As of 2026, only a handful of training providers across Europe still offer a route into underwater welding — training that qualifies an already-certified diver to weld to a recognised personnel standard such as EN ISO 15618-1 or AWS D3.6M. The field has narrowed in recent years rather than grown: two schools that used to anchor this space in Europe no longer operate as diver-training providers at all. This guide checks each remaining provider directly on its own website — what it teaches, which standard and edition it certifies to, what you need before you can enrol, and, where published, what it costs — country by country.
What underwater welding training actually involves
Underwater welding training qualifies an already-certified diver to weld underwater to a recognised personnel standard — it is a specialisation added on top of a diving qualification, not a route into diving itself. Two standards dominate: EN ISO 15618-1, the European standard for qualifying wet welders, and AWS D3.6M, its American counterpart; some providers also test against the older BS 4872-1 for fillet welds. Training splits into wet welding, done directly in the water, and dry (hyperbaric) welding, done inside a sealed, gas-filled habitat — see our guide to AWS D3.6 vs EN ISO 15618-1 for how the two standards differ and why the depth you are tested at matters as much as the standard itself.
Every provider covered below requires you to already hold a recognised commercial or professional diving qualification — and, in most cases, a current diving medical — before it will admit you to underwater welding training. None of them teach diving from scratch alongside welding.
Norway: NYD
NYD (Norsk yrkesdykkerskole), based in Norway, runs a two-week underwater welding course covering both wet and dry welding. Its own course page states it tests to "BS EN ISO 15618-1 og AWS D3.6M-10 for sveis av plate" — that is, the 2010 edition of the American standard rather than the current 2017 edition. The course is priced at NOK 55,000 and, per NYD's own admission requirements, is open only to candidates who are already a certified professional diver ("sertifisert yrkesdykker") holding a valid diver's health certificate.
NYD also appears, under the name "Norwegian School of Commercial Diving", among Weldcraft-Pro's own list of current training centres (see below) — worth knowing if you are comparing the two as if they were entirely separate options.
United Kingdom: Weldcraft-Pro and its partner network
Weldcraft-Pro, headquartered in the UK, runs an intensive two-week, roughly 80-hour underwater welding course split across dry and wet phases, open to "qualified and/or experienced commercial surface supply divers/engineers", with or without prior welding experience. Its own course page states it certifies to "BSEN ISO 15618-1:2016/AWS D3.6M-2017, or BS 4872-1:1982 for fillet welds on plate".
Rather than a single location, the course is delivered through a network of licensed partner centres. Weldcraft-Pro's own current list of training centres names several as actively running the course, including Marex Subsea Welds in Greece/Cyprus, DiveWise Tec in Belgium, YRGO in Sweden, MM Matrix Integrity in Malaysia, and NYD in Norway (listed there as "Norwegian School of Commercial Diving"); a further set of centres — in Australia, South Africa, Florida and Scotland — is marked on the same page as not currently running courses. Marex's own booking page currently lists its Weldcraft-Pro course at €5,400 per candidate, giving a real, published price point for the network.
Germany: SLV Hannover / GSI
SLV Hannover, part of the GSI welding-institute group, runs its "Unterwasser-Kehlnahtschweißer" (underwater fillet welder) course independently of the Weldcraft-Pro network. Its own course page confirms it issues "Prüfbescheinigungen nach DIN EN ISO 15618-1" — test certificates under the European standard — following the DVS 1186 Part 1 training guideline, with testing carried out in a DAkkS-accredited laboratory.
Entry is more tightly gated than the routes above: SLV's own course page requires candidates to already hold a certified professional-diver qualification ("geprüfter Taucher / Berufstaucher") and a DVS certificate or EWF diploma as a manual-metal-arc welder — so this is a route for a diver who is already a qualified topside welder, not a first welding qualification. Course dates are shown as "Termine: Auf Anfrage" (on request) rather than a fixed annual schedule.
Netherlands: BC-opleidingen
BC-opleidingen runs its underwater welding course at its own training centre in Enkhuizen, on the Markermeer — including an outdoor dive pit 21 metres deep with a movable floor, alongside a 3-metre indoor basin for the early stages of training. The course is delivered jointly with the Dutch welding institute (Lasinstituut), operating together as the Hyperbaric Welding Center, which acts as DNV-authorised assessor and examiner (ISO/IEC 17024) for welder qualifications at company and personal level under both European and American standards.
