DIVING SAFETY MANUAL

This manual sets forth the policies, procedures and standards that govern training and diving operations of all personnel participating in the Texas A&M University at Galveston (hereafter referred to as TAMUG or the University) diving program. It applies to all divers operating under University auspices, including all students in training, visiting divers, individuals who wish to dive from University facilities or vessels or use University equipment, and campus officials responsible for the management and administration of research and diving programs.

You can download this manual in the "Download scuba diving manuals" section. On the right column of this blog.

Guidance For Diving In Contaminated Waters

The purpose of this manual is to provide general guidance and basic procedures for diving in contaminated water. Because ot the wide variability in contaminants, potential exposure levvels an other variables, only general guidance can be provided.




You can download this manual in the "Download scuba diving manuals" section. On the right column of this blog.

MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARY OF RECREATIONAL DIVING AND UNDERWATER ACTIVITIES

This dictionary is about recreational diving, breath-hold diving, spearfishing and many other underwater activities.

About 2500 notions are translated in 6 languages (EN, DE, ES, FR, IT, NL). You'll also find contexts, synonyms, acronyms, etc. It may be useful for all international diving bases, diving schools, instructors and divers who like travelling.

Link: MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARY OF RECREATIONAL DIVING AND UNDERWATER ACTIVITIES

Equivalent Diving Qualifications from Different Bodies

There are many different bodies around the world which award diving qualifications. This table gives a rough guide to equivalent qualifications.

The above table is by no means exhaustive: there are other training agencies and qualifications. If you plan to cross-over training, you may be asked to start a level down from your equivalent qualification. Ask your new agency for advice.

CMAS scuba diving manuals.

This is the result of a project that encorporates many different forms of experience, and though it takes into account numerous modern methods, it seeks to maintain the unaltered values that the confederation upholds throughout the world. It can be taken for granted that where there is scuba diving, there is also CMAS with its history and its human and social values.

You can download these manuals in the "Download scuba diving manuals" section. On the right column of this blog.

Private Luxury Submarine

SEAmagine Hydrospace Corporation announces that it has just delivered its latest luxury submarine, the Ocean Pearl submersible, which will be installed on a luxury mega yacht in Europe, named the Amevi Surprise, during the fall this year.

The Ocean Pearl submersible represents the latest state of the art technology for underwater exploration specifically designed for the luxury yacht market. This SEAmagine luxury 2-person transparent submersible has a depth rating of 500 feet (153 m) and its transparent spherical cabin offers an unprecedented panoramic view to its occupants. Contacted in 2006 by the luxury yacht Amevi for a small submarine, SEAmagine responded with an enhanced version of its scientific and commercial submersible design with a focus on comfort, safety, and simplicity of operation to ensure a realistic product for the luxury yacht market.

In response to the growing demand from the luxury yacht market for luxury submarines, SEAmagine has designed and produced a version of its manned submersibles specifically to complement luxury yachts. This 1-atmosphere submersible offers comfort, safety, and an exceptional field of view to its occupants in a dry environment not affected by water depth pressure or temperature. With over 72 hours of life support, this environmentally friendly electric underwater vehicle meets all the standards of the latest scientific submersibles but with the comfort and luxury of first class seats underwater. All of SEAmagine’s submersible are classed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), meet the regulations of the Cayman Island Shipping Registry. and have a long-standing record of excellence for over 10 years.

SEAmagine’s submersibles feature a special design from the more traditional concepts, which make them ideally suited for operation from a yacht.

Submersibles tend to be neutrally buoyant vessels and need to be boarded by the occupants while on deck before being hoisted into the water to go diving. Similarly, the submersibles need to be hoisted back on deck for the occupants to disembark. This inherent need of traditional submersible design makes their operation logistically complex, difficult and time consuming. To greatly simplify the operation of a submersible from a yacht, SEAmagine’s design offers a unique patented buoyancy system that permits the small craft not only to submerge but also to float high above the water line. This allows the submersible to be operated as surface vessel and be handled or docked as a regular tender once launched.

The advantages of this feature are wide-ranging and immediate: 1) the submersibles are hoisted without occupants on board. Not only is this simpler and safer, it also allows the use of simpler cranes, eliminating the burden of having the cranes “man-rated.” 2) The launching operation can be performed by crewmembers only without the guests being present. Similarly, recovery of the submersible at the end of the day involves the crewmembers only, leaving the guests to revel in the day’s discoveries liberated from such technical operations. 3) Once launched, the submersible remains in the water as a surface vessel and is docked at the dive platform. Passengers simply step into the vessel when the pilot has it ready and step out when the submersible returns to the docking position. This allows multiple dives to be performed without having to struggle with crane launch and recovery operations for each dive. This greatly simplifies the logistics of operation, safety, enjoyment, and provides more dive time in a day.

Finally, a crucial aspect of manned submersible use is operator/owner support through the life-cycle management of the assets. Manned submersibles are complex machines and their safe and efficient operation for research, work or pleasure is not a one-man show. It is a team effort that involves the manufacturer, owner, operator, regulatory agency and the piloting crew. Technical support for the submersible, spare parts, equipment addition and general maintenance are essential services to an owner for maintaining the value of each vehicle and above all keeping them in use. This can very often be a problem with older or second-hand submersibles.

