Incidents List
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Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details -
2011 8 12 Alonso Roberto Lopez Moroyoqui Mexico SCUBA Aged 17, living in Colonia Nueva Penasco, possibly his first trip as a working clam diver, diving 10 km off La Cholla, ill when surfaced, transferred to the Penasco hyperbaric centre, reported as having died of 'severe decompression sickness type 2' Nuevodia.com.mx -
2011 8 12 Saavedra Janus Chavez Peru SCUBA Aged 27, scallop diver working on the sechura coast near Lobos Island, (Piura province), reported as dying of DCI, survived by wife and children aged 5 years and 2 years. RPP News -
2011 8 4 Cordova Gabriel Humberto Delgadillo Mexico SCUBA Aged 24, clam diving off La Cholla, Puerta Penasca. Reported as 'lost his life by drowning' in 'Los canales de la Choya' (The La Choya Channels). No details. Reported by La Policaca -
2011 8 2 Marzouk Ismail Egypt Blue O2 60 Rebreather Aged 33, IANTD technical diving instructor working out of Hurgada died on a deep wreck dive (90 metres?) dive off Marsa Alam with three British tourists, apparently stopped breathing at 60 metres (suspected oxygen toxicity) and dropped into the depths, the three tourists surfaced without incident, instructor's body not recovered. Family raising questions about about lack of any SCUBA/Sports/Tourist/Technical diving standards or enforcement in Egypt. Wife and baby daughter. A second fatality - that of a Russian diving instructor - was reported on the same day but no detailed reports located to date. NB, Tourist diving instructors - esppecially technical diving - appear to have a very high fatality rate but are not generally reported. Reported by ahramonline -
2011 8 0 ?? Shafiq Qatar El Safwa Topsides Egyptian diver working on the Pearl Island residential development, working in a confined space, gas leak. Triple fatality with two killed on site, the third died in hospital. Initially not reported in the public domain but Qatari authorities now investigating. PC -
2011 8 0 Himden Ashraf Qatar El Safwa Topsides Egyptian diver working on the Pearl Island residential development, working in a confined space, gas leak. Triple fatality with two killed on site, the third died in hospital. Initially not reported in the public domain but Qatari authorities now investigating. PC -
2011 8 0 William Sabri Qatar El Safwa Topsides Egyptian diver working on the Pearl Island residential development, working in a confined space, gas leak. Triple fatality with two killed on site, the third died in hospital. Initially not reported in the public domain but Qatari authorities now investigating. PC -
2011 7 19 Banaga Carlos Lucero Mexico Baja Acuafarm Aged 42, decompression incident onboard the vessel Buenaventura II 25 miles off the island of Coronado, evacuated by helicopter to the Ensenada Naval hyperbaric centre, successfully treated and discharged. Mexican Press -
2011 7 15 Martinez Edgar Saul Reyes Mexico SCUBA Aged 22 from Hermosillo, Colonia Oriente, clam diver, died at Puerta Penasco on La Cholla beach. No details. Reported in La Policiaca -
2011 7 9 Alvarez 'Dani' Daniel Spain 2 S/S Air Aged 35, married, 11 month old twins, Seaweed extraction (Agar "Ocle") operation, diving from the Biempica III two miles off Gijon (North Coast of Spain), vessel reported the diver was unconscious, transferred ashore but did not respond to treatment. Recorded as 'death by drowning'. Basic kit (SCUBA style second stage/mask, air hose and rope, Full face mask or helmet, no comms, no bail out, no harness,no surface stand-by no medical O2 onboard. Probably kinked hose but no details. GPS Buzeo/Spanish Press -
2011 6 28 Not Recorded UK Mylor Marine Maintenance SCUBA Falmouth contractor fined £10,000 with costs of £2,000 after admitting breaching r.6(2)(a), 6(3)(a), 6(3)(b) and 6(3)(d) of the Diving at Work Regulations 1997. The prosecution arose from a spot inspection by HSE at underwater maintenance work on moorings in the St Mawes area of the Falmouth estuary during which an inspector observed breaches of the regulations. ‘The dive was being carried out without essential equipment, using only one cylinder of breathing gas, when a secondary supply is mandatory, and the diver only had a mouthpiece demand valve when a full face mask was required. There was no standby diver, a lifeline or a line for voice communications with the diver who was only qualified to carry out recreational dives, not commercial ones. The diver did not possess a valid certificate to prove his medical fitness to dive. He was diving without the benefit of a plan for the work being carried out, which should have included a risk assessment and a project plan.’ Reported in Safety News UK -
2011 6 25 Abdeen Massoud Egypt Seapro 30 S/S Air Diving off the Cosmos 1 for GPC, two man dive. LS 09:25, AB 09:27, LB 09:35, AS 09:40, divers in distress at depth. Reported as having switched air supply mid dive (HP bank to diesel compressor?). Appear not to have had medical oxygen or working DDC on vessel, nor access to onshore medical suppport so used mobile phone to call the supervisor of another diving contractor at approx 10:30, vessel with full IMCA compliant dive system and personnek in transit to July field (mid point) at 10:45. Arrived in field renezvous 11:40, Cosmos tied up alongside 11:55. 12:00 injured diver transferred and receiving oxygen (transferred ashore and on to hospital, suspected pneumothorax), Second diver declared dead on site (by doctor flown out by helicopter). Possible contaminated air but no reports or information from the contractor. Not reported in the public domain. PC -
2011 6 25 Said Egypt Seapro 30 S/S Air Diving off the Cosmos 1 for GPC, two man dive. LS 09:25, AB 09:27, LB 09:35, AS 09:40, divers in distress at depth. Reported as having switched air supply mid dive (HP bank to diesel compressor?). Appear not to have had medical oxygen or working DDC on vessel, nor access to onshore medical suppport so used mobile phone to call the supervisor of another diving contractor at approx 10:30, vessel with full IMCA compliant dive system and personnek in transit to July field (mid point) at 10:45. Arrived in field renezvous 11:40, Cosmos tied up alongside 11:55. 12:00 injured diver transferred and receiving oxygen (transferred ashore and on to hospital, suspected pneumothorax), Second diver declared dead on site (by doctor flown out by helicopter). Possible contaminated air but no reports or information from the contractor. Not reported in the public domain. PC -
2011 6 22 HSE Safety Alert UK UK HSE Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a safety alert to remind the industry of the essential aspects of safe diving operations after two shellfish divers died in separate incidents (at Methil -Graham Mackie, 11th June 2011 - and Largo Bay in the Forth estuary - James Irvine, 24th March 2011, both fatalities still under investigation, facts surrounding the deaths have yet to be established) in inshore waters in Scotland. Its guidance makes clear that:- “The minimum team size normally required when diving for shellfish is three – a supervisor, a working diver, and a standby diver, and that additional people may be required to operate the boat and to assist in an emergency. The standby diver should be in immediate readiness to provide any assistance to the diver in the water. Those not employed by the diving contractor but who are included in the dive team must also be competent for the work they are going to do. They should be familiar with the diving contractor’s procedures, rules and the diving equipment being used� -
2011 6 21 Surasin Indonesia S/S Air Aged 54, Port of Tanjung Perak, Surabaya, scrap metal diving off Jamrud pier from a small boat with two of his children, compressor may have failed, body floated to the surface, recovered and brought ashore by the children. Surabaya News -
2011 6 19 Kruckenberg Kenny Netherlands Titan Topsides American aged 29, salvage diver. Killed on deck by a chain that parted under load during salvage operations on the wreck of the MV Vincs Gorthon. The Ministry of Waterways North Sea Division, part of the Dutch, Ministry of Waterways, awarded Titan the wreck removal project. The Vinca Gorthon lies approximately 29 kilometers off the Netherland coast at a depth of 24.5 meters in a shipping traffic lane. The vessel protruded 10 meters from the seabed and had become a danger to modern ships with a draft of 15 meters or more. The Vinca Gorthon weighed approximately 19,000 tonnes with cargo, and measured 166 meters long and 23 meters wide. The ship, which was laden with rolls of paper and tank trailers with paper pulp, was enroute from the Swedish port of Oskarshamn to Antwerp, Belgium when she sank. Sources:- Crowley and Dutch press -
