Birmingham, November 2022 ADC AGM 2022

An annual event where the Inland/Inshore Industry representatives and Members have the opportunity to catch up with their peers, network, and to share ideas and best practice.

Our most recent AGM had the highest attendance we have seen. It was fantastic to see lots of new faces and members really keen to be more involved with the Association and the industry as a whole. The 2022 AGM was held across two days with a packed and varied agenda.

Speakers

As always, it was great to welcome Judith Tetlow, the HSE Chief Inspector of Diving, to our annual event and to obtain an insight into the challenges and feedback from the HSE Diving Division. The ADC was able to update its members on the progress of the Association over the past year and discuss any challenges. And, as always, we were pleased to welcome some great speakers to our AGM this year.

John Wrottlesley who represents ESCA ‘The European Subsea Cables Association, provided an update on how ESCA prevents cable failures, engages with other regulatory bodies and how they address the overall environmental impact of subsea cables. It was a great presentation with an awareness of a subject matter that is seldom thought about.

We were really excited to introduce our Guest Speaker — John Volanthen. John along with Rick Stanton played a leading role in the Tham Luang Cave rescue back in 2018. Their skills and knowledge helped save 13 children from the Tham Luang Cave when it flooded. This amazing rescue story, so well told by John had the audience captivated.

Shane Begley from BIM the Irish National Fisheries and Diving College, who recently joined ADC as a Member, provided an overview of their operations and commercial diver training programme in the republic of Ireland which ADC had the pleasure of attending earlier on in the year. Shane followed his overview with a presentation on ‘The Whiddy Island Disaster’ in

1979 and the salvage operation that followed. One of the key take-aways being how much the diving industry has moved forward and improved since.

Craig English from Briggs Marine and our Vice Chairman shared his insights on a known health issue that is raised on a regular basis in the diving industry and is related to PFO. patent foramen ovale, a heart condition affecting 1 in 4 people which generally is not an issue but has been known to cause issues when diving.

THE 2023 AGM

2023’s AGM will be held in Birmingham on the 28th and 29th of November.