Commercial diving vs marine civil engineering?

[Sìan48]

Hi all,

So I have been looking into commercial diving as a job and have done quite a bit of research into it and have been trying to find different ways to get into the job mainly because I keep seeing/hearing that there is no guarantee after qualification that you would be able to get a job and that’s a lot of money to go to waste should you not be able to find placement.

So I was pondering the many underwater jobs available and it came to me that civil engineering would be on the table also and after some research I found marine civil engineering.. thing is I am now a bit confused.. what exactly is the difference between the two? Because it seems like some of the things both jobs entail overlap which makes me feel like they potentially are two of the same jobs but just called different things?

I figured this would be the best place to ask the question as this is a community of divers and so guys, please help me understand what the difference between the two are.

Also I have seen some places say you have to be 35 and younger to start commercial diving but then there has been many other places that doesn’t mention a certain age requirement especially one that says specifically 35… by your knowledge can you get into commercial diving at or after 35 years old?

TIA

 

[bakodiver391]

For what it's worth, a guy I knew who designed bridges said that commercial divers with a civil engineering degree were absolutely killing it because they were the only ones who could do underwater bridge inspections. This was a while ago but could be worth looking into. I see many in their 40's taking commercial dive training. The guy who just died in the school in Florida was in his 40s.

 

[tursiops]

Hi all,

So I have been looking into commercial diving as a job and have done quite a bit of research into it and have been trying to find different ways to get into the job mainly because I keep seeing/hearing that there is no guarantee after qualification that you would be able to get a job and that’s a lot of money to go to waste should you not be able to find placement.

So I was pondering the many underwater jobs available and it came to me that civil engineering would be on the table also and after some research I found marine civil engineering.. thing is I am now a bit confused.. what exactly is the difference between the two? Because it seems like some of the things both jobs entail overlap which makes me feel like they potentially are two of the same jobs but just called different things?

I figured this would be the best place to ask the question as this is a community of divers and so guys, please help me understand what the difference between the two are.

Also I have seen some places say you have to be 35 and younger to start commercial diving but then there has been many other places that doesn’t mention a certain age requirement especially one that says specifically 35… by your knowledge can you get into commercial diving at or after 35 years old?

TIA

Civil engineers focus on construction...especially the design calculation, planning, and work management. They may work with roads and infrastructure, energy, water, and environmental topics. If they do this work in the coastal zone and ports, then they are a marine civil engineer; it is a specialization of the more general field.
NEITHER has anything to do with being an underwater job.
Age requirements are often not mentioned because of some laws against it.

 

[Angelo Farina]

I am a civil engineer. It takes 5-6 years for getting a M.Eng degree, here in Italy. Only 25% of initial students complete this path and get the degree. But for working, after the Master Degree, you also need to pass another heavy exam, to get the professional qualification and being allowed to subscribe in the Engineers Album.
I was rejected at my first attempt, but I passed the following year (you can do the exam just once per year), so it did take me a total of seven years before getting the qualification.
Instead becoming a commercial diver is much faster, as this is in a high school diploma, not a University's master degree.
If you already own a technical diploma, upgrading it to a commercial diver diploma takes just one year. So it is much shorter and cheaper than trying to become a professionally-qualified civil engineer.
Of course the work of a civil engineer is more interesting and less fatiguing, and the wage is higher.
So I had the possibility to follow this path, being a civil engineer and also a professional diving instructor.
But I preferred another path: I got a PhD in applied physics (other 3 years), and started an academic career. When I became Associated Professor, in 1998, I was 40 and I did reach full academic freedom about my research topics. So I started doing research on underwater acoustics, and operating as a scientific diver. I think that this is the best of the 4 options (instructor, commercial diver, civil engineer, scientific diver).

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Commercial diving is just a generic term for 'working underwater' and can encompass a huge range of tasks like inspection, survey, construction, rigging, cutting, welding, salvage... the list goes on. Many commercial dive jobs don't require a specific skill set outside knowing how to use tools, but a specialism like civil engineering would be big advantage.

