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Deepest saturation dive
World record
534 m (1,752 ft)
COMEX Hydra 8, Hyperbaric Experimental Centre, Marseille, France, 1988. Breathing a gas mixture of hydroheliox (hydrogen 49%, helium 50% and oxygen 1%), it took four COMEX (Compagnie maritime d’expertises) divers, and two divers of the Marine nationale (French Navy), eight days to compress inside a chamber to the maximum bottom pressure of 53 atmospheres (780 psi). A total of six dives were conducted with a total of 28 hours of work at depths of 520 m (1,706 ft) and 534 m (1,752 ft). Once at depth, the divers conducted pipeline connection exercises in open water. After completing their assigned tasks, the divers reentered the chamber for 18 days of decompression. The record openwater dive in the Mediterranean led to COMEX’s record experimental saturation dive in 1992.
COMEX divers: Thierry Arnold, Régis Peilho, Patrick Raude, Louis Schneider.
Marine nationale divers: Serge Icart, JeanGuy MarcelAuda.