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The Underwater Centre secures its biggest ever contract – worth $1.3million - to train Russian saturation divers

Your Oil and Gas News Magazine The world's leading commercial diver and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) training facility, based in the Scottish Highlands and Australia, has secured its biggest ever contract – worth US$ 1.3 million – to train Russian saturation divers.

The award cements its reputation as a major service provider for the growing worldwide oil and gas industry. The men, already experienced air divers, were trained on saturation procedures and techniques and will receive the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) and the Closed Bell certification. More advanced than the ADAS, the Closed Bell is the certification appropriate to deep water dives of 60 meters / 200 feet, using a trimix tank with 16 percent oxygen (O2). During the training, divers lived in a chamber for up to 28 days, which was pressurized to the same pressure of the sea, exactly at the depth that they will be working at. Living and working at pressure mean that they can be transported quickly and efficiently to the work site under the water without decompression stops, allowing divers to work in much greater depths and for much longer periods of time. MRTS Managing Director Alexander Kolikov said: “Oil and gas firms in Russia are currently facing a skills shortage due to the rapidly increasing amount of exploration work underway at the moment. By investing in the training of our divers in saturation diving, we are addressing this need for experts in maintenance and repair activities vital to maintaining Russia's subsea infrastructure." Steve Ham, General Manager at the Fort William Centre said: “We were delighted when MRTS chose The Underwater Centre to train its divers in saturation diving, and I think this is testament to the hard work we have been putting in to ensure our reputation as a world-class training facility. Available at: . Retrieved on: 28 June 2012. Adapted.