2011 6 13 Herrera Victorio Argentina Almiron Y Cia SRL Aged 32, Wife and 6 year old daughter. Pipeline (sewer) blockage work for Aguas Argentinsa (Argentinian public water utility), caught in strong current which pulled him 25 metres up a 50 cm diameter pipe, current prevented rescue. Pulled out alive but died some hours later, no real details but most likely was not in full gear, no life line. Reported by Diario Cronica -
2011 6 11 Mackie Graham UK SCUBA Aged 31, commercially qualified diver, diving for scallops off Methil in Fife. Paraphrased from press reports:- The diver had gone into the sea at the start of his shift, but colleagues became alarmed when no bubbles came to the surface. Crew members on the fishing vessel ‘Rob Roy’ issued a mayday call to Forth Coastguard shortly before 2:30pm. Two divers on a nearby catamaran went down to bring the unconscious man to the surface. A spokesman for the Coastguard and Maritime Agency, which co-ordinated the rescue, said: "The unconscious diver was transferred on to the Kinghorn inshore lifeboat, which had a paramedic and oxygen on board, and was taken into Methil. When the lifeboat arrived at Methil, a decision was made to transfer the diver on to the helicopter and take him to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary." The diver died a short time later in hospital. His identity has not been released. A spokesman for Fife Constabulary said: "Fife Police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 31-year-old male, who was diving off the coast of Methil this afternoon. A report is being submitted to the procurator-fiscal’. Reported in the Scotsman. One of two scallop diving fatalities (the other was James Irvine, 24th March 2011) that led to an HSE safety alert (22nd June 2011) -
2011 6 10 Quiroz Edixon Venezuela Topsides Aged 48, Diving supervisor, Flow station 57 on the Rosa Mediano production system near the town of Simon Bolivar on lake Maracaibo. Reported that he was at the bow giving directions to secure a 2" riser to the wellhead platform when the PDVSA diving vessel went out of control (Went full ahead when the clutch control wire broke) trapping him between the vessel and a barge anchor wire. Broken ribs, internal bleeding, crush injuries. The diver was taken to the PDSVA clinic at Tia Juana but was declared dead on arrival. Reported by GPS Buceo, Longstreath. -
2011 6 7 Garrido David Mato Portugal Marcor Xove SRL SCUBA Aged 30, Acuinova Fish Farm in the town of Myra, Coimbra, Portugal. Working for a Spanish Company. Sucked up a cleaning water inlet pipe. Body recovered an hour later by firemen. Reported by GPS Buceo -
2011 6 4 Andres J. A. Spain 6 Zamakona Shipyards, Port of Santurce, Bilbao, cleaning the propellers of a Tug. Julio Da Costa was in the nozzle with his colleague, J A Andres outside, when the propellers were started. Andres was injured but blown away, Da Costa was killed when sucked into the blades. Reportd by GPS Buceo -
2011 6 4 Gallo Julio Da Costa Spain Jerez e Hijos 6 Aged 52, Zamakona Shipyard, Port of Santurce, Bilbao, cleaning the propellers of a Tug. He was in the nozzle with his colleague (J A Andres) was outside when the propellers were started. Andres was injured but blown away, da Costa was killed when sucked into the blades. Reportd by GPS Buceo -
2011 5 25 Chavez Angel Lopez Mexico Construcciones Mare Aged 29, diving at the Ensada Marine Terminal. Reports indicate that the Federal Department of Labour laumched an investigation following an accident that was hidden from the authorities and that at that time the construction company had not allowed inspectors from the Ministry to enter the site (Companies are required to notify the authorities within 72 hours, the accident happened on the 25th May and apparently as of 4th August - the date of the report - authorities had neither been informed nor allowed access to the site). Autopsy listed causes of death as due to rib and spine injuries, lacerations to the chest, Accident occurred during cutting operations, injuries caused by a falling metal bar hitting the diver in the chest. No other details. AFN/Ensenada.net etc -
2011 5 25 Not recorded Nigeria Subsea 7 S/S Air Pipeline intervention in shallow water from the "Acergy Hawk", unbolting a pig receiver on a pipeline replacement project. Using air bags, as the pig receiver was freed from the pipeline end flange it rose to the full extent of the hold back line trapping the divers leg resulting in a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula. Although weaknesses were identified in the procedures and RA process, essentially this incidents highlights the risks of of using airbags in shallow water and near zero visibility where the rigging and airbag cannot be fully monitored. Source:- A good and well circulated Oil Company report -
2011 5 24 Barbieto Jeffrey USA Grove Farm Fish Poi / Hukilau Food SCUBA Aged 41, Honolulu Fire Department Firefighter and part time commercial diver working at a fish farm 2 miles offshore Pearl Harbour. US Navy vessel 'Salvor' responded to a 2:30 pm emergency call and was on site in 5 minutes. The diver was given hyperbaric treatment onboard before being transferred onshore to the Pali Momi Medical Centre where he was declared deceased. Honolulu medical Examiner's office confirmed the cause of death as accidental drowning. 6 months later HIOSH proposed $50,000 penalties against Hukilau foods on the grounds that the death was preventable and that equipment and procedures were inadequate. 19 citations: 1 Failure to prohibit a dive team member from diving during the period that the diver was sufficiently impaired as to adversely affect his/her safety and health. 2 Failure to develop and maintain a safety practices manual, which shall be made available at the dive location to each dive team member. 3 Failure to inquire into the dive team member’s current state of physical fitness prior to each assignment and failure to indicate to each dive team member the procedure for reporting physical problems or adverse physiological effects during and after the dive. 4 Failure to provide a means for exiting the water that extends below the water surface and a means for assisting an injured diver from the water. 5 Failure to provide decompression, repetitive, and no-decompression tables at the dive site. 6 Failure to maintain a depth-time profile, including when appropriate, any breathing gas changes for each diver during the dive including decompression. 7 Failure to check the physical condition of the diver after each dive, including instructing the diver to report any physical problems or adverse physiological effects as well as the location of a decompression chamber which is ready for use. 8 Failure to provide a decompression chamber capable of recompressing the diver at the surface to a minimum of 165 fsw (6 ATA) at the dive location. 9 Failure to limit SCUBA diving at depths deeper than 130 fsw. 10 Failure to limit SCUBA diving at depths deeper than 100 fsw, or outside the no-decompression limits, where no decompression chamber was ready for use. 11 Failure to provide a clean standby diver to assist a diver in the water at any time during the diving operation. 12 Failure to require a diver to be accompanied by another diver (buddy system), maintaining continuous visual contact during the diving operations, or alternatively, line tending from the surface. 13 Failure to provide a diver-carried reserve breathing gas supply for each diver consisting of a manual reserve (J valve) or an independent reserve cylinder. 14 Failure to provide every diver with a buoyancy compensator device, aka BCD and require the diver to use the BCD for SCUBA diving. 15 Failure to provide and maintain a list of emergency contact numbers for an operational decompression chamber, accessible hospitals, available physicians, available means of transportation and the nearest U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center at the dive location. 16 Failure to record and maintain accurate dive logs as required by the HIOSH Standards. 17 Failure to record and maintain depth-time and breathing gas profiles, decompression table designation, and elapsed time since last pressure exposure if less than 24 hours or repetitive dive designation for each dive outside the no-decompression limits, deeper than 100 fsw. 18 Failure to maintain records for each dive in which decompression sickness was suspected or symptoms were evident. 19 Failure to maintain records for each equipment modification, repair, test, calibration or maintenance service. Reported in the Pacific Bulletin -
