KOCHI: A team of divers from the Southern Naval Command in Kochi created history by setting a new national record for deep diving. The five divers onboard INS Nireekshak — Lieutenant Commander Abhijeet Sangle, chief petty officer K K Singh, chief petty officer Shriom Singh, leading seaman M K Prusty and leading seaman Narender Kumar — dived to a depth of 233 metres off Kochi breaking an earlier record set by naval divers.
The team of divers who went for the task on February 5 came out from the decompression chamber on Wednesday. The officials said the record was set on February 7 when the three divers of the team — Lieutenant Commander Abhijeet Sangle along with chief petty officers K K Singh and Shriom Singh — locked out to a depth of 233 metres breaking the previous record of 218 metres set on March 30, 2007.
A moment of pride
It was a moment of pride for the five divers when they came out from the decompression chamber on Wednesday after setting a new national record. “It’s a great moment. We are proud to create a new record in diving. We keep on trying and do things to better our performance and it’s part of these initiatives that the deep diving was performed,” said the divers. “It’s a breath-taking experience. No words can describe how you feel when you are deep inside the water,” said Lt Commander Abhijeet Sangle.
Speaking to the media, Commander A P Golaya, Commanding Officer of INS Nireekshak, said there will be a medical officer onboard the vessel in case of an emergency. Commander A K Sharma, Command Diving Officer, Lt Com Deodhar S diving officer and Lt Com Dinesh Singh Rana, executive officer of the vessel, were also present on the occasion.
INS Nireekshak commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1995 has a crew of 120, including divers. The vessel undertakes salvage and other underwater operational tasks for the Indian Navy.
Saturation diving
Known as saturation diving, deep dives involve complex support systems from the Diving Support Vessel to enable the divers to explore the final frontiers in physical and mental endurance. Water pressure increases as the depth increases. Other complications of deep dives include physiological problems of bubbles formed by gas throughout the body causing ‘decompression sickness’ as the divers come up to the
surface.
The issue of decompression sickness is being dealt with the help of decompression chambers. The saturation divers are pressurised to the required depth in the Deck Decompression Chamber (DDC) on board the ship till their bodies are saturated with specially prepared breathing gas. A diving capsule (also known as bell) pressurised to the same pressure is connected to the decompression chamber and the divers move into that capsule. The capsule is then lowered into the water to the set depth and the divers swim out for the task given.
The divers use an umbilical chord that provides breathing gas, communication and hot water to keep them warm at that depth.
After completing the task, the divers re-enter the bell, close the hatch and return to the support ship under the same pressure. This procedure could be repeated till the task is completed.
Once the task is completed, the DDC is gradually brought back to normal pressure over several days based on calculations, as the divers continue to remain inside.