Inaugural National Diving and Salvage Vocational Skills Competition Kicks Off in Yancheng

Yancheng, Jiangsu – September 17 – The inaugural vocational skills competition hosted by the China Diving and Salvage Association (CDSA) officially opened in Jingkou Village, Qinan Town, Yancheng City on September 17. Under the theme of “Maritime Aspiration, Masterful Safeguard”, the event represents one of China’s most authoritative, professional and widely influential vocational skills competitions in the diving and salvage industry.

Designed to boost industry technical exchange, personnel training and professional development, the competition brought together 40 outstanding commercial divers selected from CDSA’s members across the country. Participants competed in two core practical disciplines: underwater welding and underwater cutting. Fully simulating real-world operational environments, the competition assessed divers’ professional competence, standardized operation proficiency and emergency response capabilities. Over 100 industry representatives from offshore engineering institutions, diving equipment manufacturers, salvage enterprises and maritime vocational colleges attended the event.

Distinguished guests attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks, including Song Jiahui, Former President of CDSA; leaders from the Ministry of Transport’s Rescue and Salvage Bureau; Chen Liping, Party Branch Secretary and Vice President of CDSA; leaders from the Yancheng Federation of Trade Unions; and Zhou Xiangdong, Chairman of Jiangsu Jiaolong Salvage Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd.

Refining Skills and Elevating Industry Standards Through Competition

Senior industry officials noted that high-skilled professionals serve as the core driving force for the high-quality development of China’s diving and salvage sector and form a solid foundation for the national water emergency rescue system.

Song Jiahui emphasized that professional divers play an irreplaceable role in China’s marine economic development and underwater infrastructure construction. “Working across China’s rivers, lakes and seas, professional divers undertake high-risk underwater operations and dedicate themselves silently to the development of China’s blue economy. They are unsung heroes underpinning the country’s maritime progress,” he said.

Shen Hao, chief arbitrator of the competition and former director of the Shanghai Salvage, introduced that all competition subjects are formulated in strict accordance with national industry standards and frontline operational demands. The competition comprehensively evaluates divers’ practical skills and professional literacy, aiming to set technical benchmarks and foster a industry-wide atmosphere of pursuing technical excellence and meticulous craftsmanship.

Cultivating Talents to Empower Industrial Upgrading

As shared by Chen Liping, Party Branch Secretary and Vice President of CDSA in an interview, as China’s sole national industrial organization covering the full spectrum of diving and salvage, offshore underwater engineering, water emergency rescue and recreational diving, the association has built a comprehensive talent cultivation system for the industry. To date, the association has certified more than 23,700 professional divers, with the number of certified practitioners surging by over 50% in the past five years.

Fueled by the national strategies of building a maritime power and a transportation power, the diving and salvage industry embraces unprecedented development opportunities, which also raise higher standards for practitioners’ professional quality and comprehensive competence. Industry insiders stated that underwater welding and cutting are core technologies for underwater emergency rescue, vessel maintenance, marine structural renovation and water environment treatment, directly safeguarding maritime safety and public property security.

Through targeted professional training and continuous technological research led by the association, China has broken the long-term foreign dominance in the field of underwater welding and cutting. The association has cultivated nearly 200 professional underwater welders, effectively alleviating the industry’s talent shortage and providing strong support for the high-quality development of marine engineering construction.

Top Divers Become Highly Sought-After Industry Talents

After fierce on-site competition, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in both underwater welding and underwater cutting events. Participants from Qingdao Pacific Underwater Technology Co., Ltd and Guangzhou Hailong Diving Technology Co., Ltd. won the gold medal in underwater welding and in underwater cutting. Both enterprises were awarded the Outstanding Organization Award.

Elite competitors received extensive attention from the industry. Many enterprise executives took the initiative to connect with award-winning divers on-site for talent recruitment. Multiple participating institutions announced special bonuses and salary increases for outstanding contestants, highlighting the strong market demand for high-end professional diving talents.

Local Industrial Strength Supports Successful Event Delivery

The hosting of the national competition in Yancheng’s Jingkou Village marks an exemplary integration of national industry resources and local characteristic industries. Known as China’s “Hometown of Diving and Salvage”, Jingkou Village has nurtured more than 60 diving and salvage enterprises led by Jiangsu Jiaolong Salvage Habour Engineering Co., Ltd., forming a complete industrial chain integrating industrial operation and talent training rooted in rural areas.

Equipped with professional training centers, a diving and salvage culture exhibition hall and a craftsmanship college, the local area has built an integrated system of vocational training, talent incubation and industrial empowerment, steadily delivering high-quality professionals to the national diving and salvage industry. Local authorities stated that the competition fully demonstrates Yancheng’s solid industrial foundation and mature talent cultivation system, injecting new momentum into the integrated development of characteristic industries and rural revitalization.

The competition referee team commented that the event successfully simulated complex underwater working environments and comprehensively examined divers’ comprehensive capabilities. It also accumulated valuable practical experience for optimizing national industry competition rules and improving professional technical standards.