With regards to age, 35 is definitely not too old and may be viewed as a perfect combination of maturity, experience and youth. I only work as a part-time commercial diver, but I'm 55!

Commercial training in the UK is governed by the HSE. The qualification path goes; HSE Scuba, Surface Supply, Off-Shore Top Up, Sat. Realistically you need Surface Supply for most in-shore / civils work. Off shore can be added later if that's what you're after.

Let me know if you need the names of UK training providers

 

[Sìan48]

Thanks all, well now I know to peruse a civil engineering qualification alongside commercial diving certs so I can at least stand out and stand a chance!

I now understand the difference and I guess being able to go between both is beneficial to being able to get a job placement.

@Angelo Farina when you say only 25% of students complete the course is that because they dropped out or do you mean they were not good enough to get the qualifications? Because if they dropped out then that is on them but if they just couldn’t get qualified then that’s another story . I will have to do some research into scientific diving and what it entails. I guess working with animals underwater would be a kind of scientific diving? You managed to get a lot under your belt and explored a few different areas which is something I would like to do also so thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it.

@Graeme Fraser thank you for the list of qualifications needed to go into commercial diving, I actually found the one main commercial diving school here is Dunoon, Scotland. It has a long list of courses they provide and I was totally lost as to which I would need to go into commercial diving. When you wrote the path it made me understand what they are providing however they also have a offshore career package which lasts 9 weeks and I’m wondering if that would be better than taking the courses separately?

It provides -

• HSE 1st Aid @ Work & O2 Provider (Commercial Diving Endorsement)
• HSE Professional SCUBA – Subsea Inspection
• HSE Professional SCUBA
• HSE Professional SCUBA – Subsea Inspection
• HSE Surface Supplied – Subsea Tooling & Inspection
• HSE Surface Supplied
• HSE Surface Supplied
• HSE Surface Supplied- Subsea Tooling & Inspection
• HSE Wet-Bell Top-Up Course

Sat I don’t see being a part of it but it looks as though it has all of them you mentioned.

It’s over £10.1/2k however if it has a bit of everything needed in it then maybe it would be best? I will check the prices individually but it sounds like I might not have to search for it all individually to do separate.

Would you happen to know of any schools closer to London? I thought I found one in Cornwall but then I cannot seem to find much on it now or anything closer and within England.

Thanks again to everyone that gave me a little info on the differences between the two. I will now check to see where would enable me to do marine civil engineering courses and what I would need to get into that but I feel a lot better now knowing I don’t have to worry about getting closer and closer to 35 and potentially being told I’m too old to start now.. I can at least live a little before starting the job if I actually get into it.

 

[Angelo Farina]

@sian48, here in Italy Engineering is very selecting.
At first year, at least 1/3 of the students are lost, as they cannot pass any exam. Professors here are very careful to not pass students which are less than excellent. And year after year, a further number of students also fail exams and need to switch to less-demanding courses, such as architecture or not-scientific topics.
My son did study in UK, electronics engineering at York. A completely different world, he was passing exams easily, always at the first attempt (the average here is at least 3 attempts for each exam, 5 for the more demanding ones).
But after 3 years in the cold of Yorkshire, eating horrible food and dringing just beer, as wine was very rare, he gave up and decided to complete his engineering course here.
In theory he had just 5 exams missing over 30. But in practice he had to restart from beginning, as the level of his knowledge was entirely unacceptable for our standards, so it did take him other 6 years for getting the degree.
So do not be scared of what I wrote. While only a few selected people can become civil engineers here in Italy, in UK it is feasible for almost everyone.

 

[rhwestfall]

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Thanks all, well now I know to peruse a civil engineering qualification alongside commercial diving certs so I can at least stand out and stand a chance!

I now understand the difference and I guess being able to go between both is beneficial to being able to get a job placement.

@Angelo Farina when you say only 25% of students complete the course is that because they dropped out or do you mean they were not good enough to get the qualifications? Because if they dropped out then that is on them but if they just couldn’t get qualified then that’s another story . I will have to do some research into scientific diving and what it entails. I guess working with animals underwater would be a kind of scientific diving? You managed to get a lot under your belt and explored a few different areas which is something I would like to do also so thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it.

