Subsea training centre revamps ROV training courses

Students undertaking ROV training at the Fort William based subsea facility, The Underwater Centre, are to benefit from newly revamped courses providing even more contextual training modules.

The Centre has been working with industry to identify areas of its ROV training suite which can be enhanced and courses for the remainder of 2015 will reflect this with major developments across the board.



Students on the ROV Pilot Technician Course will benefit from entirely unique training elements including time on the Centre’s Loch Sunart ROV vessel and training in the ROV electrical and mechanical workshops, features unavailable at any other facility.

Loch Sunart is the Centre’s work class ROV support vessel fitted with an operational work class ROV, and this will provide students with invaluable first-hand experience in all areas of ROV operations and mobilisation, from launch and recovery to operating a suite of ROV navigation sensors as part of in-water practical exercises.

In addition to this, the Centre has overhauled the seven week Premium ROV Course to include a condensed and more focused electronics module as well as introducing courses covering High Voltage, Titan 4 Manipulator, Working at Heights, Fibre Optics, OTDR and VMAX Simulator training.

Steve Ham, the Centre’s General Manager, believes that by continuing to update and revise the courses they are providing students with the best possible contextual training throughout their careers.

“We have spent considerable time reviewing our ROV offering and with the help of industry we have been able to identify areas where we could strengthen our training packages,” he said.

“What sets The Underwater Centre apart from other training establishments is that all of the vital practical activities undertaken occur within the context of real ROV systems and equipment, in real environments, under real conditions and with real safety considerations at the forefront, all of which have a direct correlation to the real offshore environment.

“This opportunity is unequalled anywhere else in the world.”

The Underwater Centre is a purpose-built subsea training and trials facility and is based on the shore of a seawater loch, well sheltered by the surrounding mountains. The Centre’s unique location allows it to provide year-round training and testing in an open-water environment, while still being centrally located in the largest town in the Scottish Highlands.

With access to depths of over 100 metres, it is the ideal location to perform realistic and industry-specific saturation and air diver and ROV pilot technician training, as well as providing a convenient location for subsea equipment trials.

The Underwater Centre, which also has a school in Tasmania, comprises an extensive pier complex including four dive stations, classrooms and workshops. The Centre has a set-up similar to that of offshore, with ROV control cabins, launch and recovery systems and a dedicated engineering and electronic workshop. Trainees also train alongside the Centre’s commercial diving students, preparing them for working with divers on real jobs.

Location: Fort William, UK