Naval underwater exercises

It’s just a little before 10am and the N.R.P. Almirante Gago is already half way to the dive site – 10 nautical miles (roughly 18 kilometres) south west of Portimão.

While she’s underway, leaders of all the dive teams squeeze into the improvised meeting room for the day’s supervisors’ briefing. Officer Paulo Franco gives instructions in English and talks about the exercises planned, to take place at depths of between 75 and 79 metres.

Just like real operations, deep diving always has a well-defined objective – work. The Portuguese team is simulating the recovery of a pilot from a helicopter that’s crashed. They’re going to use sonar to localise the submerged flight apparatus.

The Canadians are off in search of an unexploded wartime bomb, which they have to locate and disarm underwater – and then winch up to the surface, while the Estonian and Norwegian divers will be going to the aid of a submarine in difficulties (in an operation dubbed “subsunk simulator”).

In all there are five different training scenarios, each one taking an average of two hours to complete. At the end, participants discuss the ops and exchange experiences – which is the principal objective of «Deep Divex 2010». The second is the capacity of different nations to work together, in mixed groups and joint cooperation.

Each nationality has its own equipment and acts independently – although many procedures share standards common to all. Out at sea, the teams are accompanied by a support boat (green boat), and an emergency craft (red boat).

Heroes and casualties

“Military diving tests the physiological capacities of a human being to the limit. It’s done with very sophisticated equipment - all of which can fail” explains Gouveia e Melo, Commander of the Portuguese Navy’s “Subsurface Squadron” (involving submarines and divers), and coordinator of «Deep Divex 2010».

This is exactly what happened to the Belgian team, on 30th September. Their equipment failed. “One of the divers lost consciousness at a depth of around 78 metres, and another one, trying to save him, made an emergency ascension to the surface which is a very risky procedure. His sense of altruism trying to save his colleague is really to be commended - as he did indeed save the man’s life. The unconscious diver was at the first stage of drowning”, Gouveia e Melo explained.

Both divers had to spend six hours decompressing the effects of their rapid rise to the surface in the ship’s two onboard hyperbaric chambers. Then they were evacuated by helicopter to Lisbon’s Naval Hospital. “Neither of them are on the danger list, and they aren’t at risk of losing any of their faculties” the Naval commander guaranteed.

All part of the job? On the ship’s poopdeck, Commander Conceição watches the exercises intently. He’s 40 years old, and coincidentally from Portimão. He joined the Navy in 1998. “Anxiety is permanent. It’s a risky activity, and being aware of this means we’re always running high on adrenaline”, he told.

Conceição is in charge of three diving groups in the Portuguese Navy – a total of around 105 divers. “There’s a whole battery of medical tests and psycho-technical evaluations that candidates have to undergo before they start their 9-month-long course”. Heroes? They are “prepared to act in any aquatic environment”. They’re all under 30-years-old and undertake, on average, 500 missions a year – most of them of a civilian nature. The nature of their work means, Conceição explains, that divers share a special “camaraderie” and “team spirit”.

Gouveia e Melo recalls “recent incidents in which the capacity to dive below 50 metres was essential”. Such was the case in the shipwreck involving fishing boat «Super-Águia II» last June, off the coast of Aveiro. Naval divers managed to recover the body of one of the missing crewmembers from the inside of the boat.

As Gouveia e Melo explained to us, it’s very important for families to recover the body of a loved one – and, often, the recovery of a body is essential for the payout of any insurances. And ultimately, dives by these professionals can help establish the causes behind accidents and wrecks. The recovery of valuable objects, or proof of drug-trafficking are other examples of this service afforded to the public.

Regarding the Algarve, Gouveia e Melo considered “the climatic and oceanographic conditions are exceptional” – and that this year’s «Deep Divex» will have “excellent international repercussions, from the point of view of navies in general, and for the whole diving community”. This could also indirectly benefit the region’s tourism…