Owners of a dive support vessel working on the southern gas fields have chosen to use Eden for crew changes because of convenience and cost.
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The Bhagwan Dryden is a state of the art dive support vessel which was once again moored at Eden Wharf on Friday, December 15 after a visit earlier in the month.
Chief mate Lance Dennis said Eden is “the best port” they could pull into.
“Usually we’re remote behind security gates and it’s not much fun but here we can go for a walk into town and everyone’s been very friendly,” Mr Dennis said.
He was full of praise for members of the local fishing fleet saying that although the Bhagwan Dryden could be a hindrance to their operations while it was in port, they had not received any complaints and everyone had been really friendly.
“This is our third or fourth time in Eden. It’s closest to the job, we have access to stores and project equipment and can make the crew change with the airport nearby. One of the local fishermen even took delivery of a part for us while we were out at sea,” Mr Dennis said.
The Bhagwan Dryden can take up to 40 crew, was built in Singapore and started working in 2014. It can stay out at sea for up to a month and takes $30,000 worth of stores on board for a trip.
“Primarily this is an air dive support vessel. Our divers only go down to 50 metres and might be cutting, welding or more recently had to pull through a gas pipe from the shore station, close to the mouth of the Snowy River, under the seabed to where it will link up with the platform,” Mr Dennis said.
“This is virtually first of its class and can be used as a safety vessel. It can pump water through two high pressure pumps and can run on batteries so there is no source of ignition should we enter a gas cloud. .
“If a diver is in the water and we are enveloped by gas, we can close everything down and retrieve the diver,” he explained.
The vessel also has a paramedic on board, Rory Noonan, who specialises in hyperbaric medicine. There is an extensive medical kit on board because evacuation times can be extensive depending on where they are working.
The vessel has two decompression chambers for divers, to eliminate long periods of time spent in the water decompressing. It also allows for dive crew rotation. Working at 50 metres divers may only be able to spend about 10 minutes working underwater although much of their work takes place at around 20 metres.
“With diving, bottom time is money,” Mr Dennis said.
The vessel also has a remote operating vehicle which can handle extreme depths for inspection and sampling work.
Position keeping equipment allows it to stay on station to within half a metre.
“Basically this is the Swiss army knife of the offshore industry. There’s not another vessel like this in Australian waters,” Mr Dennis said.
The vessel’s visit has been good for local businesses with Bobbins, South East Civil & Crane and local transport operator Adam Spitzer who operates South Coast Transport all getting business. Mr Spitzer picked up the divers from the Bhagwan Dryden when they came ashore to take them to Merimbula Airport and brought them back to Eden after their leave.