2011 5 23 Strakele Sean USA 11 SCUBA Aged 37, Diving for lobsters out of Provincetown off the commercial fishing vessel "Chase" in the vicinity of Race Point Lighthouse. Entered the water at 06:30, failed to surface an hour later. Diving solo on single SCUBA cylinder. Coastguard searches called off after two days. Body located the day after in 56' of water by another lobster diver from the fishing vessel 'Mad Dog' in the same area he had dived in, half a mile south of the lighthouse. Reported as 'drowned'. Cape Cod Times -
2011 5 15 Palma Miguel Angel Cupul Mexico 15 SCUBA Aged 60, 25 miles offshore from Merida (Yucatan penninsula) collecting sea cucumber, rescued alive and taken ashore for treatment but died. Causes reported as cerebral anoxia/acute decompression illness. Reported by Sipse.com -
2011 5 14 Cetz Joshua Mexico Aged 37, sea cucumber harvesting off Celustun from the vessel 'Dick Tracy', transferred to chamber ashore but died. Reported as the third diver to die of DCI this season (which finished on the 15th May). Reported by Por Esto -
2011 5 9 Not Recorded Spain During an audit in Algeciras, a diving contractor discussed 5 incidents that had occurred over the previous 18 months with another diving contractor in the port. As the author commented, “it shows how much we are missing and how important it is to use competent diving contractors�:- 1 Dive on a tanker at night. Tender comes up on divers umbilical and recovers hat and bailout. Diver has jettisoned his equipment and swum to the shore (established later). Algerciras port closed in while search is carried out for diver. 2 Dive carried out following 30’ decompression profile. Diver had worked at 60’ for an hour and profile not adjusted for deeper depth. Diver collapses on deck after dive. Paralysis of lower limbs, tongue and visual disturbances. Type 2 decompression sickness, diver evacuated to chamber to Malaga hospital, 3 day treatment. 3 Diver carrying out propeller polish on Tanker – propeller starts while diver working and pushes him away – ripped shoulder and leg muscles. 4 Diver carrying out our hull scrub wearing Aga mask – tangle with hull scrub brushes/ loose rope and Aga locating straps (spider). Mask ripped from divers head. Diver makes it to surface – partial drowning and hospitalized ( 3 months off work). 5 Three bailout delivery whips blow off the mask on the same day. PC -
2011 5 5 Not Recorded Brazil Navy Diver Navy 6 man team on a training exercise on Petrobras platform 'Cherne I'. Initial reports indicate surface supplied air and that they pulled up the umbilical but the diver was missing. Had a bailout but appears to have ditched his gear. Body recovered early hours of the follwing day. Waiting on further details. PC -
2011 5 1 Makuch John USA Police diver SCUBA Aged 56, collapsed during a training exercise at Port Huron YMCA, 'massive Heart Attack', other team members (trained paramedics) were unable to save him. He had joined the St. Clair County Sherriff's Office dive team in 1991 and had worked his way up through the ranks to Assistant Chief. First recorded fatality since the team was founded in 1969. Reported in the Daily Tribune -
2011 4 27 Baumgartner Ottavio Italy Arte sub (La Specia) 4 S/S Air Aged 21, Edipower plant at Sermide near Mantova in Northern Italy. Cleaning water inlet grill. Scubapro full face mask, bailout, wet suit, air hose and communications line (but no strength line, video or pneumo). Reported that topsides heard his breathing rate rise, could not pull him out and put in the stand-by. After a 5 to 7 minute delay, the diver was found with his mask off. Did not respond to treatment. Three man team, IDSA qualification early 2010, water inlet from the river Po. PC and Gazzetta di Mantova -
2011 4 26 Pizanias N Greece Topsides Aged 29, commercial diver/diving school instructor. Throwing dynamite sticks at an Easter clrebration, expolded in his hand, hospitalised in Kalymnos, transferred to Athens but lost his hand and permanently blinded in one eye. Two other men died in similar Easter celebration incidents on Rhodes. Reported by Kalymniansvoice.gr -
2011 4 21 Catalan Hugo Amaliel Soto USA Erosion Barrier Installations 5 SCUBA Aged 23, employed out of Fort Lauderdale as one of a two man diving team surveying erosion on a man made lake at the Stoneybrook Golf and Country Club in Estero, surfaced and waved in distress but sank from sight before his partner onshore could reach him and could not be found in the murky water. His body was located 3 hours later by rescue divers. As the resue diver brought the body ashore they were followed by two snakes believed to be water moccasins (Shot and killed by shoreside deputies on alligator watch, one with a shotgun, the other an AR-15 rifle) His ditched gear was also recovered. 5 days after the death, Lee County Medical Examiner determined it was an accidental drowning. Reported in the Naples Valley News. -
2011 4 19 Enriques Jesus "Chuy" Mexico 9 Aged 28 from Holbrox, Quintana Roo, sea cucumber harvesting 24 miles off Celustan, died underwater at about 14:00 hours. No details. Reported by Sipse.com -
2011 4 14 Schneider Louis Cameroun Pecten Topsides Aged 60, Pioneer deep saturation trials diver with Comex (Janus, Aurora etc). Stabbed to death in a late night mugging in Douala. Cameroon.net -
2011 4 10 Mitchell David UKCS Acergy Saturation Aged 49, bell run from the Acergy Osprey, returned to the bell, fell ill and died. Initial reports indicate a heart attack -
2011 3 31 van Delft Anton Lybia Aged 62, dive team leader working for Zwaytina Zwaytina Oil Company near Ajdabiyah. With two diving companions stayed on site rather than evacuating during the civil war. Compound was raided/looted by government supporters, detained two days, all three escaped to Benghazi. Reported that most of his medicines were lost/confiscated, rationed himself but suffered seizures and died of 'epilepsy'. Reported by Nu.nl -
2011 3 30 Bradley Richard Australia Technip 240 Saturation Aged 35, Australian from Broome, sat diving operations off the DSV “Oceania Venturer� (Ex CSO 'Venturer', ex Seabex 1'?), marine growth cleaning with an HP water jet. Gun mechanical failure, severe left forearm wounds (water, debris etc). Emergency decompression, medivac, will be off work six months. Reported in the Western Australian -
2011 3 28 Mayo Hector Luelmo Spain Military 35 SCUBA Aged 24, Soldier with the V Batallon de Intervention en Emergencias based in El Ferral de Bernesga, Leon. Diving exercise, lost contact with his 4 man group. His three companions were treated for decompression illness. Body recovered the next day. No details. Reported in GPS Buzeo -
2011 3 24 Irvine James UK 6 SCUBA Aged 42, from the Glenrothes area of Fife, disappeared at 13:00 GMT on Thursday off the coast at Lower Largo. "The two men who remained on the boat reported that the man had surfaced during the dive and requested more weights, but did not resurface after this." Paraphrased from AP/STV reports: “Police have confirmed that a body recovered from the water at 19:30 GMT on Friday was that of a missing scallop diver. Extensive searches had been carried out by police divers supported by the Central Scotland Police Diving Team, a Royal Navy rescue helicopter and Kinghorn Lifeboat were also involved. HSE investigation ongoing, unclear if this was a commercial dive, but is one of two scallop diving fatalities (the other was Graham Mackie, 11th June) that led to the HSE issuing a safety alert on the 22nd June -
2011 3 23 Macias Javier Diaz Spain Macpherson Servicios Subaquacuaticos Aged 26, from El Puerta de Santa Maria (Cadiz), carrying out repair works on the (upstream) Analucian water board (Agencia Andaluza del Agua) Los Melonares dam gates near Castilblanco de Los Arroyos (North of Seville). One of a four man team. Emergency services called a 17:00 hours, body recovered downstream of the dam. No other details. Reported in Europa press/www.internetnews.tk. -
2011 3 18 Marin Antonio Argentina Aged 43, carrying out underwater repairs to the bow of the "Golestan" moored in the port of Quequen, recovered to deck but failed to respond to treatment. No other details. Reported by DiarioNecochea.com -
2011 3 16 Rosita V Chile Salmon Company owned motor vessel 'Rosita V', registration 1871, sailed from Quellon at 15:00 0n 15th March will 11 persons onboard, shipwrecked on rocks 03:00 on Locos Island (15 miles NorthEast of Melinka) in heavy rain and strong wids, 8 persons survived - including all 5 members of the diving team - two crew died, one missing. Not enough lifejackets onboard for all persons, lights and flares did not work, vessel documentation incorrect (Listed as sailing with a crew of 4 but later confirmed it sailed with 11 onboard). "The Maritime Office has launched an investigation" NB Another crewmember aged 23 who was taken off this vessel when moored in Quellon harbour in October 2010 died in hospital. Chilean Press -
