Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 4,000 people employed as commercial divers in the United States. The median annual salary is $54,800. Entry level employees earn approximately $36,200 per year and senior employees earn approximately $111,130 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Obtain information about diving tasks and environmental conditions.
• Supervise or train other divers, including hobby divers.
• Inspect the condition of underwater steel or wood structures.
• Remove obstructions from strainers or marine railway or launching ways, using pneumatic or power hand tools.
• Set or guide placement of pilings or sandbags to provide support for structures, such as docks, bridges, cofferdams, or platforms.
• Perform activities related to underwater search and rescue, salvage, recovery, or cleanup operations.
• Perform offshore oil or gas exploration or extraction duties, such as conducting underwater surveys or repairing and maintaining drilling rigs or platforms.
• Drill holes in rock and rig explosives for underwater demolitions.
• Remove rubbish or pollution from the sea.
• Set up dive sites for recreational instruction.
• Cultivate or harvest marine species or perform routine work on fish farms.
• Take appropriate safety precautions, such as monitoring dive lengths and depths and registering with authorities before diving expeditions begin.
• Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.
• Communicate with workers on the surface while underwater, using signal lines or telephones.
• Descend into water with the aid of diver helpers, using scuba gear or diving suits.
• Inspect and test docks, ships, buoyage systems, plant intakes or outflows, or underwater pipelines, cables, or sewers, using closed circuit television, still photography, and testing equipment.
• Repair ships, bridge foundations, or other structures below the water line, using caulk, bolts, and hand tools.
• Recover objects by placing rigging around sunken objects, hooking rigging to crane lines, and operating winches, derricks, or cranes to raise objects.
• Operate underwater video, sonar, recording, or related equipment to investigate underwater structures or marine life.
• Take test samples or photographs to assess the condition of vessels or structures.
• Cut and weld steel, using underwater welding equipment, jigs, and supports.
• Install, inspect, clean, or repair piping or valves.
• Carry out non-destructive testing, such as tests for cracks on the legs of oil rigs at sea.
• Install pilings or footings for piers or bridges.
• Salvage wrecked ships or their cargo, using pneumatic power velocity and hydraulic tools and explosive charges, when necessary.

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