Up to about 30 years' ago diving activity was centred primarily on the
naval services, who provided a lead in the development of equipment,
techniques and procedures. Apart from one or two spectacular salvage
undertakings, the main commercial activity up until that time was fairly
low-key work in docks and harbours. The concept of saturation diving
emerged from subsea habitats of which Captain Cousteau was one of the
pioneers. This led the way to commercial development in support of
exploration and the production of offshore oil and gas, and I believe
that my friend Henri Delauze was one of the first to mount the subsea
habitat on deck and provide a sealed bell to convey divers from the
habitat to the seabed without change of pressure. A remarkable feature
of offshore oil and gas technology in the North Sea has been the
willingness of all concerned to exchange information regarding R&D. This
has had a major effect on the advance in technology over the last few
years. As far as diving is concerned, it is to some extent 'Hobson's
Choice'. Legal patents are difficult to achieve in this field, and the
casual nature of diver employment to date has meant that ideas and
techniques circulate almost as freely as the divers themselves. In
addition, the advertis- ing of the new technologies which one has to
offer almost auto- matically means disclosure of what otherwise might be
secret.