One of the most shocking and gruesome industrial accidents in history unfolded in the cold waters of the North Sea in 1983, leaving a permanent scar on the world of commercial diving.
The Fatal Dive on the Byford Dolphin Rig
In November 1983, the semi-submersible oil drilling rig Byford Dolphin was stationed in the North Sea. A team of saturation divers was engaged in a deep-sea mission, a routine yet perilous operation for the offshore oil industry.
The diving team consisted of four divers: Edwin Arthur Coward (35), Roy P. Lucas (38), Bjørn Giæver Bergersen (29), and Truls Hellevik (34). They were assisted by two tenders, William Crammond (32) and Martin Saunders (30).
To work at such depths, the divers lived under pressure in a complex system of chambers on the rig for a 28-day period. This saturation diving technique allowed their bodies to absorb inert gases like nitrogen safely, preventing the need for lengthy decompression after every dive.
A Catastrophic Failure in Seconds
The disaster occurred on 5 November 1983. Divers Bergersen and Hellevik were returning to the main living chambers via a diving bell, a transfer that required a perfect seal to maintain pressure.
In a catastrophic sequence, a mechanical failure or human error caused the diving bell to be detached seconds before the chamber door was fully sealed. The result was instantaneous and horrific.
The pressure inside the chamber, which should have been a stable nine atmospheres, plummeted to one atmosphere in a fraction of a second. This triggered an explosive decompression sickness of unimaginable severity.
The Horrific Aftermath and Sole Survivor
The four divers inside died immediately. The rapid pressure drop caused the nitrogen dissolved in their bloodstreams to expand violently into bubbles, effectively causing their blood to boil and tissues to rupture from within.
Truls Hellevik, who was closest to the opening, was physically ejected through a 60-centimetre gap. The force was so immense that his internal organs were expelled from his body.
Tender William Crammond was struck and killed by the violently released diving bell. Miraculously, Martin Saunders survived the incident, though he sustained severe injuries including collapsed lungs, a broken neck, and fractures to his back.
An official investigation later concluded the cause was human error, though the precise chain of events remains a subject of discussion. The tragedy highlighted critical flaws in the rig's diving system safety protocols, most notably the lack of interlocking mechanisms to prevent such an unsealed decompression.
A Lasting Legacy on Diving Safety
The Byford Dolphin accident stands as one of the deadliest and most visually shocking incidents in offshore history. It prompted a major overhaul of safety standards within the saturation diving industry.
New, fail-safe designs for diving bell clamping systems were mandated to ensure a repeat of the rapid, uncontrolled decompression could never happen again. The memory of the five men who lost their lives in such a gruesome manner continues to serve as a sobering reminder of the extreme risks faced by those working in the deep.
