Underwater Welding Course

Lesson 1 • Physics of the Underwater Environment

Covers hydrostatic pressure, buoyancy, and thermal conductivity as they affect welding operations. Connects environmental physics to practical weld quality challenges.

Lesson 2 • History and Industry Overview

Traces the evolution of underwater welding from early hyperbaric experiments to modern offshore applications. Provides professional context for career pathways and industry demand.

Lesson 3 • Regulatory and Standards Framework

Introduces international diving and welding standards, classification society requirements, and inspection protocols. Students understand compliance obligations before entering practical training.

Lesson 1 • Surface-Supplied Diving Equipment

Identifies and explains surface-supplied air and mixed-gas diving systems used in commercial underwater welding. Prepares students to don, operate, and maintain all primary equipment.

Lesson 2 • Dive Physiology and Medical Fitness

Covers respiratory, circulatory, and neurological responses to pressure and gas mixtures. Establishes medical fitness standards required for commercial diving certification.

Lesson 3 • Underwater Communication and Signaling

Trains students in hardwire voice communication, hand signals, and line-pull signals used during welding dives. Effective communication is critical for task coordination and emergency response.

Lesson 4 • Diver Safety and Emergency Procedures

Covers entanglement, loss of visibility, and equipment failure scenarios specific to commercial diving. Students practice emergency ascent and standby diver deployment procedures.

Lesson 1 • Grounding and Isolation Techniques

Teaches proper work-lead placement, structure grounding, and isolation from stray currents. Incorrect grounding is a leading cause of diver electrocution and must be mastered before in-water practice.

Lesson 2 • Electrical Accident Prevention and Response

Integrates all electrical safety controls into a pre-dive checklist and emergency response plan. Students conduct simulated electrical fault drills to reinforce correct topside and diver actions.

Lesson 3 • Electrode Holder Safety and Switching

Explains waterproof electrode holder design, dead-man switch operation, and electrode change procedures. Students practice safe electrode changes at depth to eliminate live-circuit exposure.

Lesson 4 • Welding Power Source Configuration

Covers selection, setup, and polarity configuration of DC welding machines for underwater use. Correct power source setup is the first line of defence against electrical hazard.

Lesson 1 • Waterproof Electrode Selection

Covers electrode classifications, waterproof coatings, and storage requirements for wet welding consumables. Proper electrode selection directly determines weld quality and hydrogen cracking risk.

Lesson 2 • Arc Initiation and Stability Underwater

Teaches scratch and touch-start techniques adapted for the underwater arc environment. Students learn to maintain stable arc length despite buoyancy and current interference.

Lesson 3 • Flat and Horizontal Position Welding

Introduces bead-on-plate and fillet weld practice in the 1F and 2F positions as the baseline skill set. Flat and horizontal positions are the most common in structural repair work.

Lesson 4 • Groove Welds and Joint Preparation

Covers butt joint preparation, root pass technique, and multi-pass fill sequences for groove welds. Groove weld proficiency is required for structural and pipeline qualification tests.

Lesson 1 • Oxy-Arc Cutting Fundamentals

Covers the oxy-arc process using tubular steel electrodes to cut ferrous and non-ferrous metals underwater. Oxy-arc is the most widely used thermal cutting method in commercial diving.

Lesson 2 • Plasma Arc Cutting Underwater

Explains underwater plasma arc cutting system setup, water injection, and parameter optimisation for clean cuts. Plasma cutting offers superior speed and precision on thin plate and pipe.

Lesson 3 • Cutting Safety and Debris Management

Addresses blast risk from trapped gases, falling debris, and fire hazards during underwater cutting operations. Students develop a cutting safety plan and debris containment strategy.

Lesson 4 • Exothermic Cutting Rods

Introduces exothermic cutting rod systems capable of cutting concrete, cast iron, and non-conductive materials. Expands the diver's capability beyond oxy-arc limitations.

Lesson 1 • Visual and Dimensional Inspection

Trains students to apply visual weld inspection criteria and dimensional gauging to completed underwater welds. Visual inspection is the first and most frequent quality gate on every weld.

Lesson 2 • Steel Metallurgy Fundamentals

Reviews iron-carbon phase diagrams, heat-affected zone formation, and hardenability concepts relevant to structural steels. Provides the metallurgical basis for understanding underwater weld defects.

Lesson 3 • Hydrogen Cracking in Wet Welds

Explains the mechanism of hydrogen-induced cold cracking specific to wet welding and its prevention strategies. Hydrogen cracking is the primary metallurgical failure mode in underwater welds.

Lesson 4 • Common Weld Defects and Causes

Catalogues porosity, undercut, lack of fusion, and cracking defects with their underwater-specific causes. Students link each defect to corrective parameter adjustments.

Lesson 1 • Habitat Welding Quality Assurance

Integrates NDT, documentation, and classification society witness requirements specific to hyperbaric weld certification. Students produce a complete quality record for a simulated habitat weld job.

Lesson 2 • Atmosphere Control and Gas Management

Teaches oxygen, carbon dioxide, and humidity monitoring and control inside the welding habitat. Atmosphere management directly affects diver safety and arc stability at depth.

Lesson 3 • Hyperbaric GTAW Process

Applies gas tungsten arc welding techniques adapted for elevated pressure environments and helium-based shielding gases. GTAW produces the highest-quality welds achievable in dry hyperbaric operations.

Lesson 4 • Hyperbaric Habitat Design and Setup

Covers habitat types, structural requirements, and installation procedures for dry hyperbaric welding enclosures. Correct habitat setup is the prerequisite for all dry welding operations.

Lesson 1 • Jacket Structure and Node Repair

Addresses weld repair of tubular joints, grouted members, and corroded nodes on fixed offshore platforms. Node repairs require precise fit-up and multi-pass welding in restricted access positions.

Lesson 2 • Hull and Ship Repair Welding

Covers plate replacement, crack repair, and sea chest welding on ship hulls without dry-docking. Students apply wet and habitat welding methods to hull repair scenarios.

Lesson 3 • Underwater Structural Inspection Methods

Covers close visual inspection, cathodic protection surveys, and corrosion mapping on offshore structures. Inspection findings directly drive repair scope and welding procedure selection.

Lesson 4 • Project Planning and Documentation

Integrates dive planning, welding procedure specification, risk assessment, and as-built documentation into a complete project package. Professional documentation is required for client acceptance and regulatory compliance.