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 Holland's national diving centre boasts many impressive facilities for divers - including a 46-metre custom-built training barge claimed to be the best of its kind Continuing my visits to commercial diving schools around the world, I recently spent four days in Holland at the Nationaal Duikcentrum (NDC), writes Michael Cocks. During my trip I was well looked after by Sijtsche Zwiers, the Executive Director, and Captain Leo Lagarde, from the Dutch Royal Engineers. The centre was set up in 1985 as a cooperative venture between the army and civilian diving interests and is a not-for-profit foundation based near Delft. It has a board consisting of representatives from the defence forces, the civil service, commercial and sports diving interests, and the trades unions. These people meet under an independent chairman, currently an ex-naval diver, about four times a year. Sijtsche Zwiers has been with the centre since it started and she is a qualified lawyer. I had long heard about the excellence of NDC's training and of the army's barge specially built for diver training in 1987. It claims to be the best diver training barge in the world, and, having spent three days on board on this, my twelfth trip to a non-UK commercial diving school, I find this claim hard to dispute. The barge is 46 metres long, with 6 extra metres having been added 5 years ago, and 9 metres wide. Accommodation is in separate cabins, and the food is some of the best I have ever had while diving. Before my dive I was even given a bowl of excellent Dutch soup. The barge is run by a crew of two, plus a full-time chef. There are 5 instructors to train up to 12 students. They run three courses a year, refresher courses for Royal Engineer divers, and extra courses for foreign and Dutch divers who want to obtain the full Dutch commercial diving ticket; they have recently "upgraded" a group of German divers. As Dutch rules on the acceptance of overseas diving qualifications changed at the beginning of 2003, it is possible that before British-trained divers can work in Holland they will have to be assessed at this school. It is possible that in 2005 they will begin to train naval divers as well. Before being allowed to join the course, applicants have to be interviewed by Sijtsche Zwiers, then undergo a gruelling day's tests. These include a run to be completed in twelve minutes, work in the indoor swimming-pool which entails diving in a blacked-out mask before undertaking tasks such as nailing wood together, then similar tests wearing an aqualung. About one in five students are not accepted for the full course and those successful know that they can be failed at any time during the eleven-week course. They have to take a full medical with a military doctor before beginning the course. The courses consists of six weeks on scuba (including diving first aid and general diving theory) and the remainder on surface demand. The cost of the course is currently Euros 8350, or a little under £5400. Bailey bridge
The last two weeks of surface demand training are spent on the barge, with the first week consisting of deep dives to 46 metres, mainly down a shot-line. On the barge there is a well-equipped bell, lowered into the water through a moon pool, and a platform that can be put into the water for mid-water work. The divers have to reassemble the helmets each morning and there are eight KMB 27 helmets. The course is run by five Royal Engineer instructors who have not only been diving for a number of years but have attended a year-long course in how to instruct. They dive regularly with the students, and when I was on the barge were videoing the divers at work. After each dive there is a full debriefing and mistakes are pointed out. I was impressed by how well the divers worked as a team, diving with different partners. They were mainly in their mid-twenties, but older divers have also been trained. Naval diver
While I was on the barge the divers had to perform a number of rescue operations and, as I found when I dived out of the wet bell, the equipment and instruction were excellent. I was lucky not to have been there a week previously when, for the deep dives, the water was close to freezing over. These dives from the barge take place near the sea in salt water. One of the advantages of spending the last two weeks of the course on the barge is that the divers are able to bond more as a team, though they are also allowed to go ashore. I was impressed by the high quality of the students, many of whom already have jobs awaiting them. All the instructors took a keen interest in turning out well-trained commercial divers. It is very much a hands-on course; divers have to be very familiar with the working of the helmets. I was invited to watch the graduation ceremonies where the students' families are invited on board the barge to see a demonstration of the use of the diving equipment. Successful divers are encouraged to keep in regular contact with the centre, which keeps all the records on every Dutch diver. If they have not completed sufficient dives over a fixed period, they have to come back to be reassessed. |
© 2003 Underwater World Publications Ltd.