Rising numbers are 'retraining as divers'
17/07/2008(15:31)
A teaching centre claims that a rising number of people are retraining as offshore divers.
The Underwater Centre, in Fort William, has said that it has seen "significant numbers" of construction workers being recruited to the offshore trade, reports the BBC.
Up to 400 new divers are expected to qualify this year according to the centre and many are encouraged to enter the industry due to the soaring price of oil and the "North Sea boom".
Ali Macleod, senior instructor at the centre, told the news provider that the opportunities that exist offshore are "phenomenal".
"If they get into the North Sea, for example, the current pay rate for an air diver is about £450 a day. When we dive deeper and live in decompression chambers and saturation, the pay rate goes up to £1,040," he added.
The general manager of the Professional Diving Academy recently told the Press and Journal that only about 3 per cent of diving recruits were female and encouraged more women to consider it as a career.
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