2011 3 10 Pendleton Vance Wayne Canada 14 SCUBA Aged 56, experienced diver and owner of a dive shop. Diving for Sea Urchins of l'Etete, New Brunswick, failed to surface, located on the seabed 'initial information is pointing towards drowning' but coroner to confirm cause of death, Worksafe and RCMP to determine whether the diver was working at the time. He was diving with 4 other commercial divers on a commercial harvesting operation. Lost sight of the group, they surfaced, at first nor concerned because he had a bigger air tank. When he failed to surface after 10 - 15 minutes, they went back in to look for him. He was found and brought to the surface but failed to respond to treatment. Reported in the Telegraph-Journal, Brunswick -
2011 2 23 Garvizo Roberto Rojas Chile Acuinova A shellfish diver, net/cage inspection dive, failed to suface, body recovered by dive team. The incident occurred on the Wednesday evening at Quitralco 7, reported as 'dying after swallowing water underwater' and listed as 'drowning'. No other details. Reported by Radio Santa Maria -
2011 2 19 Coliboro Carlos Isaias Melipillan Chile Aged 50, Shellfish diver onboard the 'Nortwester Matricula' working in the Falcon Estuary (36 hours sailing time from Puerta Natales). Expired certificates, no permit to be at sea, autopsy indicated that he suffocated after vomiting underwater. Reported in El Pinguino. -
2011 2 19 LaClair Patrick J USA Paraphrased from press reports:- “Coast Guard officials said a 54-year-old member of the Skokomish tribe ran into trouble while out on the water with a geoduck boat in the Hood Canal, near Hazel Point The man had two spotters, who saw that he was struggling and called 911 at around 4 p.m. A Navy rescue boat pulled the man out of the water and administered CPR while heading back to shore. Central Kitsap Fire whilst Rescue and Navy paramedics tried to help the man. The Kitsap County Coroner's Office declared him dead at about 7 pm� No other details. Reported by AP, Komo News, Kitsap Sun etc. -
2011 2 17 Clarkson Peter Australia SCUBA Aged 50 with 27 years diving experience, two man commercial abalone boat out of Port Lincoln (200 miles West of Adelaide). Reported as being attacked by two great white sharks as he surfaced. The skipper (who lost diver Danny Thorpe when his boat overturned in 2000 – he risked the long swim ashore leaving Danny Thorpe with the boat but 'when help arrived all they found was Thorpe's shredded life vest and a beat up old lunchbox, but that was all') said 'I saw the beast come up and take him. There was no way he could have survived'. Last August, the diver had described a previous close encounter with a great white during a diving ascent when endorsing a shark deterrent system. 'The search for the victim's remains ongoing'. Reported by the Mail online, Herald Sun etc -
2011 2 17 Deep Sat Dive India Indian Navy 233 Saturation Indian Navy DSV "Nireekshak" (DP vessel built by M/s Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai, to support ONGC's offshore oil exploration work. Launched in June 1989 on lease with an option for purchase by Indian Navy. The ship was modified and fitted with the diving system and other equipment removed from the Russian Submarine rescue vessel INS Nistar (Decommissioned in 1989). In March 1995 the purchase option was invoked and the vessel was formally re-commissioned on 15 September 1995. The ship is equipped with two Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRVs), capable of taking 12 men to 300 meters, two six-man recompression chambers and one three-man diving bell. Used for submarine rescue and training saturation divers) set a new National deep diving record. A 5 man team reached 233 metres in a dive off Kochi. ANI -
2011 2 12 Montecinos Juan Francisco Vejar Chile 8 SCUBA Aged 34, volunteer with the town of Chol Chol fire team, training exercise off Lican Ray, reported as having lost consciousness underwater, brought to the surface by other team members but did not respond to treatment. No further details. Reported in El Diario Austral. -
2011 2 9 Rodriguez Norlan Jose Vasquez Nicaragua SCUBA Aged 28, rescue drill training exercise from the vessel "La Novia del Xolotlan" in the port of Managua, came to the surface calling for help but submerged before they could get to him. Body recovered two days later. No details. Nicaraguan Press -
2011 1 27 Not Recorded USA, Washington S/S Air Paraphrased from press reports:- “A 30-year-old commercial diver was taken to a hospital Thursday after his breathing apparatus malfunctioned near Suquamish. The Port Orchard man was harvesting geoduck while tethered with an air hose to a boat, said a North Kitsap Fire & Rescue spokeswoman. The diver was at a depth of 60 feet at about 11:30 a.m. when his breathing apparatus malfunctioned. The malfunction forced the diver to surface faster than recommended to avoid decompression sickness. He was driven by boat to a dock at Kiana Lodge in Suquamish where he was evaluated by medics. The man showed no symptoms of sickness and was transported to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton as a precaution. Reported as the second geoduck diving accident in as many months in the Suquamish area. (Two Bremerton divers were hospitalized Dec. 14 after the support boat they were tethered to drug them into deep water in Port Madison). North Kitsap Herald -
2011 1 25 Castro Policcarpio UAE Amasco, Dubai SCUBA Personal Communication “A diver was killed carrying out a hullscrub on the offshore anchorage Fujairah – date of incident 25th Jan 2011. Filipino diver, one of four using brush carts, crushed on surfacing between dive boat and tanker 'Najm' (Maltese flag, Iranian National Oil Company) in rough seas� PC. Waiting on further details -
2011 1 25 Rouxhet Olivier Belgium Fireman SCUBA Paraphrased from press reports:- Aged 39, a Civil Protection Force Fire Rescue FF/Diver was killed in the Line of Duty during the search for 2 children in the Meuse River. The 12 and 6 year old children had been missing since January 16 when the oldest girl jumped after her sister who fell into the water were swept away by the current of the river in the vicinity of the eastern city of Liège.. The crew-chief of the diving operation over the the previous days got into trouble going down in the man-made barrier (Sluice gate) complex on the river. He gave alarm signals by his security line, but the surface-crew couldn't free him. They immediately started a rescue operation but it was too late. He had been smashed to a pier of bridge by the flow and lost a part of his diving equipment, most importantly his breathing mask. A diver of the Liège Fire brigade was also injured bringing the unconscious diver to the surface. An medical crew start life saving measures but he died on the way to hospital. The diver was divorced and leaves a 7 year old daughter. Reported on Flanders News. -
2011 1 19 Saes Sandro Brazil 26 SCUBA Aged 42, city of Florianopolis, carrying out survey for repairs to the Hercilio Luz bridge (Longest suspension bridge in Brazil at 821 metres long, built 1922) with one other diver but appears to have been a solo dive. Dive was meant to last 20 minutes, after 35 minutes partner asked for help. As fire brigade commenced search operations, diver's body came to the surface. No response to treatment. Reported as acute respiratory failure by drowning. Equipment reported as being in order. Work was resumed a month later with a new diving contractor (North Star) using three divers and a supervisor with a DDC on site. No other details. Reported by Terra Noticias -
2011 1 17 Karsky Erkan Georgia Kuzeyin Marine SCUBA Paraphrased from press reports:- “Two Turkish scuba divers were been killed (Double fatality, Murad Oglu) in an underwater explosion working on the salvage of the sunken Ukrainian ship '�Skaldovski� that sank in 2008 during a storm outside the Georgian Black Sea oil-export port of Kulevi. Preliminary probe indicated that the explosion could have been caused by hydrogen accumulated inside the ship The two divers were supposed to use a welder to fix the ship. Representatives from Georgia Petroleum, the owners and operators of the terminal, ruled out the possibility that the leak-out of oil products had caused the underwater explosion saying that the reservoirs on the vessel were emptied.
