Diving the old North Sea platforms in 2025, wow that felt different

Was up in Aberdeen last month for a refresher course and we got to do a familiarization dive on one of the older jackets before they decommission it. Man, I remember doing bell runs out there back in the late 90s and the visibility was always brutal, like 2 feet on a good day. This time it was clear enough to see the whole structure and honestly it looked like a ghost town. No marine growth on some of the upper crossbeams, the anodes are almost gone, and the silt around the base is way higher than I ever remember. Got me thinking, how many of you guys are seeing older infrastructure in worse shape than the surveys show? The client rep said they only planned for 4 hours of bottom time but we used almost 6 just on inspection. Is that pretty normal now, or are we just getting slower as we get older? Also, anyone else notice the new divers don't even know what a hard hat feels like, they just want the full face mask and video feed? Not knocking it, just different.

1 comments

1 Comment

janaw113d agoTop Commenter

Six hours of bottom time on one inspection and you're calling it a surprise? Sounds like a Tuesday to me. Every job I've been on in the last five years has run over the survey estimate, the paper is always optimistic and the reality is always messier. The anodes being shot and silt piling up is just the usual state of things, especially on anything that's been parked in the North Sea for thirty years. The clear water is the only weird part, that's just the sea having a good day, it'll get back to pea soup soon enough. As for the new guys and their full face masks, let them have it, they're the ones who'll be hauling a camera around while we're on the boat drinking tea. Slow and steady is fine, but don't act like any of this is new news to the industry.