Our Skilled Workers Emerge and Submerge
They know their way around under water, even if they often cannot see anything at all: Our Divers. They call it “black water”. It's when the mud is so dense that almost no daylight penetrates the water's surface. That's when their hands become their eyes and they feel for the quay’s sheet piling, or for components of the locks in any of NPorts’ ports.
They dive down to get to the bottom of a variety of things. This includes underwater welding, underwater flame-cutting, ultrasonic measurement, flushing and suction work, structural inspection, obstruction removal, and also some sealing work under water.
Before descending into the abyss, they must put on the dive suit. No easy feat: The equipment weighs approximately 50 to 60 kg. It takes at least one extra person to help get you “dressed”. Once the suit, helmet, and emergency breathing air bottle are in place, a hose for breathing air supply, and a communication cable must be attached.
Then it's time to get started. The diver enters the water. In his work, he is always accompanied by a dive craft and a work boat named "Duker II" that follow along and make sure that he is close to his colleague in case of an emergency.
All divers have completed training as professional divers. This takes a total of two years and begins with a three-week basic training course and a total of 200 dive hours in operation. They are outside in any wind and weather condition: Even during storms, for instance, you can see them dive in the interior ports and waterways. When they are not submerged under water, they perform other general maintenance work in the field for the Technical Service in Emden.