This has been the second similar incident in Kulevi for recent months. In December 2010, a 25-year old diver was badly injured when working underwater. -
2011 1 17 Oglu Murad Kara Georgia Kuzeyin Marine SCUBA Paraphrased from press reports:- “Two Turkish scuba divers were been killed (Double fatality, Erkan Karsky) in an underwater explosion working on the salvage of the sunken Ukrainian ship '�Skaldovski� that sank in 2008 during a storm outside the Georgian Black Sea oil-export port of Kulevi. Preliminary probe indicated that the explosion could have been caused by hydrogen accumulated inside the ship The two divers were supposed to use a welder to fix the ship. Representatives from Georgia Petroleum, the owners and operators of the terminal, ruled out the possibility that the leak-out of oil products had caused the underwater explosion saying that the reservoirs on the vessel were emptied.
This has been the second similar incident in Kulevi for recent months. In December 2010, a 25-year old diver was badly injured when working underwater. -
2011 1 13 Araya Hernan Alvarado Chile Aged 40, died in the regional hospital of Copiapo (Where there is a hyperbaric centre) at 11pm. He was suffering from acute decompression illnesss after working at the Seafood site of Caleta La Ovillina, 30 km north of Caldera. Press report inicated that he might have survived if there had been a DDC on site. Reported by GPS Buceo -
2011 1 12 Not Recorded USA S/S Air Paraphrased from press reports “ Juneau, Alaska. The Coast Guard is investigating the death of commercial diver off a boat southeast Alaska� The 68-foot fishing vessel “Island Dancer� was diving for sea cucumber in Chester bay, off Annette Island. Crew told investigators that the diver surfaced at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, took off his mask and immediately sank. They pulled the diver out of the water using the air hose and gave first aid but he did not respond to treatment�. Alaska daily News -
2011 1 8 Smock Mathew 'Matt' Alexander USA T & T Bisso S/S Air Aged 28, Married with 4 children. The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the death of a diver who was found unresponsive after cleaning a ship's hull, authorities said Monday. The diver, from Houston, was working offshore from a service boat. Crews performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him until the boat docked at Pier 9 in Galveston. Galveston firefighters took over the lifesaving maneuver and an ambulance took the diver to the University of Texas Medical Branch. The incident stemmed from what was believed to be a mechanical malfunction with diving equipment, a fire official said. The diver was pronounced dead at 1:37 p.m, by the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office. He was diving about 10 miles out from the jetties in an area where ships anchor, cleaning the hull of a ship with a scrubbing machine. He was working on the King Arthur, a commercial diving vessel. Galveston Daily News. Other sources indicate he lost his helmet (PC) 2012 USCG/ADCI Safety Partnership Casualty Statistics Paper also reported the incident adding he requested 'Up and out' but surfaced the opposite side of the ship, the supervisor reported that the diver wanted to ditch his hat. Rescue diver found him on the bottom without helmet, unresponsive. -
2011 1 5 Flores Alvaro Hernandez Mexico Aged 28, diving under the fishing boat 'Joisafco III' that had run aground near a packing plant assessing hull damage and preparing to refloat the vessel. The Captain started the engines and the rotating propeller immediately sliced off the diver's left arm. His brother on deck reached in to try to pull the diver out but the propeller dragged him under and inflicted a fatal cut to the throat that virtually decapitated him. Fire department divers recovered the body and severed arm. Reported by Hoy Tamaulipas.net -
2011 1 1 Lemos Jorge Luiz Brazil Vilasub on contract to Flexibras Aged 44, married, two children, experienced diver (In 2002 he recovered the bodies of two fireman killed in the sinking of a vessel in the Port of Tubarao), owner Vilasub based in Vila Velha (Only diving company in the state licenced by the navy to train commercial divers for the fire brigade, police, Navy and Petrobras) providing underwater ship's husbandry services. Accident happened in the Port of Victoria (Porto de Vitoria) during preparatory works for a dredging operation, early afternoon solo dive to check the results of earlier blasting work but drifted away from the boat. Other divers went in and pulled him to the surface, bleeding from ears and almost unconscious. Taken to hospital but died later that evening. Gazetaonline -
2010 12 22 Busso Philippe Vietnam Tourist SCUBA French tourist diving off the island of Cu Lao Cau, double fatality (with Russian Alexander Nikolaev). Another diver reported being knocked unconscious by a powerful explosion, local police blamed poachers 'blast' fishing. Voice of Russia -
2010 12 22 Nikolaev Alexander Vietnam Tourist SCUBA Russian tourist diving off the island of Cu Lao Cau, double fatality (with Frenchman Philippe Busso). Another diver reported being knocked unconscious by a powerful explosion, local police blamed poachers 'blast' fishing. Voice of Russia -
2010 12 20 Bartolome 01 Juan Spain Albaladejo Fishfarm 0 SCUBA 34 Year old diver employed by a fish farm in San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia, initially reported that he died after accidentally shooting himself in the chest with his own harpoon. It happened shortly before 9.30 on Monday morning when an emergency call came through that the diver was seriously injured when in the water and was being transferred by boat to the local port. All attempts to revive the man, both on board the boat and after reaching port, were however unsuccessful�. 'Accident in the worplace'. Reported by Typicallyspanish.com. See second report (Bartolome 02, below) -
2010 12 20 Bartolome 02 Juan Spain Albaladejo Fishfarm 0 SCUBA 34 Year old diver employed by a fish farm in San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia, initially reported that he died after accidentally shooting himself in the chest with his own harpoon. See first report (Bartolome 01, above). 15 months after his death, following investigation "Jaula 23", two co-workers were detained in connection with firing the harpoon that killed Juan Bartolome. They were subsequently charged with negligent homicide, despite initially claiming that the accident was caused by the victim himself and reported as an accident in the workplace. The two witnesses said at first that he had died by accident when putting on his diving equipment prior to entering the water, but their statements contained contradictions and contrasted with evidence found in the boat and the diving equipment and investigators soon began to suspect the two of homicide by negligence. Forensic and reconstructive investigation concluded that the harpoon had been fired from a distance and under the surface of the sea, presumably by accident, by one of the diver's companions. The case against IHV, aged 58 from San Pedro del Pinatar and JFMN, aged 37, from Murcia is being held at the Magistrates' court in San Javier. Case ongoing (April 2012). Murciatoday.com -
2010 12 14 Not Recorded USA 26 Two Bremerton commercial geoduck divers were taken to hospitals Tuesday after their support boat dragged them into deep water in Port Madison. A 50-year-old woman was flown from Suquamish to Harborview Medical center in Seattle at about 1:30 p.m. The woman was in stable condition as of 7:15 p.m. Her diving companion, a 27-year-old man, was driven to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton. The divers were working in about 50 feet of water when strong winds pushed their support boat into deeper water. The divers were tethered to the boat, which dragged them to a depth of about 85 feet. They were then pulled to the surface by workers on the support boat. -
2010 12 9 Perez David Venezuela Alianza Servicios Marinos del Lago 7 S/S Air Diving Contractor working for Petrolos de Venezuela. Reported as “Died whilst inspecting oil pipelines in Lake Maracaibo at 12:05 hours�. Reported by La Verdad. Another report indicates that neither the diver nor supervisor had no training certifcates and that the diver got entangled in a downline to the pipeline, lost his helmet and drowned (Longstreath) -
