The facility: a full dive-training campus on the waterfront
The 21-metre dive basin, the welding stations and the qualification test — all on one campus. Under EN ISO 15618-1 and AWS D3.6M, water depth is a decisive qualification variable, so here you train and qualify at the depth that matches the job.
The Hyperbaric Welding Center operates from the BC-opleidingen campus in Enkhuizen, directly on the Markermeer. That means you train underwater welding where professional divers are trained every day — with real depth, real logistics and real supervision, not a shallow demonstration tank.
Novice welders can also complete their surface SMAW welding training (BMBE) at the Lasinstituut training centres in Sliedrecht and Breda, before progressing to the underwater modules in Enkhuizen.
The 21-metre dive basin: steplessly adjustable
The heart of our facility is the 21-metre-deep dive basin with a movable floor. The floor is suspended on a four-cable system and can be set steplessly — accurate to the centimetre — at any desired depth, from the water surface down to 21 metres.
For underwater welding this precision is essential. Within EN ISO 15618-1 and AWS D3.6M, the test depth partly determines the range of qualification of the welder qualification. The training and test conditions must therefore match the depth range in which the welder-diver will carry out the work.
In our dive basin you can perform the same welding exercise at, for example, 2, 8 and 18 metres — even within a single training day. The qualification test can then be taken at a carefully chosen depth that matches the intended range of qualification.
- Steplessly adjustable depth: from the water surface down to 21 metres
- Movable floor: adjustable with centimetre accuracy
- Four-cable suspension: for stable, controlled positioning
- LARS crane: directly above the dive basin
- Complete facilities: briefing room, changing rooms and showers on site
Facilities on campus
Indoor dive towers
Conditioned indoor towers for skill work in controlled visibility and temperature — ideal for the first bead-on-plate hours and electrode discipline before moving outside.
Decompression chamber on site
A decompression chamber — a twin-lock chamber with BIBS — is stationed on the campus, embedded in the same safety organisation that supports all professional dive training here.
LARS and real work logistics
Launch-and-recovery, surface-supplied diving spreads, communications and dive-control — you weld inside the same working environment you will meet on the job.
Location
Voorland 13, 1601 EZ Enkhuizen, the Netherlands — about 45 minutes from Amsterdam and one hour from Schiphol Airport. The campus sits directly on open water, with classrooms, workshops and welding stations on one site.
Come and see it
Join an open day or plan a visit — see the basin, the welding stations and the campus before you book.