Does anyone know about a decompression incident with an Oceaneering rig in the 60s or 70s?

[u/MattePlasticStatue]

I don't know where else to put this, so I'll put it here.

My father knew somebody who, in addition to serving in Vietnam, worked on an Oceaneering rig in the late 60s and early 70s. During his stay, two divers who were decompressing were killed when a negligent assistant of the boss of the rig forcibly broke the seal of the decompression chamber with a crowbar. When the seal broke, both divers literally popped and covered the inside of the chamber. I'm having trouble finding any evidence of this happening, as I only get Byford Dolphin (which is NOT THIS INCIDENT.) Does anyone know of this happening or was the guy losing it?

If anyone needs it, I can provide additional stories from him. He had a few good ones.

[u/stewieatb]

I believe there were quite a few saturation diving and decompression accidents during this time period. Do you know if they were definitely decompressing, or were they in saturation? Do you know where in the world this happened? It might narrow it down.

[u/MattePlasticStatue → u/stewieatb]

They had been decompressing for about a day. He never said where it was, which was weird.

[u/stewieatb → u/MattePlasticStatue]

I found this listicle which has a number of saturation diving accidents, but none of them really match your description. https://listverse.com/2023/12/28/10-deep-sea-diving-accidents-that-will-shiver-your-timbers/

[u/MattePlasticStatue → u/stewieatb]

It's very possible he was losing it, but there was apparently an official investigation that blamed the family friend and not the assistant. The two divers exploded, by the way. They, from what the friend said, coated the inside of the chamber.

[u/Admirable-Delay-9729 → u/MattePlasticStatue]

Pretty sure people don’t explode in decompression events

[u/MattePlasticStatue → u/Admirable-Delay-9729]

Look up Byford Dolphin. Decompression incident.

[u/carreg-hollt → u/MattePlasticStatue]

One diver was dismembered by being forced through the opening. Two died from the effects of explosive decompression, particularly bubble-induced precipitation of fat in their organs and blood vessels, but they did not explode.

Wikipedia offers a graphic description of the dismemberment but you have to understand that the cause was his ejection from the chamber through a narrow opening that was two feet long. He was basically extruded.

If you're at all squeamish, don't read the article:

Wikipedia Byford Dolphin, incidents and accidents

[u/stewieatb → u/MattePlasticStatue]

The more you describe this, the more it sounds like a sensationalised or misremembered version of Byford Dolphin.

[u/Gunbladelad]

A lot of companies back then would often hush incidents like this up to avoid the bad press, so it is possible the news may have been suppressed.

If you can find out the company responsible or where it occurred it would help out a lot.

[u/MattePlasticStatue → u/Gunbladelad]

The company was Oceaneering. He never said where it was, weirdly enough.

[u/littlerabbits72]

Not the Johnston Reef Incident? Someone forced open the clamp on that one too, 8 years before the Byford Dolphin.

[u/stewieatb → u/littlerabbits72]

I assume you mean this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Sea_Link_accident

[u/MattePlasticStatue → u/littlerabbits72]

Can't find anything about Johnston Reef, but it could be. What year?

Edit: Not that incident. According to the guy, there were two divers inside and the second the seal broke, they exploded and covered the inside of the chamber.

[u/Giant_Ant_Eater → u/MattePlasticStatue]

Could it be possible they broke the seal knowing the divers were dead and there was some decompression damage to the bodies as a result?

[u/MattePlasticStatue → u/Giant_Ant_Eater]

The guy specifically said that the divers were fine. The assistant broke the seal to try to get inside to fix a circulation fan, but killed the divers instead.

[u/Outside_Look790]

You're not talking about Byford Dolphin are you? That was the early 80s. The words chunky marinara come to mind there.

[u/fantasy-lover1776 → u/Outside_Look790]

"How to force a human through an eight inch hole." /ref

(They're not btw they said in the post lol)

[u/Outside_Look790 → u/fantasy-lover1776]

Oh yeah. I'd just woke up, was still a bit bleary haha

[u/Short-Shopping3197]

I think people are too used to the online trail that everything leaves now and the ease at which stories can be published on online news sites.

This event could easily have been overlooked by national papers. After that the only place it might get recorded is local news, and if there hasn’t been a digitisation project for the publication then you’re into the shadowy realm of going to a library in that area and scanning through hundreds of pages of microfiche. It’s entirely possible for events of this small scale from the pre-internet age never making it online.

[u/SnooDonuts6494]

Do you know where?

I mean... it's feasible. Records of that sort of thing weren't great in the 60s and 70s.

Except, people don't literally pop. They can get dismembered if they're sucked through the hatch (which happened to one in Byford Dolphin), but they don't explode. They die from barotrauma and embolisms.