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14/08/2005: "COMMERCIAL DIVING"
A few minutes after this picture was taken, the commercial diver (pictured) was blown up when his thermic lance 'backfired' in an underwater explosion that almost killed him.
Much later he was still going through the law court's to get a compensation payment from his workers insurance.
The ship in question had a four-blade bronze prop. One blade dropped off at sea due to a fault or a collision.
A maritime strike was costing the ship owners heaps. No early hope of dry dock repairs, so something which might allow it to keep running was the alternative.
There was too much vibration occuring to run the ship with the prop seriously out of balance. Solution? Remove underwater the opposite blade to the one missing, and run at less rev's with two blades.
The underwater picture shows bright metal where the propellor blade detached itself. Commercial diver Eric Buchanan's face and his fingers barely visible in the Darling Harbour murky waters.
To cut metal underwater a thermic lance is the device to use, an incredible invention.
The lance is of a magnesium-type metal tube with pure oxygen fed through a hose to the pre-heated red hot tip.
A gas pocket build-up in the metal must have ignited. THUMP!
Eric floated to the surface unconscious. His assistant diving tender then jumped in to rescue him.
Eric was taken by ambulance to hospital, with his condition listed as critical.
(A hospital doctor mistaking the purple birth-mark on Eric's neck as associated with the underwater explosion was the reason for initial concern, plus bleeding from his ears).
Years later Eric Buchanan contacted sought pictures of his rescue and injury which may have assisted as evidence for the insurance claim.
Eric died before a settlement payout was made, about 27 years after the accident!
This picture in negative form had been in unmarked files and 'surfaced' only this week. It may not have helped Eric much, but it does serve as reminder of the event and questions some marine insurance coverages.
NOTE:The product is terrific heat as the lance burns away rapidly, fed by the oxygen, the BROCCO cutting system (ultra thermic lance.) This device comprised of a magnesium welding rod and high pressure O2, burns at over ten thousand degrees fahrenheit.
The system was originally devised by the US navy and was first utilised during the salvage of the wreckage from the Pearl Harbour aftermath (WW2). (source: DiverDan)
