Phil K.
Contributor
A recent flury of email exchanges on the GUE.com network expressed a great deal of confusion about whether or not a standard DAN insurance policy excludes dives on trimix under a special "technical diving" exclusion. JJ ultimately contacted senior management at DAN and summarized the coverage limitations as follows:
The is no "technical diving" exclusion under the policy; however, there are special policy limits for any insured that engages in "technical diving," which includes any dive on Trimix to a depth of more than 50 meters (164 ft).
1. Diving with a normoxic Trimix mixture to depths not more than 50 meters (typically, to
reduce END) does not fall under the "technical diving" definition and is covered.
2. Diving with Trimix to a depth of more than 50 meters but less than 130 meters (426 ft) is considered "technical diving," but is covered by DAN as long as the PPO2 does not exceed 1.4 ATA and the PPN2 stays below 3.95 ATA.
3. For dives deeper then 130 meters, DAN must pre-approve the dive, which will be based on the results of a questionnaire you will be asked to complete and a copy of the dive plan.
I doubt many of us will ever seriously plan a dive that would exceed 130 meters (426 ft). However, many will plan dives that exceed 50 meters. In that case, to maintain coverage we'll need a Trimix mixture that does not allow PPO2 to exceed 1.4 ATA or PPN2 to exceed 3.95 ATA, which are more or less the safe recreational limits. There are divers who feel that a PPO2 of 1.6 ATA can be tolerated under certain circumstances and they may have enough experience to make this determination about there individual oxygen tolerance. That's a whole separate debate. But, as a practical matter, unless you don't have DAN coverage, or don't care about losing coverage if you do, you should keep dives where you allow PPO2 to creep above 1.4 ATA to 50 meters or less.
The is no "technical diving" exclusion under the policy; however, there are special policy limits for any insured that engages in "technical diving," which includes any dive on Trimix to a depth of more than 50 meters (164 ft).
1. Diving with a normoxic Trimix mixture to depths not more than 50 meters (typically, to
reduce END) does not fall under the "technical diving" definition and is covered.
2. Diving with Trimix to a depth of more than 50 meters but less than 130 meters (426 ft) is considered "technical diving," but is covered by DAN as long as the PPO2 does not exceed 1.4 ATA and the PPN2 stays below 3.95 ATA.
3. For dives deeper then 130 meters, DAN must pre-approve the dive, which will be based on the results of a questionnaire you will be asked to complete and a copy of the dive plan.
I doubt many of us will ever seriously plan a dive that would exceed 130 meters (426 ft). However, many will plan dives that exceed 50 meters. In that case, to maintain coverage we'll need a Trimix mixture that does not allow PPO2 to exceed 1.4 ATA or PPN2 to exceed 3.95 ATA, which are more or less the safe recreational limits. There are divers who feel that a PPO2 of 1.6 ATA can be tolerated under certain circumstances and they may have enough experience to make this determination about there individual oxygen tolerance. That's a whole separate debate. But, as a practical matter, unless you don't have DAN coverage, or don't care about losing coverage if you do, you should keep dives where you allow PPO2 to creep above 1.4 ATA to 50 meters or less.
