Viking Cruises

59 | Viking Explorer Society News Meet JESSICA BURNELL Submersible Pilot on Viking Expeditions, Jessica Burnell, chats about her work in the remote region of Antarctica. How long have you been in your role with Viking? I have been working for Viking as a 2nd Officer Submarine Pilot for two years. Can you please tell us what you did before joining Viking? I studied navigation and maritime operations to become a deck officer prior to training as a sub pilot. I have always had a keen interest in the underwater environment and have been fortunate enough to scuba dive and free dive all over the world. How did you become a submersible pilot? In addition to my maritime operations training, I received extensive training from Viking and undertook sub pilot training with the manufacturer of our submersibles, U-boat Worx, at their training centre in Curaçao. Describe your role and responsibilities on a typical day and how many times you might go down in the submersible? My role is varied, which I love as it makes it exciting. When I am not diving, I can be found carrying out maintenance on the submersibles, planning future dives, holding navigational watches on the bridge, driving our special operations boats or tenders and conducting safety training. Safety is our number one priority. The average dive day starts early with pre-dive checks beginning around two hours before launch. We then head to the bridge for a dive briefing where we assess the conditions and present our dive plan for the day. The subs are launched along with the dive support boat, which is used for scanning the seabed with a multibeam sonar to assist in choosing a suitable dive site. We aim to conduct up to 10 dives a day across both submersibles, depending on weather and length of time on location—dives do not operate in inclement weather or in unfavourable conditions, so there are no guarantees. The two submersibles on both expedition ships (the Viking Polaris and the Viking Octantis), can take six guests and a pilot down to a maximum depth of 300 metres and dives last around 45 minutes. The day ends with post-dive checks, completing logs and routine maintenance which includes cleaning the subs so they are ready for another day of diving. Do you have an especially memorable submarine dive on a Viking expedition? I have numerous memorable submarine dives, which makes it difficult to pick just one. A dive I will never forget happened in Antarctica at a place called Paradise Harbour, this site is especially beautiful because it is a wall dive where we are able to see hundreds of giant volcano sponges that are potentially thousands of years old. On this particular dive the submarine became surrounded by krill during our descent. They are attracted to the bright lights of the submarine. The krill were so dense that they completely covered the submarine's domes for a short while. "e Antarctic is a remarkable continent, it is one of those places that will always remain truly extraordinary" Jessica Burnell

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