JFD has confirmed that its new COBRA (Compact Bailout Rebreathing Apparatus) system has passed further trials rating it safe for use at depths up to 450 metre sea water (msw).
Released earlier this year, COBRA is a new bailout solution designed to replace conventional SCUBA bailout methods, providing divers with a extended supply of breathing gas in the event of a primary supply failure. In July 2017, COBRA was granted CE marking status for use at depths up to 300msw making it the only approved system of its kind to fully comply with NORSOK U101 (Diving Respiratory Equipment) and EN14143 (Self Contained Rebreathing Apparatus) standards at this depth.
The system has recently been subject to further pressure testing which, according to JFD, have ensured it is safe for use at depths up to 450msw.
This technology was developed by JFD in direct response to current equipment performance shortfalls at depths beyond 200msw. At extreme depths, traditional bailout systems offer divers less than three minutes of emergency breathing gas in the event of disconnected from his primary supply. COBRA provides up to 20 minutes at depths of 300msw and up to 10 minutes at depths of 450msw, improving the chances of survival.
Giovanni Corbetta , JFD managing director, said: “The intention for COBRA was always to design a system which would not only greatly extend bailout duration for commercial divers working at more common depths of around 200msw, but also for use at extreme depths which haven’t previously been tackled. We are delighted that the equipment passed these final assessments without any issues.”