7 Questions That Expose an Unqualified Dive Contractor

By Priya Raghunathan, Port authority procurement analyst. Reviewed by Dana Whitcombe, technical reviewer.

Commercial Diving Contractors Alabama | Commercial Diving Contractors Alaska A Thursday in March, at the Port Authority office in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The contractor's sales rep had just finished his slide deck. I asked one question about the compressor he'd listed on his equipment form. He looked at his project manager. The PM looked at his watch. Ten seconds of silence. That's when I knew the bid wasn't going any further. It wasn't the first time. In eleven years of writing and scoring underwater services RFPs, I've learned that a glossy bid package can hide a lot of thin water. The trick is not to ask what certifications they hold—everybody has paper. Ask the questions that force them to think like the deck crew they'd actually send into the harbor. These seven have never failed me.

Who's Really in Charge?

Question 1: Name the dive supervisor for our project. Not the operations manager who signed your bid—the person who will be suit-side every time a diver is in the water. Ask to see their commercial log for the last two years. A qualified supervisor has at least 1,000 logged hours, recent work in the same environment, and the authority to stop a job. If they can't name that person on the spot, you're likely to get a subcontractor you've never met. Question 2: What does your dive plan say about our specific site conditions—current, tidal exchange, underwater visibility, debris density? A real contractor has walked the site or pulled recent hydrographic data. They'll know about the silt bed near Berth 4 and the lost anchor chain off the fuel pier. A generic plan that says 'shallow water diving' is a red flag.

Equipment That Gets Wet

Question 3: Show me the maintenance records for the diver's umbilical and the last pressure test date for the decompression chamber. A qualified contractor tracks every hose, fitting, and valve. They can pull a log for each piece. If they tell you the chamber is 'off-site but ready,' they're lying—a chamber that isn't on-site for a harbor project is useless in an emergency. Question 4: What's your exclusion zone enforcement plan under USCG rules? Ports have traffic. Tankers move. Debris drifts. Your dive contractor needs to show you a plan that includes dedicated tenders, flagging, radio protocols, and a clear chain of command to stop all work if a vessel ignores the zone. If they say 'we'll use a kayak,' send them home.

When Things Go Wrong

Question 5: Walk me through your warm-water injury or illness scenario. Not the PowerPoint version—the real one. Who calls the nearest recompression facility? What's the phone number? How long does it take to get there? If they don't know the local chamber is in Bayonne and the traffic pattern on the Turnpike, they haven't rehearsed. I've had contractors fail because they couldn't name the hospital. Question 6: What mixed-gas or saturation contingency do you actually have for a fouled-prop emergency at depth? No one expects a saturation dive in a harbor, but you need to know if they have the capacity to go deeper, switch gases, or handle a stuck diver. A contractor who says 'we don't do that' is honest—but if they say 'we'll figure it out,' that's a hard no.

The Business Side

Question 7: How do you invoice when weather stops the work, and what triggers a weather stand-down? This is the question that exposes everything. A qualified contractor has a clear policy: wind speed, wave height, visibility, current. They can quote a per-day rate, a mobilization fee, and a standby rate. If they start quoting 'cost-plus on weather' without a cap, they see you as a wallet. You want a contractor who treats a blown day as a schedule problem, not a windfall.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the minimum insurance a dive contractor should carry for a port job? At minimum: general liability, workers' comp, and marine liability. For a port authority, I require US$5 million in excess liability and proof of dive-specific coverage for salvage or construction. Ask for the certificate before you even schedule an interview. Should I always go with the lowest bid? No. In underwater services, the lowest bid usually means they've cut someone—either the divers' pay or the equipment budget. The right price is within 10% of the median quote and includes a clear scope, supervision, and emergency readiness. Can I ask to see a dive supervisor's log without confusing it with their resume? Yes. You're not checking for certification—you're checking for continuity. Look for dives in similar settings (harbor, river, cold water, low visibility) within the last 18 months. If the log shows a gap or only inland clear-water work, their experience doesn't match your site.