2010 12 8 Agustin Mike Nicaragua Alberto Woo SCUBA Diving off the fishing Vessel 'Marco Polo' for Lobster, they lost his bubble trail, diver disappeared/failed to surface, presumed dead. A few days earlier, another fishing vessel sank, the Captain was never found but two crew members got ashore. The search for the missing diver and Captain was abandoned after 5 days. laprensa.com. No other details. -
2010 12 8 Lightfoot, US Army Captain Juan E USA US Army SCUBA Capt. Juan E. Lightfoot, 34, died at Womack Army Medical Center four days after an accident during pre-SCUBA training. The former Marine who had arrived at the battalion in November, commanded a Special Forces detachment of Fort Bragg's 7th Special Forces Group. As the incident was under investigation, no details were available, including the place or nature of the accident and whether it took place in the water, said a spokesman for 7th Group. The training was intended to prepare soldiers to attend the Combat Divers Qualification Course held at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School in Key West, part of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg. Reported in the Fay Observer. -
2010 12 2 White Danny Williams Nicaragua Pasenic SCUBA Aged 31, diving to retrieve two anchors from the fishing vessel “Lady Sylvia� owned by Pasenic (Nicaraguan Shellfish growers). Solo dive, 30 minutes into the dive was found by colleagues dead on the seabed between the two anchors. Medical examiner stated cause of death was a heart problem. Survived by wife, 3 year old son and 1 year old daughter. Had worked for Pasenic for 11 years. Reported by GPS Diving -
2010 12 0 Not Recorded Georgia Paraphrased from press reports:- “In December 2010, a 25-year old diver was badly injured when working underwater at the oil port of Kulevi�. Reported in the press articles reporting the deaths of Erkan Karsky and Murad Oglu in January 2011 -
2010 11 29 McCarthy Peter Joseph Thailand 80 Rebreather British, aged 47, diving instructor, disappeared on an 80 metre deep dive into the mouth of a submerged volcano off the Thai island of Koh Tao with a party of eight other British and Italian divers at about noon, local time, on Monday. The other instructor on the dive told Thai media that Mr McCarthy did not come up after the nine man hour-long dive. Each of the divers had two hours of oxygen. The other divers used up their remaining oxygen in searching for their instructor, reports said. The instructor was described as a very experienced technical diver - expert in a specialised type of scuba diving that uses a mix of gases to allow divers dive go deeper and for longe (Technical diving). The original diving group consisted of the two instructors, four men and three women. Mr McCarthy had a diving licence issued in the Gulf of Thailand province of Chumpon. Daily Mail UK -
2010 11 27 Not Recorded Norway Aged 47, Reports described him as 'A professional diver in his 40s was killed during a working dive at a pumping station at the Husqvarna factory in Sarpsborg, Ostfold on Saturday morning'. Possibly trapped underwater and/or lost air supply, but no details. Checking the factory inlet was an annual job he had done several times previousl. Water was ice covered at the time. The diver appears to have been a volunteer/sports diver from the Sarpsborg diving club but employed to undertake a commercial (water inlet) diving job. Does not appear to fit in with Norwegian regulations. No published incident report found to date. Reported by NTu -
2010 11 18 Nolesolo Roberto Villata Peru SCUBA Aged 38, one of two shellfish divers (Valiente Zapata Wilbert was killed) diving from the scallop boat 'Robert Alexander' off the island 'Lobos de Tierra' involved in a decompression incident. No details. Reported by GPS Diving -
2010 11 18 Wilbert Valiente Zapata Peru SCUBA Aged 38, one of two shellfish divers (Roberto Villata Nolesolo was seriously injured) diving from the scallop boat 'Robert Alexander' off the island 'Lobos de Tierra' involved in a decompression incident. No details. Reported by GPS Diving -
2010 11 13 Rain Javier Gueichapiren Chile SCUBA Shellfish diver working on the 'Westhoff' 20 miles south of Puerto Melinka Weste, disappeared. Search by Navy personnel located his body on the North coast of Puerto Llancos two days later. www.armada.cl -
2010 11 4 Dau Nguyen Van Vietnam Cienco No 1 32 S/S Air Paraphrased from press reports:- "A diver drowned in Da Nang Thursday while fixing a broken drill tip at a bridge construction site. The Diver, aged 33 was paid VND10 million (US$513) to bring up a drill tip from 32 meters below the surface of the Han River. His first dive was successful; and he surfaced after 15 minutes with part of the tip. He descended once again and didn't resurface. Another worker from  the Tran Thi Ly bridge construction site dived to check on Dau and found his dead body. Some of the workers said the tube supplying oxygen to Dau was narrow and might have twisted, diminishing Dau's air supply. Workers also said the cold water might have weakened him. Rescuers managed to bring his body to the surface on Thursday evening, seven hours after the event. First investigation showed that Dau had been stuck in a pipe, which is part of the bridge construction�. Thanh Nien News.com -
2010 11 4 Not Recorded Earl'? USA, New York Reicon S/S Air American, aged 35. Paraphrased from reports:- “Commercial diving team working at a restoration project at Chelsea Pier 59 on the Hudson River. End of dive, divers were being pulled back to the barge they were working from, fellow workers saw that one of the divers was in distress. Police said his umbilical had become entangled in the pier and was frantically waving his hands as he was pulled in along the 250’ umbilical and had taken off the mask that presumably because he was not able to get air through it. He was pulled out of the water blue and unconscious about 5:45 p.m. Police said that attempts by his fellow workers to revive the man were unsuccessful, but that emergency crews responding to the scene were able to resuscitate him. He was incoherent at first, but was brought to Bellevue hospital in stable condition, police said�. DNAinfo (Manhattan Local News) Unsubstantiated rumours of no standby diver, no bail out, self tending, pulled out by another (none diver) worker, possibly a 'single man dive team', but no details in the public domain. In hospital recovering, breathing tube removed 5 days later. -
2010 11 2 Tejeda Miguel Angel Molina Chile Chilean Navy Aged 23, Salvage diver, Chief of staff stated that he made a very shallow dive but afterwards reported not feeling well. He was sent to the Naval hospital 'Admiral Nef' in Vina del Mar but during the transfer suffered a possible cardiac arrest. No other details. Reported by GPS Divinig -
2010 10 23 Copeland Mark Eugene USA Greg's Marine 12 S/S Air American, aged 45. Paraphrased from reports "On Oct. 23 at approximately 11:34 a.m., units from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police responded to the Dominion LNG Plant Gas Dock to investigate a reported industrial accident. The victim was later pronounced deceased at Calvert Memorial Hospital. The preliminary investigation revealed he was working for Greg’s Marine as a labourer. His duties this day were to chip away old cement jackets placed over pilings at the gas dock, preparing these pilings for new jackets, approximately 1 mile off the coast of Calvert County. While conducting this task, he was equipped with a neoprene wet suit, fins, a harness, and a diver’s helmet. He slipped underwater and continued to the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay, approximately 40 feet. After several attempts, the supervisor finally rescued his unconscious body from the Bay’s floor. CPR was conducted by his co-workers as well as medical staff and members of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office. Forensic investigation revealed there were no signs of trauma to the body. This is an on-going investigation handled by the Calvert Investigative Team (CIT) and the United States Coast Guard" -
2010 10 22 Demian Jorge Argentina Fireman Aged 24, fireman based at Caleta Olivia on a rescue diver course in Puerto Santa Cruz, appears to have died in an accident at the Juan Carlos Narvaez sports centre swimming pool during training, but no details. Reported by GPS Diving -
