JFD’s COBRA buoyancy jacket gets thumbs up from SGS

JFD’s COBRA Buoyancy Jacket has recently received CE Certification from the CE Notified Body, SGS.

The certification, displayed as a CE mark on all qualifying products, demonstrates the compliance of JFD’s COBRA Buoyancy Jacket with essential EU regulations and harmonized standards as well as leading industry standards such as NORSOK.

The certification of the buoyancy jacket provides divers with added confidence of the equipment’s ability to deliver reliable and high-performance support to those working in the world’s most hostile underwater environments.

The buoyancy jacket launched in 2019, with testing finalised by March 2020, and the CE Certification awarded by SGS in June.

It suits any new or existing COBRA Deep Diving Bailout Systems operated by saturation divers working at depths ranging from 30 metres to 500 metres.

During missions requiring the COBRA system, divers must carry numerous tools and other essential equipment to allow them to perform their tasks.

This makes them heavy or “negative” in the water, meaning they must expend extra effort to dive or swim from a worksite, while ensuring they remain at the required depth.

JFD developed the buoyancy jacket to address this, enabling divers to control their position in the water more easily, and therefore conserve energy.

Furthermore, for diving work carried out in mid-water, the buoyancy jacket provides “lift” which assists the diver by making them lighter, conserving energy while at a worksite and during transitions to and from the bell.

Importantly, the lift provided by the buoyancy jacket can also provide critical support to divers during emergency recovery operations, helping an individual to repatriate an injured colleague and their umbilical to the bell faster, with potentially lifesaving results.

“It is absolutely essential that divers working in the most hostile underwater environments have full confidence in their rebreather systems and supporting equipment.

“COBRA has already been recognised for its innovative approach and leading the improvement of safety standards in the diving industry.

It is the only commercial emergency rebreather system in the world with CE Marking status for EU regulatory requirements and NORSOK U101.

Therefore, it was essential for JFD to has the new accompanying buoyancy jacket at the same high safety, health and environmental standards.

“With 99 COBRA systems currently in operation across the global subsea industry and more on order, the buoyancy jacket provides an unmissable opportunity to make commercial subsea diving more efficient and safer, with life-saving consequences in emergency situations.”

COBRA is JFD’s award winning bailout system part of its Divex range of rebreathers, and supplies up to 45 minutes of fully independent breathing gas in an emergency scenario.