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Exploration drilling is moving into deeper waters and out of the practical and economical range of conventional saturation diving. This has forced the oil companies to seek alternative systems to assist the drilling operations on the sea bed. The various work operations associated with such assistance are summarized. The last few years has seen rapid developments within the field of manned and unmanned underwater work units. Some of the most promising of these diver alternative systems are reviewed. Their capabilities as drilling support systems are also discussed. Statoil has recently made inquiries for drilling support systems to be installed on a new drilling rig under construction. Some of the results from the inquiry are provided.