JFD Acquires Closed Bill Diving System

JFD, an underwater capability provider serving the commercial and defense diving markets, and part of James Fisher and Sons plc, has announced that it has acquired the closed bell saturation diving system and associated assets formally owned by The Underwater Center. 

The acquisition will enable JFD to reestablish the global closed bell diver training program - also known as sat diver training - and the only UK-based training capability that will fulfill an urgent market need for skilled saturation divers.

The reestablishment of closed bell diving training in the UK will allow commercial divers to gain the skills and expertise they need to safely dive using a saturation diving system, enabling them to reach their field of work and return safely to the surface for every operation they conduct. Once established, JFD’s saturation diving training will be one of only two programs in the world that will provide divers with an internationally-recognized closed bell saturation diving qualification.

Giovanni Corbetta, managing director, JFD, said, “Reestablishing closed bell diver training at Fort William is very much in line with JFD’s ongoing drive to provide divers and subsea operators with the skills, equipment, capabilities and training they need to carry out their work whilst ensuring their safety at all times. Given recent growth in the industry, now more than ever it is essential that there is a training capability in place that fulfills an urgent need for skilled saturation divers, whilst ensuring that the highest standards in safety are always maintained.”

Before delivering closed bell diver training, JFD will make further enhancements to the system to further develop its capability.

The system also includes a Self-Propelled Hyperbaric Lifeboat (SPHL), giving divers the ability to undertake emergency escape training as part of the saturation diving course. JFD will be the only company to conduct emergency escape and evacuation training as part of its closed bell diver training, ensuring that divers understand the integral operation of a SPHL as part of a saturation diving system.

The diving facility in Fort William has been training divers for over 40 years.