Deep Water Disaster: Saturation Diving

Saturation divers are professional deep-sea divers who descend to depths of 500 feet (152 meters) or more to service equipment on offshore oil rigs and undersea pipelines. But unlike most commercial divers, who do a few hours of work underwater and return to the surface, saturation divers will spend up to 28 days on a single job, living in a cramped high-pressure chamber where they eat and sleep between shifts. Pay is great for saturation divers — between $30,000 and $45,000 a month — but it's intense work in an otherworldly and claustrophobic environment. And it can be dangerous. In 1983, four saturation divers and one crew member were killed in a gruesome accident aboard a Norwegian-operated oil rig called the Byford Dolphin. Follow us on Instagram Listen to our sister podcast: History of Everything Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices