THE Fort William-based Underwater Centre is underlining its commitment to further internationalisation with the delivery of a series of diving courses to staff from a leading Italian diving and marine contractor.
Members of staff from Impresub, which is based at Trento in the north of Italy, have completed a three-week mixed-gas course, which was delivered as new figures from the centre highlight the growth of its European market as a provider of subsea training.
Projected statistics for 2010 show that 43% of students coming to The Underwater Centre will be from Continental Europe – compared to 30% in 2009 and 17% in 2008.
The latest course was part of a rolling training programme with Impresub. In April, staff from the company completed a one-week course to gain the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) closed bell certificate.
Another group from Impresub completed the mixed-gas course last month.
Steve Ham, general manager of The Underwater Centre, said: “Internationalisation is a really important part of our growth strategy and this Impresub contract highlights that our reputation as a training provider is gaining a higher profile on the world stage.
“The combination of our natural facilities, our seabed workstation, equipment and expert staff mean that students leave The Underwater Centre fully-prepared to work in the diving sector.”
The Underwater Centre, located at the head of Loch Linnhe, is claimed to be the only training centre in the world that offers the full range of HSE commercial diving qualifications in air and mixed-gas diver training.