An important part of the product support and customer service includes the crew and submersible pilot training. Any operation requires that there be a trained pilot in the submersible and a trained surface controller at all times, that maintains communication with the underwater vessel and tracks its position. The yacht captain must be familiar with the launch and recovery process and is part of the safety protocol established during training. Companies such as SEAmagine have developed well-structured pilot training program for its submersibles, which the company initially developed in conjunction with the US Coast Guard for a tourism operation and has kept improving on the process over the years.

SEAmagine’s business is an international endeavor. Operating manned submersibles around the world requires solid technical foundations, a full understanding of certification rules and expertise with national regulatory agencies. “We have led six manned submersible deployments in five different countries,” says William Kohnen, president of SEAmagine Hydrospace Corp., in California. “Expertise counts. Ten years of experience gives us the perspective required to understand life cycle management issues thoroughly that leverages our state-of-the-art technology, our products, training program and skills to provide practical service-oriented solutions.”

Manned submersibles always have and continue to fulfill a dream for many to explore the open oceans, for work or leisure. Today’s state of technology can bring this to reality. “Our approach focuses on people, processes, and technology. We understand people’s dreams of exploring the oceans and we share the passion,” concludes Charles Kohnen, vice-president of SEAmagine. “We utilize a variety of enabling technologies and best practices to help our clients become operational, maintain high levels of safety, and strengthen our relationships to deliver more innovative products and services.”

SEAmagine is a world-leading manufacturer of small 2 person and 3 person acrylic submersibles for the scientific, commercial and luxury yacht markets with depth ratings ranging from 500 feet (153m) to 3000 feet (914m) deep. With 7 submersibles delivered in 6 countries to date, SEAmagine submarines have accumulated over 7000 dives with excellent track record in safety and reliability.

Nitrogen narcosis effects or extrem diving?

U.S. Navy Diving Manual Rev. 5

The U.S. Navy Diving Manual is available from this site in the fully indexed, and printable Adobe Acrobat format. Note: This is an extremly large .pdf file (24 MB).

Volume 1
01 History of Diving
02 Underwater Physics
03 Underwater Physiology
04 Dive Systems
05 Dive Program Administration
Appendix 1A Safe Diving Distances from
Transmitting Sonar
Appendix 1B References
Appendix 1C Telephone Numbers
Appendix 1D List of Acronyms

Volume 2
06 Operational Planning
07 Scuba Air Diving Operations
08 Surface-Supplied Air Diving Operations
09 Air Decompression
10 Nitrogen-Oxygen Diving Operations
11 Ice and Cold Water Diving Operations

Volume 3
12 Mixed-Gas Diving Theory
13 Mixed-Gas Operational Planning
14 Surface-Supplied Mixed-Gas Diving
Procedures
15 Saturation Diving
16 Breathing Gas Mixing Procedures

Volume 4
17 Closed-Circuit Mixed-Gas UBA Diving
18 Closed-Circuit Oxygen UBA Diving

Volume 5
19 Diving Disorders Not Requiring Recompression
Therapy
20 Diving Disorders Requiring Recompression
Therapy
21 Recompression Therapy
22 Recompression Chamber Operation
Appendix 5A Neurological Examination
Appendix 5B First Aid
Appendix 5C Dangerous Marine Animals

The history behind Scuba Diving

Scuba is the acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan are considered to be the inventors of the scuba diving kit we have today.

The key terms in SCUBA are ‘Self Contained’, since the alternative forms of diving gear depend on a hose, which leads to the surface of the water. The hose is attached to a pump which forces down air through the hose at such a pressure, which will cancel out the pressure, exerted by the water on the diver’s chest. One such equipment is the diving bell. The earliest versions of diving bells could be called self-contained in one sense of the term because it lacked a hose, and the total air supply available was whatever was already inside the bell. However, the limited air supply constrained the movement and length of time, which the diver could spend under water.

Before Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan designed the prototype for the modern scuba diving gear, there were some important inventions, which led up to it. Several people tried to develop a self-contained apparatus for divers, such as:

Aristotle is said to have described a diving bell in 360 BCE, and Alexander the Great apparently made several dives using a crude bell in 332BCE.

Sieur Freminet developed the very first self-contained air equipment in 1772 - a ‘rebreathing’ apparatus which would recycle the air inside the diving bell which had been exhaled. However, Freminet died after being in his invention for twenty minutes due to sever lack of oxygen.

William James invented a self-contained air device in 1825. It consisted of a cylindrical iron belt, holding sufficient air for a seven- minute long dive, attached to a copper helmet.

Benoit Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouse designed a device in 1865 which consisted of a horizontal steel tank of air attached to the diver’s back and connected to a mouth-piece.

Henry Fleuss built a pure oxygen ‘rebreather’ and it was a closed-circuit device.

Dr. Christian Lambertsen developed a ‘Self-Contained Underwater Oxygen Breathing Apparatus’ for the U.S. military war effort, code-named ‘SCUBA’ in 1939. Even though this apparatus worked well for shallow water diving, the oxygen toxicity made it unsafe for greater depths.

Finally, researchers such as Cousteau decided that filtered and purified compressed air was the best gas mixture to use in self-contained breathing devices. During World War II, around 1942-43, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan reworked a pressure regulator which Gagnan had initially developed to enable automobiles to run on vegetable oils due to acute shortage of petroleum during the war. The new regulator would send compressed air at the correct pressure to counteract the pressure put on the diver’s chest by the water. They called their device the ‘Aqua-lung’, and this has been the originator for the scuba diving gear of today.