Keeping a Dive Crew Warm Enough to Stay Useful
By Dutch Hollander, Offshore diving superintendent. Reviewed by Amanda McCallister, editor.
Commercial Diving Contractors Alabama | Commercial Diving Contractors Alaska November 4th, 2019, on the stern of the Arctic Warrior, working a pipeline job south of Mobile. The water had finally dropped below 60 degrees, and the wind was straight off the shelf. I was up on the rail watching the tender wrestle a lifting sling, and I could see his hands—red, fumbling, the kind of clumsy you get when the cold gets into your knuckles. He was a good hand, too. That scene stuck with me because it wasn't the diver who almost went in the water that day. It was the surface crew. The diver had a hot water suit on. The tender had on a pair of leather gloves and a windbreaker. It took me a long time to realize that the coldest part of a dive operation is often not the water. That realization changed how I run a crew.
Heat the Diver, Not the Water
The first thing people want to talk about is the diver. In cold water, the hot water suit is your lifeline. But just pumping 110-degree water through the hose doesn't cut it. You need to know the temperature at the far end of the umbilical, not at the console. I've seen a guy set the water heater to 120 and think he was doing the diver a favor. All he was doing was cooking his feet and freezing his hands. The suit has to be balanced, and the diver needs to be able to adjust the warm water supply at the cuff. We run a second line for the hands if we're working in water under 40. And we always have a spare suit on the rack, because a torn neck seal can turn a twenty-minute job into a rescue. Check the valves and the quick disconnects before the diver goes in. Five minutes on the surface saves an hour of recovery.
The Surface Crew Is the Weak Link
The diver is the one who's wet. That's what everyone thinks. But the deck crew is the one working in a wind chill that can steal your grip and your judgment. A tender has to take a line, secure a basket, operate an air winch. If his fingers are too cold to tie a knot, you've lost your margin. We switched to leather-palmed gloves with wool liners, but we also make sure the crew isn't standing still. If someone's waiting on a job, we cycle them into the shacks to warm up. We run a two-hour rotation on the deck in cold conditions. Anyone who says that's excessive hasn't watched a guy drop a shackle on his own hand.
Layering and FR: Compliance Meets Common Sense
Here's where I get cranky. Your flame-resistant coveralls only work if they're actually still rated. NFPA 2112 sets the standard for FR apparel. The problem is that a lot of guys take them home, run them through the washer with fabric softener, and think that's fine. It isn't. Home laundering doesn't maintain the certification. You lose the thermal protection and the arc rating. That's why we use an industrial laundry service that follows the manufacturer's care instructions and keeps the gear compliant. It's not a judgment on your laundry skills – it's a matter of testing and traceability. If you get caught in an arc flash, you want your clothing to do its job, not to have been compromised by a dryer sheet. Same goes for layering. You can't wear cotton under FR gear if it's going to melt or ignite. Wool or Nomex underlies work best. That's not just convenience; that's survivability.
The Coffee Trap and the Thermos Rule
Coffee warms you for about an hour, then you pay for it. Caffeine pulls water from your system, and dehydration makes you cold faster. We started keeping a thermos of drinkable soup on the shack – not coffee. A guy rotates in, gets a cup of chicken broth, and he's actually warm for the next rotation. Simple, cheap, and it doesn't have the diuretic effect of a cooler of energy drinks. For fluids, we push water, but warm water. A cold bottle doesn't offer any thermal benefit. The rule on my crew is: if your hands are too cold to pour, you're not drinking enough. That sounds funny, but it's about keeping a constant temperature, not just a burst of heat.
Know When to Fold Them
Some signs are easy: shivering, bluish lips, clumsiness. The hard part is when the mind goes quiet. A cold supervisor will still give orders, but they get more conservative, more hesitant, sometimes more reckless. We keep a buddy check on every rotation. If the skipper asks a tender a simple question and gets a slow response, that man is done for the day. No arguing. We have a warming room with a heater and a place to lie down. It's not a break room; it's part of the life-support system. You don't punch out in cold water. You cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my FR coveralls are still compliant after washing? Check the label and the NFPA 2112 rating. If you launder them at home, you can't assume they're still certified. Use a certified industrial launderer that follows the garment's care label and keeps records. That's the only way to maintain the rating. What's the best way to handle a diver's cold hands in a hot water suit? Make sure the hot water supply is balanced and the diver can control flow. For extreme cold, use a separate glove line or a dry glove system. Also, have warm water ready for the diver immediately after surfacing. Does coffee actually make you colder? Caffeine is a diuretic, so it contributes to dehydration, which affects thermal regulation. For long cold exposure, you're better off with warm non-caffeinated beverages like broth.