Barrel Clearance - Underwater Gas Pipe line
Aqaba diving services have secured the tender to remove a barrel like object from the vicinity of the Egypt to Jordan gas pipe line. This showed up on a survey by the Egyptian Gas Company in 2006. Initial survey photos prompted fears that it could be a Mk56 US Mine dropped by the Israelis, research proved that an Israeli ship had dropped by accident a barrel of chemical agents used for weapon making while transferring a cargo in late 2005. This is a possibility so maximum safety precautions will be taken on the initial approach and survey of the object by the team. Trimix was used to give a shallow END of less than 30m on the initial dive. Survey's showed that the object lies at 70m depth. It was located and proved to be no hazard as it was an old ships mooring, it was moved from the pipeline and photographic record kept. Underwater photographic systems that were used were tested to 75m on 20th December 2008. The work finally commenced in February 2009 after permissions were secured to dive in the area. Final work was carried on in March after moving the barrel to a safe distance.
