The Underwater Centre teams up with Malaysian training firm

A world-renowned diver training facility in Tasmania is helping address the skills shortage in the Asia Pacific subsea sector as it teams up with a Malaysian recruitment and training provider.

The Underwater Centre, Tasmania is working with a team of 21 candidates who have been put forward for training by Kuala Lumpur-based Samsian Solution & Services.

Samsian Solution & Services provides training and recruitment opportunities for personnel in the oil and gas, mining, water, power and maritime sectors in South East Asia.

The students are currently completing The Underwater Centre’s Standard Commercial Diving Training Package, which qualifies them to work onshore and offshore as commercial divers. The three-month training course includes the required Australian Diving Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) Parts 1, 2 and 3 certifications, providing them with the necessary accreditation to work legally as a diver.

Part 1 of the training involves occupational SCUBA diving to 30 m and includes training predominantly in the use of subsea hand-tools, in surveys and inspection diving, and rescue diving, while Part 2 is Occupational SSBA (Surface Supply) to 30 m and includes pneumatic and hydraulic powered tools training, such as jack-hammering, needle-gunning and air-lift dredging. Students are also taught about salvage, construction, welding and burning.

Meanwhile, ADAS Part 3 is the entry-level qualification required for gaining work in the offshore industry and involves diving up to 50 m, the deepest occupational ticket achievable on air. Part 3 sees the use of wet-bells, chamber use and operation, decompression diving, more rescues, offshore awareness, and advanced underwater work.

Samsian Solution & Services spokesperson Jamie Tham said that they chose The Underwater Centre’s ADAS training for their candidates because of its recognition in the region’s oil and gas sector. “Before being chosen to take up the training, each of the candidates must carry out a range of assessments and physical tests. They must also demonstrate their passion for being an ADAS-accredited diver and the work that will entail,” she said.

“The Underwater Centre has an excellent reputation in the industry and we have found the team of staff and instructors there to be very helpful. Commercial diving is a skill that is currently in high demand within our local industry, and most of the candidates will be able to secure a job with oil and gas contractors once they have completed the training. We will help them secure job placements within the industry.”

The Centre’s Operations Manager Herb Mitton said the team was working very well and that they were learning skills vital for the ‘real world’.

“The men are performing very well with a good level of theoretical knowledge and in-water prowess being displayed by them all. This has also been the case with regards to their attitude shown toward their training and tasks, and they are working very well as a team, learning the skills they will need in the real world,” said Herb.

“The ADAS guidelines and competencies we train and assess under are realistic, achievable with effort and hard work, and are exactly tailored to industry requirements. We very much expect our students to earn their qualifications.”

The Underwater Centre, Tasmania, is based at Beauty Point. The Centre has been delivering diver education since 1996 and was originally created to address the demand for commercial diver training in the South East Asia Pacific region. It is the only school in the world to offer all levels of the internationally-accepted ADAS commercial diver certification, from ADAS Part 1, right up to ADAS Part 4 Closed Bell. It has a sister base in Fort William, Scotland.

Edited from source by Elizabeth Corner

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/contracts-and-tenders/10032015/the-underwater-centre-teams-up-with-malaysian-training-firm/