Admission requires a valid diving medical and an existing professional diver certificate (B30, B50R or B50). The course runs over 5 days, with pricing available on request rather than published on the site.
Two schools that used to anchor this space, and no longer do
France: INPP in Marseille — for nearly fifty years France's national institute for professional diving — was placed into court-ordered liquidation on 18 June 2024, following a cessation-of-payments date of 15 May 2024. Its own site is no longer reachable, and French regional reporting (Le Méridional, Mer et Marine, France 3 PACA) describes hyperbaric-industry professionals scrambling to organise an alternative to the training pipeline INPP used to run. No underwater welding training currently operates there.
Scotland: The Underwater Centre in Fort William once ran a broad commercial-diver training programme — including a welding & burning course — training around 200 divers a year, before collapsing into administration in October 2018 (reported at the time by Divernet, Insider.co.uk and West Coast Today). Its original site, theunderwatercentre.co.uk, is still online today, but every course listing and piece of marketing copy we could find on it carries no date newer than its pre-2018 content — a sign of an unmaintained legacy site rather than a live, operating school. The Fort William site itself is back in use, but under different ownership and as a subsea trials and testing facility; 2026 reporting from Energy Voice describes it only now reintroducing ROV (not diver) training.
Outside Europe, for context: the US route
For readers also weighing options outside Europe: Divers Institute of Technology (DIT) in Seattle folds underwater welding into its seven-month commercial-diver programme as a single one-month module, covering both wet welding and dry habitat-welding techniques. DIT's own course description does not name a personnel-welding standard such as AWS D3.6M, and does not describe the module as issuing a separate coded-welder certificate — it trains toward the broader commercial-diving qualification (recognised by the DCBC) rather than a stand-alone, norm-specific welding credential of the kind the European providers above issue.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between wet and dry (hyperbaric) underwater welding?
Wet welding is done directly in the water; dry (hyperbaric) welding takes place inside a sealed, gas-filled habitat that keeps the weld area dry. Most European personnel-welding standards, and most of the providers in this guide, test candidates in one or both methods — see our guide to AWS D3.6 vs EN ISO 15618-1 for how the standards and depth requirements differ.
Do you need a diving qualification before you can train as an underwater welder?
Yes. Every provider covered in this guide — NYD, Weldcraft-Pro and its partner network, SLV Hannover, and BC-opleidingen — requires you to already hold a recognised professional or commercial diving qualification, and usually a valid diving medical, before you can enrol. Underwater welding training adds a welding qualification on top of an existing diving one; none of these courses teach diving itself.
Which standards exist for underwater welding qualifications?
EN ISO 15618-1 is the European standard and AWS D3.6M the American one for qualifying underwater (wet) welders; some providers also reference the older BS 4872-1 for fillet welds. Which edition a provider tests to varies — check the specific edition (for example AWS D3.6M-2010 versus -2017) directly with the provider. See our guide to AWS D3.6 vs EN ISO 15618-1 explained for the full picture, including why testing depth matters.
How long does underwater welding training take?
It varies by provider. NYD and the Weldcraft-Pro network both run an intensive two-week course (around 80 hours). BC-opleidingen's own course listing shows a 5-day course. Always check the current syllabus and format directly with the provider rather than assume one course length applies everywhere.
What does underwater welding training cost in Europe?
Published prices are the exception rather than the rule. Where we found a figure directly on a provider's own site: NYD lists its two-week course at NOK 55,000, and Marex Subsea Welds' Weldcraft-Pro course is listed at €5,400 per candidate. SLV Hannover and BC-opleidingen do not publish a fixed fee and quote on request. Treat any of these figures as a snapshot rather than a guarantee — check directly before budgeting.
Is there still underwater welding training in France or Scotland?
Not that we could verify. INPP in Marseille, France's long-standing national diving institute, was liquidated by court order in June 2024. The Underwater Centre in Fort William, Scotland, collapsed in 2018 and has not returned as a diver-training school since — the site today operates mainly as a subsea trials facility under different ownership.