The Bottom Dollar in Commercial Diving Careers
Clearly, earning a good living is important to just about everyone and a career in commercial diving answers the mail in this department. Typical pay for an entry-level commercial diver is in the range of $1,600 to $1,900 per week, with most divers working from 30 to 35 weeks per year. That translates to a $60,000 a year starting pay. And with experience and advanced qualifications come bigger paychecks, with saturation divers easily bringing in $1,000 or more per day.
The flip side of the coin is long days and the need to travel. As Garber points out, being away from home for extended periods can be the toughest part of the job. There are no weekends, no holidays and workdays can be 10 to 12 hours long.
Right now, it is estimated that roughly 2,000 commercial divers work in the United States, with about 200 new divers entering the field each year. And that still isn’t enough to meet the demand that spans a broad spectrum of environments. Depending on an individual’s interest, there can be opportunity around just about every corner.
As Geoff Thielst of
Santa Barbara City College
explains, “Roughly half of our graduates go to work in the oil fields, with another 25 percent pursuing scientific diving, public safety diving, remotely operated vehicles (ROV) operations, harbor patrol and other scientific careers. Still others go on to earn a four-year degree in engineering or pursue other career options.”
![Navy commercial diver](https://97208546.m3nodes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/navycommercialdiver.jpg)
Meeting the Demand as a Commercial Diver
The requirements for becoming a commercial diver are not at the outset particularly exclusive. Several basic criteria must be met to pursue training as a commercial diver. First, most schools require a minimum age of 18 years with a high school diploma or GED as a minimum educational requirement. Some schools also require prospective students to pass the Wonderlic aptitude test, which measures problem solving along with basic math and reading comprehension.
Next is some basic mechanical aptitude: those who like to tinker and repair are more likely to succeed as commercial divers. The third criterion is a moderate swimming ability. You don’t have to be a competitive swimmer, but comfort in the water is very important. On the other hand, claustrophobia and commercial diving just don’t mix well, so that’s another critical criterion. And finally, a person must pass a diving medical exam. Clearly a commercial diver must be in good health and free of any contraindications.
Beyond the basic education and physical requirements are the personal characteristics that make an individual more likely to succeed in a physically, and sometimes mentally, demanding career. There is a certain mental toughness and spirit required to face the challenges of the deep and those aren’t easily measured. As Garber suggests, three factors are important for success: dedication, drive and commitment.
Staley agrees, noting that one characteristic that makes a successful commercial diver is having a stubborn streak. As he explains, a successful commercial diver is one who sticks with a job, even through adversity, to get the job done.
Among those who typically succeed in commercial diving are former military. These people are accustomed to being deployed and following a chain of command ? and their families are used to the demands and able to cope and support. Johnston is proud to comment that Divers Institute is veteran-owned and over 50 percent of its staff (and currently 56 percent of its commercial diving program members) is former military. “We are proud to provide a veteran-friendly learning environment,” he explains. Others who adapt well to the rigors of commercial diving are farm kids and those with a background in industrial trades. Surprisingly, one additional qualification sought by some employers is a commercial driver’s license (CDL). “A lot of times,” notes Staley, “a job might only be one day and having a CDL allows the diver to help get the equipment to the job site.”
Commercial diving is a physically demanding job and it takes a person who is physically fit. Beyond age 45, divers are typically restricted from deep diving due to physiological concerns, so most companies like to see individuals entering the field no later than their mid-30s. Still, older individuals have been known to complete training and many continue working as active divers into their 50s. While women are under-represented in commercial diving, the latest trends have seen as high as 10 percent women entering training for commercial diving.
A Course for Adventure
You might think that as a certified diver, or especially as a certified scuba instructor, you would have an edge getting into or completing commercial diver training. And while scuba experience can be a boost ? or a requirement for some programs ? it isn’t always as big a boost as you might think.
Perhaps, just as important as basic scuba skills is being a hands-on person who is quick with the turn of a wrench. The job of a commercial diver often requires a sharp eye for inspections but more often the diver becomes an extension of his or her underwater tool kit, performing any number of hands-on tasks needed for inspection, construction or repair.
To say that the training for commercial divers is tough is an understatement. It is not only physically demanding but it requires a boatload of basic and advanced diving topics. Commercial diver training focuses sharply on decompression theory, mixed breathing gas operations, chamber operations and dives deeply into physiology, physics and diving medicine. Beyond the book work is the hands-on element of training where students learn to use the dive gear, tools and support equipment.
Without a doubt, part of the hands-on training takes place in the confined waters of a pool, but most also get their divers into open water environments. And these environments bear little resemblance to the Caribbean reefs we may have come to enjoy. Common to commercial diving are conditions of frigid waters,
powerful currents
and zero
visibility
, not to mention penetration deep into overhead environments. Commercial diver training is geared toward these conditions, as well as diving in waters polluted with chemical and biological waste or other hazardous materials. Matthies points out that training in Minnesota prepares students for all the realities of the job. “We have a training tank inside the school where students will first learn the proper use of equipment, but most of the dive training is done in the Cuyuna Mine Pits and in the Mississippi River. Our graduates leave here with the skills they need to do the job.”
That said, the equipment used in commercial diving might include the
typical scuba gear
with which we’re familiar, but more commonly involves surface supplied diving equipment including breathing gas and communications cable, heated water supply, a dry suit and a full-face mask or helmet.
Where recreational diving focuses on no-stop diving (no decompression required) and a 130-foot (40 m) depth limit, commercial diving can involve diving to depths of 1,000 feet (305 m) or more, with exotic mixes of breathing gas, special equipment and a pressurized chamber for decompression. Such deep diving relies on saturation diving techniques, where divers are maintained at pressure for long periods of time so that no further decompression obligation is incurred. As such, the divers remain in a pressurized chamber or habitat during off hours. If you compare recreational diving to flight in a small plane, commercial diving is the equivalent of a space mission.
The culmination of the training is the coveted certification that serves as the credentials to land a job: entry-level certification from the
Association of Diving Contractors International
(ADCI).