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vehicle's manufacturer for formal training. The cost of training can be expensive, 

 one operator's staff of ROV operators and maintainers increased from 23 to 

 75 individuals over an 18 month period. 



No precise agreement could be reached regarding how long it takes to train 

 a person to the point where he can be considered fully qualified in all 

 aspects of the operation. But a period of one year or one diving season seemed 

 to be indicated. A period of two years was quoted as the amount of experience 

 necessary before an individual could be considered qualified as an ROV crew 

 leader or operations supervisor. 



The problem becomes more difficult during the winter season when few opportunities 

 are available to work (unless the operator is fortunate enough to obtain jobs 

 in the southern hemisphere) . During this period the ROV crew must still be 

 employed - and carried as overhead - until the summer diving season commences. 

 Unfortunately, at just about the time an individual is fully trained, he (or 

 his wife) have decided that long, uncomfortable periods at sea are not satis- 

 factory and employment is sought elsewhere in land-bound pursuits. So, the 

 recruitment problem is virtually near-constant. 



Several operating companies feel that it would be possible to keep qualified 

 personnel in spite of the long sea-going periods if the time and length of the 

 job could be specified in advance, perhaps six to eight months. Under this 

 arrangement the sea-going personnel could plan their lives with some degree 

 of consistency. But such long lead times are not possible, two to three weeks 

 (and sometimes days) are more likely. 



The problem is an extremely difficult one for the industrial operator, and 

 no immediate solution is foreseen. Unlike the diving industry, where there is 

 a degree of commonality between techniques and equipment, the wide variation 

 in design and capabilities between ROVs does not particularly lend itself to 

 establishing schools for ROV operators who will be qualified across the board 

 to operate and maintain one specific vehicle. 



The foregoing problems represent ROV performance primarily in the industrial 

 field. Table 4.2 presents a summary of these problems, and includes the causes 

 of the problems; their results and solutions. Although this list appears formidable, 

 it is important to emphasize that they are not preventing ROV operators from 

 accomplishing the job. In spite of many obstacles, the primary tasks of obser- 

 vation and photographic/TV documentation are being accomplished. 



In the course of this study, each ROV operator was queried regarding what he 

 considered to be immediate research/development required to increase the capa- 

 bilities and/or efficiency of present operations. The replies, in virtually 

 every instance, reflected the particular operator's current problems and did 

 not deal much beyond the practical aspects of ROV operations. While each 

 operator did reflect a relatively unique set of problems, a consensus opinion - 

 regarding research and development for the field at large - is that day-to-day 

 problems are enough to keep them busy; the problems are still being identified, 

 and just keeping up with the system is all the research and development they 

 can handle at present. The following recommendations are, therefore, more in 

 the form of improvements on present technology rather than new research and 

 development programs. 



