A network for commercial divers about commercial diving.

Surrounded by his family, Chief Petty Officer Robert Alien Vendetto, a retired Navy Diver, lost his courageous battle with cardiopulmonary disease on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 in Houma.

Bob, fondly known as “Guinea” among his military brothers, served our country with pride and honor for 23 years. Throughout his years of military service, he spent time aboard the following Navy vessels: USS Albany, USS Skylark, USS Sunbird, and the USS Lipan while stationed in San Diego. Read the rest of this entry »

HOUSTON — Restart of Eugene Island pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico is expected in late September after repair of a leak is finished, operator Shell Pipeline said on Tuesday.

“Maintenance is taking place 24/7. We will update the timeline in late August as work progresses,” a Shell spokesman said. Read the rest of this entry »

LBJ Maritime Inc, a USA-owned and operated company, and KBA Training Centre Pte Ltd of Singapore have announced their third series of IMCA classes in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  This follows the successful first and second classes, where the classes achieved a 100% pass rate.

The courses offered are IMCA ALST, Air Supervisor, and  Bell Supervisor training, which will be held in Lake Charles, LA starting August 3rd, 2009 and will run through August 13th.  The ALST courses do not require pre-qualification, however the Air Supervisor and Bell Supervisor courses do have pre-requisites to apply.   Read the rest of this entry »

ROBERT, LA — SeaTrepid International LLC has opened a new purpose-built remotely operated vehicle (ROV) training, service and support facility in southern Louisiana.

Located near the epicenter of the Gulf of Mexico’s oil and gas operations area, SeaTrepid’s Robert, La., location is positioned for easy access to the major ports in the northern Gulf of Mexico region. Read the rest of this entry »

The Tampa Tribune

The “drill, baby drill” crowd is at it again. Advocates are clamoring, in Washington and Tallahassee, in legislation and ballot initiatives, to drill off Florida.

It is discouraging that so many people are willing to ruin Florida’s coast for the illusory promise of cheap energy and more jobs.

And make no mistake, drilling too close could be the ruin of our renowned beaches and a coastal economy that, including fishing, hotels and other enterprises, accounts for about $562 billion a year. Read the rest of this entry »

by Andrew Leonard

The American Petroleum Institute, perhaps realizing that it has finally lost its decades-long, oil industry-funded war against the science undergirding human-caused climate change, has come with a new plan to ward off Congressional interference in the energy business: Dress up in a skirt.

Seriously, on Wednesday, API decided to play the gender card by bringing female oil industry employees to Washington. Read the rest of this entry »

Bisso Marine recently completed a pipelay project off the Southeast Louisiana coast.

Dive crews aboard the DSV JOSEPH BISSO successfully laid 900 feet of six-inch pipe at a water depth of 66 feet about 20 miles south of Grand Isle in the Gulf of Mexico. The pipeline was laid using a portable lay system and the vessel’s 30-ton hydraulic crane.

The month-long project also involved installing a 16 x 6-inch hot tap fitting that allowed the client to continue operating the pipeline without disruptions.

www.bissomarine.com

HOUSTON — Seattle Diving Company, a domestic labor supplier for ADCI diving contractors, has closed its Lafayette office this week.

Citing a soft labor market, weak oil prices, and hesitancy from the oil companies to pull the trigger on dive projects, SDC decided to complete current deployments with crews in the Gulf of Mexico, then concentrate on managing operations from its head office in Seattle, Washington. Read the rest of this entry »

BROUSSARD, LA — Subsea services company Divecon Services has changed it name to Aqueos Corp., effective immediately. The company said that the change was motivated by a need to establish a marketing presence that would set it apart from its competition.

Aqueos provides marine construction and specialty subsea services, including commercial diving, remotely operated vehicle- and vessel-related services to the offshore oil and gas industry. The company has offices in Broussard, La., and Carpinteria, Calif.

The new web site is www.aqueossubsea.com.

Miami, FL — Equipped with satellites, computers and other high-tech advancements, the National Hurricane Center has gotten better and better at plotting the path of dangerous tropical systems.

But the technology that forecasters and other federal agencies use to inform the public has remained pretty much last century television, radio, newspapers and, more recently, the Internet. For the most imminent emergencies, the system is actually middle of the last century that Cold War-era “beep, beep, beep” broadcast only on TV and radio. Read the rest of this entry »