Remotely operated underwater vehicles, or ROVs, are increasingly valuable on commercial dive jobs. One of the key reasons for this is that ROVs help preserve the health and well-being of commercial divers. ROVs are employed in:

• Unknown conditions.Frequently, dive companies use ROVs to locate structures they are looking for and to assess the surroundings. This is far safer and more cost-effective then exposing a diver to unknown conditions on a commercial dive job.
  
  
• Deep dives.ROVs don’t suffer from either depth or decompression. As an unmanned vehicle, they can go as deep as necessary and become a pair of underwater eyes without exposing a diver to decompression issues. The Titanic was discovered at a depth of over 13,000 feet by using an ROV.
  
  
• Dangerous situations.ROVs save commercial divers from being exposed to radiation from nuclear power plants, chemical contamination, oil spills, and hazardous currents.
  
  
• Tight spots.Hydroelectric facilities, nuclear power plants, and water treatment plants all use pipes – lots of them. However, pipes are dangerous place for divers, being narrow, confined places. An ROV can check the integrity of pipe structures and of filtration systems without endangering divers.
  
  
• Professional back-up.ROVs are often employed as a “topside eye” on a commercial dive job, allowing an engineer or client on the surface to see what a diver sees down below. Guidance and direction can then be provided in real-time to the diver.

ROV technology is undergoing constant enhancement. Already some ROVs have manipulator arms to allow them to perform work underwater. ROVs allow commercial divers to rove better, deeper, and faster than ever before!