These crew members are the first Colombian divers certified in deep-sea operations, by means of standards of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO -
Today the diving command has 647 crew members and, currently, 19 are being trained to become future divers of the Colombian Navy.
Within the framework of the Bilateral Cooperation Plan 2024-2025, agreed with Spain during the V Joint Hispanic-Colombian Group 2023, and with the firm purpose of strengthening strategic relations, in the military and maritime safety operations conducted by both nations, two brave Sailors from Colombia undertook a challenge that marked a milestone in the Institution.
As part of this binational training initiative, Navy Lieutenant Daniel José Sarmiento Peralta and Second Non-Commissioned Officer Luis Fernando Gil Rodríguez, crew members of the Diving Command of the Colombian Navy, participated for nine months in the demanding courses of Diving Technology and Complementary Specialty of Diving, imparted by the Military Diving School of the Navy of the Kingdom of Spain, in Cartagena, in the region of Murcia, in Spain.
During the training time, these crew members faced extreme environments and high-risk training, excelling in Anti-Mine Measures Diving techniques, using NATO systems such as the AMPHORA equipment; interventions with explosives in underwater environments, underwater welding and cutting operations, refloating, and fault control with state-of-the-art simulators such as the NCAGE system.
One of the most important events of this process was the realization of the deep-sea diving phase, on board the Rescue Ship Neptune of the Spanish Navy. There, using gas mixtures (oxygen and helium) supplied from the surface, they became the first Colombian Navy divers to be certified under NATO standards to operate at these depths.
The training in the same way included underwater rescue and salvage missions, in which these Sailors from Colombia assumed critical roles as hyperbaric chamber operators, gas controllers and team leaders. Each maneuver executed, reflected the temperance, technical knowledge and passion of those who serve with honor in the depths.
This milestone represents a significant progress for the Naval Institution, in strengthening its differential diving capacity, expanding its technical – military operations portfolio, leading the projection of new procedures and doctrines in the framework of interoperability and global maritime security.
As part of its constitutional mission to protect life at sea, the Colombian Navy, through the Diving Readiness Command and its highly trained divers, continues to carry out rescue operations, emergency management, underwater engineering and disaster support in all water bodies of the country, contributing to the strengthening of public security and the maritime, port and mining- energy industry of the national territory.
Source: Press – Navy of Colombia
