JFD’s COBRA bailout rebreather

JFD’s COBRA bailout rebreather

JFD’s COBRA bailout rebreather successfully completes first offshore dive to 270msw

JFD, the world-leading submarine rescue and diving equipment company and part of James Fisher and Sons plc, received fantastic feedback from DOF Subsea following the first major offshore dive for its new deep diving rebreather, COBRA (Compact Bailout Rebreathing Apparatus).

JFD’s COBRA bailout rebreather

Earlier this year, JFD released COBRA into the market to replace conventional SCUBA bailout methods, providing divers with a greatly extended supply of breathing gas in the event of a primary supply failure. Last month following extensive testing, COBRA was granted full CE marking status, making it the only approved system of its kind to achieve NORSOK U101 (Diving Respiratory Equipment) and EN14143 (Self Contained Rebreathing Apparatus) standards. As such, COBRA leads the way in terms of safety and functionality.

Upon delivery of their new COBRA systems, DOF Subsea divers and technicians received familiarity and maintenance training from JFD on-board their Skandi Singapore DSV before embarking on a saturation diving project to 270msw in Australia.

At these extreme depths, traditional bailout systems would offer the divers less than 3 minutes of emergency breathing gas, whereas the COBRA system provides 20 minutes minimum duration for this depth, offering the diver a greatly extended opportunity to return safely to the diving bell.

COBRA has been designed and developed by JFD to reduce a diver’s gas usage by effectively recycling the diver’s breath, removing carbon dioxide and injecting a flow of fresh breathing gas to replace the oxygen consumed. COBRA can be tested at any time, giving divers vital reassurance through the single turn activation valve on the helmet. This allows the diver to mechanically switch COBRA on and off as a pre-dive check.

JFD’s COBRA bailout rebreather

The divers were satisfied with the set’s performance during the dive and JFD received extremely positive feedback with regards to ease of use, comfort, practicality and the greatly improved safety benefits offered by the system.

COBRA marks a step change in diver safety by improving the chances of survival for a diver when disconnected from his primary supply, a hugely relevant issue in the industry. It is believed that COBRA will be adopted globally as standard for all saturation divers at all depths, not just for deeper diving.

JFD managing director, Giovanni Corbetta commented:

“JFD is delighted with COBRA’s recent performance throughout both the CE marking testing and the recent dive to 270msw. We are confident that the system provides divers with a reliable and practical solution to an issue which has been of huge concern to diving contractors and oil and gas operators for a number of years. Previous bailout systems’ shortfalls have now been addressed and we are expecting companies to adopt COBRA within their procedures to raise the safety level of diving activities and to ensure preventable diver casualties are widely reduced.”