2010 10 19 Alarcon Mario Peru Aged 48, had stopped diving 'but for financial reasons' moved from 'the slums of Lucy Villanueva' to the Island of Parachique (Province of Sechura) to work in the pearl shell extraction industry. Surfaced in a rush and complained of chest pains, died diuring the transfer to Parachique. No treatment equipment on the boat. Wife and six children. Elregionalpiura.com -
2010 10 18 Tiffin CPO Andrew Afghanistan Canadian Navy Topsides Canadian, 42-year-old father of two, naval clearance diver and explosive ordnance disposal technician. (Friend and colleague of Craig Blake - killed 3rd of May - whose coffin he escorted home). He specialized in the analysis of explosive devices, based in Kandahar, working on a seemingly disabled device when it blew apart in his hands. Severely damaged left hand, also arms injuries, medivac to Germany and then onward to Canada. The Star.com. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC) -
2010 10 15 Allan Stephen 'Darby' Sudan Mine Action Group Landmine British, aged 52, ex marine clearance diver who had spent 30 years with the Royal Navy as a highly commended explosive ordnance expert, before joining MAG in 2006, with whom he led mine clearance teams in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Underwater Port Clearance), Lebanon and Sudan (Surface ordnance). The chief executive of MAG, said his team had cleared 1,500 explosive items in Sudan since last August and the work of the organisation had saved countless lives. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC). The News, Portsmouth -
2010 10 13 Muller Travis USA Ron Perrin Water Technologies 9 SCUBA Paraphrased from press reports:- “A 28 year old diver from Arlington died at about 09:45 this morning while working inside a nearly full City of Richmond municipal above ground water storage tank in Richmond this morning. The diver worked for a contractor who was performing routine (Two yearly silt removal) maintenance on the 500,000 gallon tank, which is about 50 feet tall and was three-quarters filled with water. The diver descended into the tank in SCUBA gear (09:15) and went to the bottom (09:18) was vacuuming the bottom of it to clean it. His partner who was outside the tank on the top noticed the diver's tether line became slack (09:28). He then also put on scuba gear and went into the tank to find what was wrong. He found the man unresponsive with his mask off but started having regulator problems and surfaced. The Richmond fire Department responded and recovered the diver’s body (10:50)". Declared dead. Houston Chronicle. -
2010 10 2 Barrientos Jose Ascensio Chile Aged 54, Shellfish diver onboard the vessel "Seno Vera" 13 miles off Puerto Aguirre suffered fractured left leg and serious cuts to both legs from the vessel's propeller. Transferred ashore (seems to have taken over six hours to get the rescue boat there and back to port) and to hospital. No other details. Armarda.cl -
2010 9 27 Paillacar Victor Javier Chile Fisherman SCUBA Aged 24, scallop diver from the 'Luisa' 30 minutes transit out of Puerta Natales, brought ashore dead after what was described as a 'decompression problem'. No other details. Reported by Polar Radio -
2010 9 24 Not Recorded Croatia Tourists SCUBA A SCUBA cylinder exploded as it was being loaded onto to a diving bost in the Port of Komiza killing a 48 year old Polish woman, three other people were injured and taken to hospital in Split where a 43 year old man who had received head injuries died overnight. They were part of a 12 person group of Polish tourists on a SCUBA diving holiday. AFP -
2010 9 17 Jachal Major Narcis Romania Fireman Aged 33, section leader of three man diving team in the ISU (Emergency services) with two colleagues went down into a well in the village of Radauti Prut to recover a man, overcome by CO fumes from a water pump. One colleague (Sergeant Marius Loghin) died, section leader, Major Narcis Jachal and diver Iulian Todirel were hospitalised first in Darabani City Hospital then transferred to Botsani County hospital. The 33 year old man they went to rescue also died. Discussion after the event centred on apparent lack of training (recognising a contaminated environment) and failure to intiate/use Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment (HBOT) for CO poisoning. Realitea.net -
2010 9 17 Loghin Sergeant Marius Romania Fireman Aged 32, diver in the ISU (Emergency services) with two colleagues went down into a well in the village of Radauti Prut to recover a man, overcome by CO fumes from a water pump, pronounced dead after an hour and a half artifical respiration. Two colleagues (Iulian Todirel aged 25 and the section leader, Major Narcis Jachal aged 33) were hospitalised first in Darabani City Hospital then transferred to Botsani County hospital. The 33 year old man they went to rescue also died. Discussion after the event centred on apparent lack of training (recognising a contaminated environment) and failure to intiate/use Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment (HBOT) for CO poisoning. Realitea.net -
2010 9 17 Todirel Iulian Romania Fireman Aged 25 diver in the ISU (Emergency services) with two colleagues went down into a well in the village of Radauti Prut to recover a man, overcome by CO fumes from a water pump. One colleague (Sergeant Marius Loghin) died, Iulian Todirel, along with and the section leader, Major Narcis Jachal were hospitalised first in Darabani City Hospital then transferred to Botsani County hospital. The 33 year old man they went to rescue also died. Discussion after the event centred on apparent lack of training (recognising a contaminated environment) and failure to intiate/use Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment (HBOT) for CO poisoning. Realitea.net -
2010 9 14 Barrett Mark D USA State Police 23 SCUBA Aged 41, Died during a training dive in Lake Anna, reported as deep diver training with 16 other members of the Virginia State Police search and recovery team, ascending, seen to have difficulty breathing, assisted to surface, CPR, taken to hospital but died. Reported as drowned. First fatality on the dive team since it was established in 1962. The Munz -
2010 9 14 Rine Duane 'Charlie' USA Fisherman 3 SCUBA Aged 51, Long-time crew member on the 164' Herring boat 'Western Venture', pair trawling out of Gloucester, 150 miles offshore. Nets caught around rudder/propeller. Paraphrased report:- "He had dived on the boat before and was willing and able to clear the net from the rudders. Around 7:30 or 8 p.m. he got into the water, immediately cleared the port rudder, but the starboard rudder is more difficult. He was under for around 10 to 15 minutes, and when he surfaced had abandoned all of his dive gear (tank, weight belt, etc.). Conscious and shouting to the crew when he surfaced, but after they lifted him out of the water with the sling he quickly lost consciousness and stopped breathing. The crew of the boat performed CPR for over an hour. They failed to resuscitate him and with no help on the way stopped CPR after 9 p.m. As we drifted by their stern. I could see the crew carrying his body to shelter from the back deck. At 9:30 p.m. the captain of Western Venture told us that we had lost him. When the Venture was able to pick up her gear, they found all of his dive gear tangled in the net. That he became entangled in the net under the boat is a fact. The rest can only be speculated upon." Gloucester Daily Times -
2010 9 10 Lower Rob USA Self Employed 23 Rebreather Aged 29, professional rare fish collector (selling to the aquarium trade) reported as diving to 75m to 100m on a daily basis.. Diving for Masked Angel Fish, a rare species off the island of Kauai. Mild DCS symptoms from a dive the previous day to over 90m depth, he dived to 75m without a viable dive computer (Dive computer failed a few days prior to the accident, reported that the replacement computer either did not support a fixed PPO2 or was not available - conflicting reports). Replacement computer would not have his very high tissue compartment loadings in any case. Surfaced from the 75m with DCS symptoms which became worse on the boat, flown to a chamber and recompressed, stopped breathing in the chamber and failed to respond to reatment. Reported Cerebral Embolism. Reported that he had been tol that his dive practices were extremely hazardous but chose to dive when he knew he did not have adequate decompression data and was already suffering from DCS, also reported to have claimed he could "feel the nitrogen coming out of him", so did not need a deco computer. Reported by reefbuilders, hawaiiskindiver etc -