@Graeme Fraser thank you for the list of qualifications needed to go into commercial diving, I actually found the one main commercial diving school here is Dunoon, Scotland. It has a long list of courses they provide and I was totally lost as to which I would need to go into commercial diving. When you wrote the path it made me understand what they are providing however they also have a offshore career package which lasts 9 weeks and I’m wondering if that would be better than taking the courses separately?

It provides -

• HSE 1st Aid @ Work & O2 Provider (Commercial Diving Endorsement)
• HSE Professional SCUBA – Subsea Inspection
• HSE Professional SCUBA
• HSE Professional SCUBA – Subsea Inspection
• HSE Surface Supplied – Subsea Tooling & Inspection
• HSE Surface Supplied
• HSE Surface Supplied
• HSE Surface Supplied- Subsea Tooling & Inspection
• HSE Wet-Bell Top-Up Course

Sat I don’t see being a part of it but it looks as though it has all of them you mentioned.

It’s over £10.1/2k however if it has a bit of everything needed in it then maybe it would be best? I will check the prices individually but it sounds like I might not have to search for it all individually to do separate.

Would you happen to know of any schools closer to London? I thought I found one in Cornwall but then I cannot seem to find much on it now or anything closer and within England.

Thanks again to everyone that gave me a little info on the differences between the two. I will now check to see where would enable me to do marine civil engineering courses and what I would need to get into that but I feel a lot better now knowing I don’t have to worry about getting closer and closer to 35 and potentially being told I’m too old to start now.. I can at least live a little before starting the job if I actually get into it.

Hi Sian.

The following is a link to a list of training providers approved by the HSE with the courses they offer:

Diver competence assessment organisations

List of approved diving qualifications dated 1 May 2009

www.hse.gov.uk

The truth is, commercial diver training doesn't come cheap. You can either break it down into affordable chunks (HSE Scuba then Surface Supply then Wet Bell Offshore Top-Up) or bite the bullet and do a complete air package.

I personally did my HSE Scuba, then a few years later my Surface Supply. However, at my age I have no interest in doing Offshore, so the complete package wasn't worth it for me.

The good news is, there appears to be UK Inshore work available out there at the moment. From my understanding, companies do prefer you to have a few years Inshore experience under your belt before going offshore, so you could leave top up till later if that's your end goal.

I did my HSE Scuba at Andark Diving in Southampton:

HSE Scuba Training | Andark Diving & Watersports

andark.co.uk

and my Surface Supply at CDT in Cornwall:

Commercial Diver Training – Working divers who train divers to work

www.commercialdivertraining.co.uk

Both were excellent and I couldn't fault their expertise and training.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a part time recreational / technical diving instructor at Andark, so please accept my recommendation for what it is.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

@sian48, here in Italy Engineering is very selecting.
At first year, at least 1/3 of the students are lost, as they cannot pass any exam. Professors here are very careful to not pass students which are less than excellent. And year after year, a further number of students also fail exams and need to switch to less-demanding courses, such as architecture or not-scientific topics.
My son did study in UK, electronics engineering at York. A completely different world, he was passing exams easily, always at the first attempt (the average here is at least 3 attempts for each exam, 5 for the more demanding ones).
But after 3 years in the cold of Yorkshire, eating horrible food and dringing just beer, as wine was very rare, he gave up and decided to complete his engineering course here.
In theory he had just 5 exams missing over 30. But in practice he had to restart from beginning, as the level of his knowledge was entirely unacceptable for our standards, so it did take him other 6 years for getting the degree.
So do not be scared of what I wrote. While only a few selected people can become civil engineers here in Italy, in UK it is feasible for almost everyone.

Sorry to hear your son didn't have the best of times in Yorkshire @Angelo Farina . I suppose sitting on a sun drenched terrace in Tuscany does sound more appealing than munching a soggy kebab in the rain after a drunken night out fighting the locals in Leeds. Then again, to each their own .

Not so sure about the rarity of wine in the UK though. Forget the fuel crisis, if there were empty wine shelves, there really would be a revolution.