The Magazine for Underwater Professionals

Jul/Aug 2015

ASSOCIATION NEWS

Association of Diving Contractors

Planning for the AGM

The quiet start to the year that was reported in a previous article continues as we head in to what should be the busiest period of the season. The combination of changes in the demand for offshore activity due to the recent low oil price and the ongoing effects of tight budgets has meant that there is no shortage of available personnel, just less firm work enquiries that most working inland/ inshore would like.

 

Whilst it might be quieter than normal in the rivers, ports and harbours around the UK, sadly the secretary needs to think ahead and get plans underway for the ADC’s annual meeting that will be held in early November. In addition to electing a new chairman and vice chairman for the three-year period ending on 31 December 2018, all members of the Association need to consider if there are any worthy recipients of the awards that were introduced at the last AGM.

 

SCOPE

In 2014, United Utilities was the worthy winner of the Client Award and Colby Werret was the very deserving winner of the Supervisor Award. This year we are planning to broaden the scope a bit and are seeking to hand out up to two awards to companies or individuals that have made a notable contribution to the sector, preferably in the last year (but the timeframe may be lengthened to improve the scope of nominees put forward for an award).

 

Deciding whether this year will result in one or two awards is meant to indicate that an award will only be made if the applications received are deserving of the nomination when put to the members on the voting sheets that will be circulated in the period leading up to the annual gathering.

 

In other activities, the 2015 Seawork exhibition finished recently, and once again one of the main attractions at the show was the dive tank, where Hughes SSE was conducting demonstrations on behalf of the ADC. In addition to conducting a variety of in-water trials of various air helmets and demonstrating various assembly and lifting techniques, a pleasant surprise this year came from the trials carried out using the NEMO V2 cordless power drill. This versatile tool proved to be far more useful than initially expected, demonstrating the ability to drill, run nuts and function as a screw driver; and the most amazing thing was that the cost is little more than you would pay for a high-end cordless drill down at your local DIY emporium.

 

SOLUTION

Clearly this tool is no competition for one of the range of air or hydraulic tools that are available for underwater use, but for those one-off small tasks requiring a hole to be drilled or a light task adjusting a bit of shuttering or taking out and putting in a few additional fixings, this might the quick fix solution.

 

The 2016 Seawork exhibition is likely to be moving location to Mayflower Park, the same location used by the Southampton Boat Show. This change is expected to offer some serious advantages for both exhibitors and visitors, with more space, a greater on-water display area and potentially even more ambitious plans to demonstrate commercial diving to those who visit the exhibition. No doubt there will be more on this in the months ahead.

 

secretary@adc-uk.info

 

 

BACK TO FEATURED ARTICLES

DIVING  •  OFFSHORE  •  ONSHORE  •  ROVs  •  AUVs
EQUIPMENT  •  TECHNOLOGY  •  INDUSTRY NEWS  •  UK & INTERNATIONAL

Online Dispute Resolution