30 / 08 / 07 - NHC pioneers world's first deep sea sleepovers

Dozens of young divers are being sent to Aberdeen for the world’s first “deep-sea” sleepovers. Twelve trainees spent last night (Aug 29) plumbing the depths at the city’s National Hyperbaric Centre (NHC) to experience the realities of living and working in a saturation system. And before they were locked into the decompression chamber they were subjected to a chilling lecture on 60 deadly threats to divers – an unforgettable lesson on North Sea diving fatalities. The daring dozen, which includes a trainee from Australia and an underwater stunt man, emerged from their 14-hour subsea sleep at 8m today. (Aug 30). The visit, by trainee air divers from the Professional Diving Academy in Dunoon, is just one of the latest initiatives from the Aberdeen-based centre, whose objective is to become a worldwide centre of excellence for subsea safety. The NHC’s managing director, David Smith, said: “This is not done by anyone else in the world but we think it is very worthwhile for them as it is a unique opportunity for them to get experience of saturation diving before enrolling on a course. “They are trainee air divers and most of them want to rise to the well-paid position of becoming saturation divers but they need to qualify and work as air divers for a few years before embarking on a saturation course. “They may not like it and this was a unique opportunity for them to experience what it is like eating, sleeping and washing in a saturation system.” They also got an introduction to the offshore environment which included the lecture in lethal risks – a “salutary and sobering experience”, says Mr Smith. During the sleepover the boys enjoyed a Chinese carry-out meal, a few hands of poker and the film “The Pick of Destiny”. For diving stunt co-ordinator and scuba instructor Hamish Harper, 30, who has worked on series including Hollyoaks, Heartbeat and Blue Murder, the experience was a natural progression in his diving career. He said: “This is any serious diver’s dream – to get into this sort of diving. It makes you feel a lot better having at least spent the night in a chamber. Having an experience like this is very valuable but it’s also enjoyable.” The National Hyperbaric Centre, an independent limited company since 2005, has successfully capitalised on its considerable expertise and expanded into a variety of other disciplines working in industrial, medical and military fields. The NHC has been involved in the diving industry for many years through the provision of training, testing, hyperbaric and decompression studies. Now its understanding of extreme environments allows it to offer advice and services to a much broader market. The centre believes its team and their wealth of experience in a variety of subsea activities from offshore to inshore and military diving operations makes it globally unique.