story of the
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An early day diver suiting up. CONT
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Mainstream Commercial Divers, Inc.
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THE HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL DIVING Wh
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Oppian in the second century A.D:
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ell was lowered into the Tagus Rive
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1788, when John Smeaton (1724-1792)
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With the world’s first practical
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Charles Deane died in 1848, but bro
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usiness beyond salvage work to incl
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In the spring of 1841, as Green wal
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SCUBA The common perception is that
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valve. Exhaled air escaped from und
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THE UNDERSEA GOURMET George W. Full
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e used in 1972 was referred to as a
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In 1878, Paul Bert, a French physio
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A two-lock recompression tank (abov
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THE HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL DIVING 35
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During the war, the focus on diving
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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 and 52: can get up close and have a tactile
Page 53 and 54: THE HISTORY OF THE ADCI FORMING ADC
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: Global was also one of the first su
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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