Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-07-11, Page 13Crossroads Exeter Times Advocate Wednesday, July 13, 2005 13 Working with fire and steel underwater By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF ZURICH — "You have basically gas pockets when you're burning...coming up by your head and exploding." For 19 year-old commercial diver Justin Soudant of Zurich, it's another day at the office. Soudant finished a year long course at the College of Oceaneering in Los Angeles in February, specializing in non destructive testing technology. In a few weeks, he will be heading for Louisiana looking for a job on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. After growing up in Zurich, Soudant said he was looking for something dif- ferent to do and commercial diving looked interesting. After researching schools in the United States for a year, Soudant decided to go to Los Angeles and drove down to begin school in January 2004. Although there are commercial div- ing schools in Canada, Soudant said they do not qualify divers to work in the United States, although American schools qualify students to work in Canada. Going to school just outside of Long Beach, Soudant said "was definitely a change...it's a lot more expensive. The rent down there is ridiculous." The course is 13 months of straight schooling except for two weeks off for Christmas. It is broken up into five week seg- ments of different study, such as the physiology of bodies under pressure, knot tying, rigging and mechanics and dive charts. Each segment is followed by an exam that if a student fails, he is dropped back to the next course. The class then began training in pools using the different types of hel- mets they would be wearing. One of the exercises Soudant and the other students have to do is a "ditch and don...you take your helmet off under water, then put it on your knee, give the dive instructor five fin- gers for five seconds, then put the helmet back on and vent the water out." Other underwater training includes work- ing on a barge in Los Angeles harbour learn- ing how to do search and discovery, which Soudant said was all by "touch and feel, because visibility in Los Angeles Harbour is zero...there were times you'd run into other divers down there...it just scares the heck out of you because you don't know what it is." The students also assemble pipelines under water, putting on flanges and bolts. "It's all about getting to know what you're doing under water and feeling comfortable. If you don't feel comfort- able, it's not going to be something you can pursue." The knots learned in the classroom also are tested blindfolded underwater. Another segment is a class project done off another barge in deeper water, in which the class works as a group to assemble an entire pipeline project. "We had five weeks to do it, and if we didn't get it done in five weeks, pres- surize it and the pipelines didn't hold the pressure, the entire class failed." One of the aims of the course is to train the students to work together, according to Soudant. "That's one of the things about div- ing...You have to be able to work with the people around you... basically the person on top, that's your life. If they're holding you at 300 feet and they're not paying attention and just drop you, you can be killed very easi- ly." Making the project more difficult was the fact the pipeline parts were spread around the bottom of the harbour and the students had to find and move them, with the use of inflatable air bags. At the end of the five weeks, the pipeline is pressurized to 1500 psi and if it doesn't hold, the class has one chance to find and fix the problem. "All you can do is retighten all the bolts and if you don't the entire class goes back." But the class completed the project the first time and was the quickest in a year to complete it on the first attempt. In order to maintain the fitness required for the job, Soudant said every morning the entire class did workouts in the morning, whether it was running, leg exercises or swim- ming three or four miles in the har- bour. The workouts are led by the course instructors all of whom have U.S. Navy experience. Soudant said in July 2004, two were called to duty in Iraq working with dol- phins which were learning how to do underwater searches. Before the course started, Soudant was required to do a 12 page dive physical including blood tests, x-rays and lung capacity. Random drug testing was also done at the school. After finishing the pipeline project, the students choose one of three spe- cialities which included underwater welding and burning, a medical techni- cian program which is the equivalent of a paramedic or the non destructive testing (NDT) program. Soudant said he chose NDT because it gives a greater variety of options. He also had the chance to do underwa- ter welding, "which is incredibly different compared to top side. ...our teacher said if you get your helmet close enough to the gas pockets your glass shield in the helmet can break." The NDT certification Soudant received qualifies him to work in sev- eral areas including aerospace, petro- leum and all