Thailand, uses its ideal geographical location to continue fostering growth in the merchant maritime and commercial shipping industries.
Its southwestern shoreline meets the Indian Ocean, and the eastern shoreline borders the Gulf of Thailand of the Pacific Ocean.
This water-surrounded nation, like many other major ocean-trading countries, are at the mercy of the harsh elements of the sea and are in constant need of subsea support in order to ensure prosperity. This opens up a gigantic avenue for underwater-related work and maintenance.
However, these tasks can’t be carried out by regular people; we need a highly knowledgeable and trained specialist to perform these operations. This is where commercial divers come to play.
What Do Commercial Divers Do?
Commercial diving is a broad term that covers the arena of underwater workers spanning over a wide range of industries:
Energy – Installation and maintenance of offshore oil, gas and wind platforms and pipelines
Environmental – Aquatic biological research and exploration
Civil – Construction, installation, maintenance and demolition of bridges, piers, ports and dams
Military – Armed forces, search and rescue
Shipping – Ensuring the smooth sailing of all variety of vessels, such as cargo and containerized trade ships, ferries and cruise ships and leisure vessels such as yachts and sailboats
This blog will talk about the role and importance of commercial diving in the shipping industry today:
Some of the main tasks of a commercial diver in the shipping industry are:
- In-water surveys with CCTV video recordings, voice communications, and HD photography
- Hull cleaning and propeller polishings
- Assessing the extent and cause of damages
- Damage repairs and remedial work such as replacing underwater navigational equipment or anodes
- Underwater welding, manufacturing and installation of cofferdams or affixing doubler plates and patches to control leaks
- Conducting various non-destructive tests such as: Magnetic Particle Inspections, Ultrasonic Thickness measurements, or Cathodic Potential readings
Why Are Commercial Divers Important?
Keeping in mind the tasks mentioned above, commercial divers help protect our vessels, waterways and marine life. Above all, divers remain important as they allow work to be carried while the ships are still afloat and while normal operations continue. This Eliminates the need for ships or structures to be surfaced or dry docked, saving enormous amounts of time and resources.
Additionally, divers can check for any problems not visible from the surface such as leaks and damage. Even a minor spill of a pollutant substances can spread substantially through the water causing detrimental damage to the surrounding area; this is why it is advised to hire commercial divers do carry out inspections and repairs of your vessel at regular intervals.
Commercial divers also help ensure all ships comply with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Biofouling Guidelines; this helps protect and conserve natural resources. and reduces fuel consumption.
Thai Subsea Services is one of Thailand’s best underwater ship service providers who ensure your ship’s well-being.
They’re well known for their underwater hull cleaning and biofouling removal services and offer other ship maintenance services, such as ship and subsea welding and propeller polishing services, at competitive prices.
Get in touch with the team for a free quote and more information on their services.
