Into the Lion’s Mouth
Reviewed by Steven M. Barsky
© 2012 S. Barsky. All rights reserved.
It’s rare to read a book on commercial diving where the story is both compelling and technically accurate. Most non-diving authors invariably get some of the information garbled or deliberately “dumb it down” for the non-diving public. When an author has the background to write an engrossing diving tale that combines technical accuracy, true adventure, historical perspective, tragedy, and emotion, you end up with a unique book that commands your attention. Into the Lion’s Mouth by Michael Smart is such a book.
Whether you know anything about commercial diving or not, I can’t imagine anyone who has an interest in diving not finding this book a fascinating read. The story recounts the tragic death of two commercial divers, Victor Guiel and Richard Walker, who died in a bell diving accident while working from a diving support vessel, the Wildrake, in the British sector of the North Sea. Michael Smart, the author, was also a commercial diver and worked in the North Sea starting in 1979.
Guiel and Walker were both charismatic, popular men, who by all accounts were competent divers, who went to work for an upstart company called Infabco. Walker was a graduate of the Santa Barbara City College Marine Technology program while Guiel was from the east coast but attended the Commercial Diving Center in Wilmington, California. Infabco was an aggressive commercial diving firm composed largely of divers from SubSea International, a diving company formed by the late Dan Wilson. (Note: I worked for SubSea and many of my friends left the company for a “better deal” with Infabco.)
With an entirely new diving system, and a state-of-the-art vessel, the Wildrake, from which to work, at a casual glance Infabco looked like the place to be for anyone who wanted to get ahead rapidly in the diving field. Infabco was supposed to pay better than SubSea and commercial divers are notorious for changing companies in search of the “better deal.”
Unfortunately, not all of the systems or equipment on Wildrake were up to the safe standards set for commercial diving. There were numerous defects in the saturation system, and the ship had its own set of problems, but most crucially the bell lacked a proper “stage” (or platform) which would have helped keep the bottom hatch clear of the bottom. In addition, the emergency drop weights for the bell could not be released.
The accident took place in the North Sea’s Thistle field in 526 feet of water where the divers were working from the Wildrake on a Single Anchor Leg Mooring (SALM), a type of oil terminal. Using a Dynamic Positioning (DP) System, the ship was designed to theoretically maintain position over a dive site without the need to lay an anchor spread. DP systems were new technology and had a notorious track record for failing to operate properly at critical moments. This was in the days before modern microchips and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers.
Because the DP system was not working properly, the decision was made to lay an anchor spread. While Walker was working outside the bell on the bottom, the lift wire separated from the bell. The umbilical, which supplied the hot water, breathing gas, communications and power, was damaged. Eventually the bell was set on the seabed with the divers trapped inside without communications with topside, without hot water to heat the bell, and without a way to drop the ballast weights that would have allowed the bell to ascend to the surface using its own buoyancy. Compounding these issues was the fact that there was not a clear-cut chain of command, and the supervision for the rescue was taken over by Brian Masterson, the majority shareholder in Infabco. Masterson was a businessman, with no experience running a diving operation, let alone a rescue of the magnitude this accident required.
Explaining a technical profession like saturation diving in a way that a layman can understand is not easy, but Smart has done an outstanding job of illuminating the intricacies of the diving bell and other system components in a way that will be understandable to the uninitiated. In addition, he managed to collect many historical photographs and documents (a difficult task by itself) that are spread throughout the book. Where adequate photos don’t exist, there are illustrations to further clarify the story.
Michael Smart has done a remarkable job pulling together the facts of an incident that took place more than 30 years ago. In the book, he not only explains the details of the event, but also places the entire story in the historical context of the worldwide demand for oil during this period, but even more so, what was happening in the UK, culturally, politically, and financially. Smart’s exhaustive research for this work included numerous books, British offshore regulations, court documents (from the ensuing litigation), dive logs, design drawings, personal diaries, and magazine articles. As a diver who worked in the North Sea myself during this same period, and worked with many of the people in the book, I found Smart’s writing captured the essence of this time and place in history with great accuracy.
If there is any weakness in the book, it lies in Smart’s portrayal of Guiel and Walker as victims of the commercial diving industry with little responsibility for their own safety. If there is one thing that all working divers are taught, it is that every diver has the ability and obligation to step back from any dive that he feels presents unacceptable risk. Yes, there have been unfair penalties imposed by some diving companies on divers who have declined to dive in dangerous circumstances (although my personal experience does not bear this out). While Smart acknowledges that Walker and Guiel bore some of the responsibility for their own deaths, the overwhelming tone of the story is that Walker and Guiel were innocent victims. Anyone who had reached their level of competence in commercial diving would had to have recognized the defects in the diving system and made a conscious decision that the risks were within acceptable limits. This is not a major criticism of the book, but it is a factual observation of the slant that colors the story. Of course, every written work, including this review, is told through the filter of the author’s opinions.
Guiel and Walker definitely were victims of the owner of Infabco, Brian Masterson, who made wrong decision after wrong decision during the course of the rescue attempts. His lack of care constituted criminal negligence. Smart explores the ensuing litigation that followed the case, which dragged on for years through the courts in Scotland.
Into the Lion’s Mouth is an outstanding achievement, which is made even more impressive when you realize that this book is a first effort by Michael Smart. If you are looking for an exceptional diving book this is one you will definitely want to read.
You can order this book from the non-profit Historical Diving Society USA by contacting products@hds.org.
About the Reviewer:
Steven M. Barsky is a former commercial diver, author, diving consultant, and professional underwater photographer and filmmaker. He also is a former board member of the HDS USA and a frequent contributor to Historical Diver Magazine. You can reach Steve through his website at www.marinemkt.com
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