55 



some for eight hours. The deciding factor is the nature of the task. When 

 the job calls for intense concentration, such as working inside a structure 

 or working with the manipulators, the duration of an individual's watch is 

 short. Where the job calls for "flying and looking" the amount of concentration 

 called for is less and, consequently, the watch duration is longer. The length 

 of time for which an ROV pilot can operate effectively at a task calling for 

 intense concentration is surprisingly short. The results of interviews with 

 seventeen ROV operating companys reveal that the effective time span is between 

 one to four hours, the average being 1.6 hours. At tasks requiring minimal 

 concentration the duration range is four to eight hours. The longest continuous 

 submerged operation by ROV operators interviewed in this study was 17 hours ; 

 three to five hours seems to be the average dive duration. 



In some operations the effectiveness of the ship's Master can limit the length 

 of an operation. When the surface ship is live boating or continuously maneuvering 

 to stay within one location the strain on the Master can be intense. One operator 

 stated that eight hours was the effective limit on the Master in such circum- 

 stances. Relieving the Master with another officer is not necessarily a 

 viable solution since the expertise required in the relief personnel to maneuver 

 the ship may be - and often is - lacking. 



The types of crew members and their responsibilities are quite varied. One 

 RCV-225 operator has a crew of five: one supervisor and four Electronic 

 Technicians (ETs) /pilots. One TROV operator fields a crew of four: one 

 supervisor; two ETs, and one mechanical/hydraulic specialist - all of which 

 are qualified pilots, and rotate on a four -man watch from pilot- to-navigator- 

 to- winch handler. The U.S. Navy's DEEP DRONE fields a crew of five who rotate 

 at three different stations: pilot, sonar operator, and plotter. Another operator 

 provides a crew of seven: one supervisor, one vehicle engineer, one photographer 

 and four operators/maintainers. The variety of people and their tasks are as 

 varied as are the number of ROV operators. 



The background of most vehicle crew members, particularly the pilots/maintainers , 

 is in electronics. The better crew members according to the vehicle owners, 

 also have had experience at-sea in handling heavy loads and are proficient 

 marlinspike seamen. A common problem among operators is not a lack of people, 

 but a lack of people with experience offshore. 



Training of ROV personnel depends upon the operator. Some organizations simply 

 assign a new member to an experienced crew and let on the job training do the 

 rest. Several operators send their people to the manufacturer's plant where 

 a two- to three -week course in operations, maintenance and repair is provided. 

 Following the manufacturer's course, some operators have an additional in-house 

 course before the new crew member is sent to sea. Training for operation and 

 maintenance of some of the more sophisticated navigation systems may also 

 require that a week or more be spent at the manufacturer's plant. Estimates 

 vary concerning how long it takes to develop a thoroughly qualified pilot/ 

 technician; at a minimum, six months (one operating season) to an average of 

 one year, is the most common estimate. Although the problems encountered by 

 today's ROV operators are discussed in detail in a later section, it is 

 appropriate at this point to note that the major problem confronting all 

 operators is a lack of experienced personnel. 