inspections top side on pipelines. "It was a worthwhile experience. I learned a lot about myself and I guess I grew up a lot too." After graduating, Soudant said he wanted to come home to see his family and friends before finding a job because he plans on staying away in the United States for 10-15 years. "It's going to be a long term thing so I want to make sure when I'm home now I take full advantage of it." According to Soudant, most of the work in the United States is found in Louisiana. "After graduating I could drive down right now...and they will ask you to start work the next day. There is such a shortage of dive people because I guess it one of those dangerous jobs. It's not your everyday job...it's very "If you get your helmet close enough to the gas pockets your glass shield in the helmet can break." -COMMERCIAL DIVER JUSTIN SOUDANT Justin Soudant of Zurich recently graduated as a commercial diver from the College of Oceaneering in Los Angeles and will be heading for the Gulf of Mexico in September for a job on an oil rig. Soudant is pictured at left suiting up during the course. (photo/submitted) dangerous but it is something I want to do because it's not your everyday job. You don't have someone breathing down your neck telling you what to do." Although he had never done any div- ing previous to the course, Soudant said "it was one of those things, I was either going to do it or I wasn't. And I told myself I was going to do it and fol- low through with it so there was no turning back." During the course, Soudant had one close call, when the compressor broke down and his air cut off. "Luckily, I was only at 32 feet of water, so I had enough air in my bailout bottle to come to the surface." Another time his helmet filled with water from Los Angeles harbour, which he said "isn't the cleanest to be drinking. It's one of the most polluted in the world." One of the things about the school, said Soudant is the instructors won't hesitate to roll back a student they don't feel comfortable about, and of the 15 students who started his course, only three graduated. Although the majority of students were from California, the school attracts students from all over the world. Soudant was one of two Canadians in the course, with the other from Saskatchewan. Soudant plans on heading south probably in September, after he receives his visa and is looking forward to the challenge of working on an oil - rig. "It's basically seven days a week and 12 hour days. It's hard work, but in the long run it pays off." Although there is work in Canada, Soudant said due to the weather it is only three or four months a year. "Potentially I would love to open up my own dive school and company in Canada, later on down the road...if we could have a dive school in Canada that gives you your American and Canadian certification, there is no rea- son why people from the U.S. might not come to Canada so they can get their Canadian certification." Although the tuition for the course is expensive, with one year the same as four years in Canada, Soudant said the instructors are experienced and knowl- edgeable. After getting a job on an oilrig, Soudant said the first six months to a year will be spent working as a tender at the surface. After "breaking out," as a diver Soudant said the routine could be six months on and six months off. "It's very physical and later on down the road you could have side effects...so that's why it's not for every- one. "My parents had a very tough time of me going to school for it. And Mom is still not that fond of it. But if I'm going to do something I want to enjoy it. While not in school, Soudant had the chance to see Los Angeles and the sur- rounding area such as Hollywood, Sunset Beach, Las Vegas and Phoenix. "You always see California in movies, and you want to see what it's like." Seeing famous people is common, according to Soudant, who saw Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Richard Simmons and Tom Cruise. He also said he got along great with his class mates, although they original- ly razzed him for being a Canadian. "The biggest thing at the start...basi- cally they're like 'you guys are the ones who didn't help us in war.' That's basi- cally what we were known for." But Soudant said once he started naming famous Canadians, "they start understanding, 'we didn't know they were Canadian.' "That's one thing about the U.S that is unfortunate. The people on average know very little about Canada...but in the long run, the guys were great, the teachers were nice and the weather was nice." Being back in Zurich is a change, said Soudant, "you don't see Bentleys rolling down the road. Every car isn't a Mercedes or a BMW...you get used to seeing it." Soudant said he has been in touch with classmates who are in the Gulf of Mexico and says "they are loving the work." Soudant is planning a trip back to California this month to see some of his friends and teachers and is looking for- ward to finding a job and getting back in the water. "I don't look forward to moving, but I look forward to the jobs, because it's something I enjoy doing...I want to say in 40 years I helped build that."