Diving Report for 2022

Four potential (near-miss) incidents were recorded during saturation diving for the petroleum industry off Norway during 2022. The level of activity amounted to 89 960 hours – almost double the 2021 figure.

These results are presented by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) in the annual report (in Norwegian only) from its DSYS diving database. This overview presents statistics and analyses based on data for 1985 to 2022.

Increased activity
The report covers diving hours worked on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and other continental shelves under Norway’s jurisdiction. They correspond to 295 diving support vessel (DSV) days.

Of the four near-misses reported, two were injuries requiring first-aid treatment and the others were suspected ear infections. There were no cases of Covid-19.

Reporting also covered 30 manned underwater operation (MUO) vessel days totalling 266 hours worked in the water, along with two near-misses in surface-oriented dives on the NCS.

Reporting in 2022 includes diving activity at land-based petroleum plants for the first time. This included 83 MUO vessel days with 480 hours worked in water and no incidents.

Compared with saturation diving, the level of activity for surface-oriented dives offshore has generally been low over the past 25 years. Work of this kind is nevertheless expected to increase somewhat because of new industrial operations on the NCS.

Few personal injuries
The DSYS overview shows that the number of personal injuries related to saturation diving has been small over the past 25 years.

Definitions
Saturation diving: the diver works out of a bell which transports them under pressure from a compression chamber on the DSV to the subsea work site. The diver remains under pressure in the chamber between bell runs.

Surface-oriented diving: the diver enters the water at the sea surface, works at the relevant depth (less than 50 metres) and returns. Extra compression/decompression in a surface chamber can be part of such diving.