The diving support vessel is a ship that supports the professional diving projects. Here professional divers are used at oil field or production places in open water. The need of such diving support vessels arose in 1960's and 1970's when according to the history oil production platforms were found in North Sea and Gulf of Mexico. As more and more oil and gas production proposals started building up, the vessel owners and operators became interested in letting an important space for diving and its systems on the deck leaving the earlier trend of performing the diving operations from mobile oil drilling platforms, barges etc.

Some features of Diving Support Vessels

The professional divers involved in dangerous dives are well trained and they are equipped with specialized equipments. They tend to be even more cautious during inappropriate weather conditions and seasonal changes. Some of the features of Diving Support vessels are its dynamic positioning on the dive site which is done with the help of transponders and multi- directional thrusters understanding the magnitude of tides and wind. Next is the saturation diving system which is installed in the ship to avoid the narcotic effect of nitrogen when under pressure. A diving bell plays the mediator between the saturation system and the diver in the work site further supported by other systems like Remotely Operated Vehicle ROV and other heavy lifting equipments.