How I Almost Lost My Life Serving In The Naval Diving Unit

The sun started to set on yet another day of grueling physical training in the Naval Diving Unit (NDU). As exhausted as I was, we had one more activity before our batch could head back to our bunks and rest for the night. We marched to the podium by the beach, to prepare our equipment for the night dive.

It was our batch’s second-night dive. I had a good grasp of how the operation would flow. All we had to do was to dive in pairs and navigate around the ‘dive playground’, and get back to the shore.

The ‘dive playground’ is a training area in the sea just beside our camp. It consists of a network of underwater rope anchored to the seabed. This is also known as a jackstay dive. Depending on the tide, the deepest depth could range from 10 meters to 18 meters.

As night falls, we geared up and had our dive brief. I discussed with my dive buddy and we agreed that I would be the boss diver (the navigator) and he would be the float diver (the diver who handles the dive buoy, a buoy that is attached to the diver and is used for communication with those above water).

A few pairs went ahead and soon, it was our turn. We briskly made our way down the steps to the beach with our dive equipment on. Upon hitting the sandy beach, we sat down and put on our dive fins and mask.

After a final check by the dive instructor, he gave us the okay gesture and asked if we were ready.

With a pat on our backs, we got up and waddled towards the waters.

The sea was pitch black and eerily quiet. I slowly submerged myself into the water and felt the bone-chilling cold pierce through my dive suit. I had never been fond of the cold.

I edged towards the start of the jackstay, fully submerged myself underwater and grabbed the rope tight. Tugging my buddy line twice (a 1-meter long rope between the pair of divers), I signaled my buddy to come closer as he started to unravel the dive buoy.

We commenced our night dive as I began pulling on the ropes to move forward. Slowly, we descended deeper, and…

Related posts:

Our ability to distinguish between what is real and what is not is a result of our past knowledge or familiarity with reality. How do we know that a magician beheading a person and bringing back the…

I started my journey with the Dodo because I was inspired by their page, without necessarily knowing why. There are thousands of dog pages and accounts across the internet, but for some reason, the…