2010 9 9 Ispas Lt. Catalin Romania Hunter SRL 40 SCUBA Turkish cargo vessel 'Medy' sank six miles off Constanta breakwater on the 1st September 2010. Private diving contractor put 4 divers onboard an ARSVOM (Navy) vessel to do a pollution survey to establish a contingency plan. First team dived successfully, second team (Ispas and Zarafu) followed, but nether surfaced. Romanian authorities intervened to remove the 22 tons of fuel and about two tons of oil and hired in a specialist Turkish diving contractor. To reach fuel tanks and engine room of the wreck, divers made a hole in the hull and began emptying the fuel tanks. The body of Ispas was found inside the engine room on the 12th December (Drowned, but with 20 bar air pressure still in his cylinder). Attributed to Nitrogen Narcosis. Apparently entered the wreck without using a lifeline (Ispas worked for the Naval emergency services but worked also for the diving contractor, unclear if he was a qualified commercial diver, Zarrafu was a full time commercial diver. No DDC, no medical back-up. The body of Zarafu was recovered on the 23rd December. Reported by Jurnalul.ro -
2010 9 9 Zarafu Cristian Romania Hunter SRL 40 SCUBA Turkish cargo vessel 'Medy' sank six miles off Constanta breakwater on the 1st September 2010. Private diving contractor put 4 divers onboard an ARSVOM (Navy) vessel to do a pollution survey to establish a contingency plan. First team dived successfully, second team (Ispas and Zarafu) followed, but nether surfaced. Romanian authorities intervened to remove the 22 tons of fuel and about two tons of oil and hired in a specialist Turkish diving contractor. To reach fuel tanks and engine room of the wreck, divers made a hole in the hull and began emptying the fuel tanks. The body of Ispas was found inside the engine room on the 12th December (Drowned, but with 20 bar air pressure still in his cylinder). Attributed to Nitrogen Narcosis. Apparently entered the wreck without using a lifeline (Ispas worked for the emergency services but worked also for the diving contractor, unclear if he was a qualified commercial diver, Zarrafu was a full time commercial diver. No DDC, no medical back-up. The body of Zarafu was recovered on the 23rd December. Reported by Jurnalul.ro -
2010 9 7 Villalobos Roberto Antonio Chile S/S Air Aged 36, one of three brothers (Victor Manuel, Julio Humberto and Roberto Antonio) crewing the fishing vessel "Manchita" out of the port of Ovalle (La Lobera) in Talcaruca inlet harvesting limpets. Victor and Robrto dived, but after 20 minutes it was noticed that Roberto's umbilcal was not moving, pulled to the surface but appeared already lifeless. Taken to port where paramedics confirmed him dead. GPS Buceo -
2010 9 6 Deep Sat Dive China Navy Medical Research Institute 491 Saturation 4 Chinese divers reported to have reached a storage depth of 480 metres with an excursion to 493 metres on heliox. The 'Atlantis' trials (Duke University, USA,) reached 686 metres in 1981, Comex ran a series of deep diving programmes (Physalie, Janus, Sagittaire, Hydra, etc) mostly in France and finally Aurora at the NHC in Aberdeen reaching 470 metres in 1993. The deepest took place in France in Toulon with the Hydra programme reaching 701 metres in 1992 (the diver was Theo Mavrostomos, 20th November 1992) using Hydreliox. Deepest hydreliox working dive is still Comex with a simulated pipeline intervention in the Mediterranean in 1988 with the Hydra 8 dives to 534 metres. -
2010 9 6 Giogine Augusto Brazil Aged 50, diver charging diving cylinders onboard the trawler 'Luz do Dia' port of Saco de Bananal (Near Rio). 04:30 on a Sunday morning, reported as compressor explosion, a splinter of wood hit him in the neck causing massive bleeding. Reported in Angranews -
2010 8 30 Mieses Kelvin Dominican Republic S/S Air Aged 24, reports unclear, but appears to have been a decompression incident related to long or deep surface supplied air dive during which the compressor failed preventing him from undertaking decompression stops. Treated at the local El Seibo hospital and referred to regional hspital in San Pedro de Macoris where he died. Unclear if there was a back up air supply, a bailout or if there was a DDC on site or at either hospital. Reported in diariolibre.com -
2010 8 21 Hussein Mahmoud Ali Egypt Paraphrased from Press Reports:- Port Suez saw a tragic accident that claimed the live of a 40 year old vessel maintenance diver when the crew of a cargo ship waiting to transit the canal started the engines. A team from the Maritime Rescue Police recovered the body which was found to be badly damaged by the effects of the large propellers. The authorities detained the Iraqi Captain and ordered his prosecution (charged with negligence at work and killing the diver). Rosaonline.net -
2010 8 17 Diaz Lt Mejia Honduras Navy SCUBA A Navy diver from Honduras today drowned while trying to salvage a narcotics plane from the Ulua River in Choloma Cortes in northern Honduras. Authorities reported that he and other colleagues had found the twin-engine craft and were preparing to salvage it when his safety rope was caught in the aircraft. Police seized 500 kilos of cocaine which they believe came to Honduras in the aircraft. Reported in Elheraldo.hn -
2010 8 9 Castro Antonio Romero Mexico Almeja Caterina 36 S/S Air Paraphrased from press reports:- “Aged 47 years (or 50 years, depending on report), from Cuidad Constitucion, scallop diver working out of Ensenada Blanca at the Magdalena Bay Complex, went home after work, felt ill, went to the Port of San Carlos hyperbaric centre. A health official in the hyperbaric chamber located in the port said that it must report that this unfortunate diver did not die in the hyperbaric chamber as previously reported due to lack of oxygen and much less about the lack of timely patient care but to the seriousness of the symptoms caused by severe decompression, this being the cause of death, according to the opinion of the medical examiner who performed the autopsy. Cause of death listed as 'inadequate decompression, decompression illness, massive pulmonary thrombosis and oedema' It was stated that prior to the this person had been working for 4 hours at 30 meters when the compressor stopped. Dive related to the fishing industry of the municipality of Comondu. No other details. Reported by Peninsulardigital.com -
2010 8 8 King Patrick Donald USA Forever Resorts 18 SCUBA Aged 30, killed in an accident while diving at Lake Nacimiento in the Bee Rock Cove area. His diving partner, aged 18, was injured and taken to U.C.L.A. Medical Center after initially being treated at the scene. The diver was pronounced dead at the lake after apparently attempting to salvage a sunken boat. According to sheriff's department officials, it appeared that a tether line that linked the divers became tangled in a separate line between the salvage boat and the sunken vessel. King ran low on air and was attempting to "buddy breathe" with Burgess when there may have been an equipment failure that caused Burgess to jettison his dive gear and began to surface from below 60 feet. Burgess was able to surface and call for help, The other diver later surfaced unconscious and was given CPR prior to paramedics declaring him dead at the scene, according to a press release. Both men worked for the resort company that runs the lake. -
2010 8 6 Not Recorded Switzerland Aged 47, Conny-Land theme park in Lipperswil, Norther Switzerland, cleaning a dolphin tank on Friday night, apparently pulled from the water unconscious but failed to respond to resuscitation. Later reported that cause of death was a heart attack. No other details -
2010 8 5 Not Recorded Japan SCUBA Japaneses, aged 58, a diving instructor giving tourists a diving lesson off Koki Beach in Nago, standing barefoot in shallow water at 9 a.m. stung by a stonefish. Suddenly felt a sharp pain on the bottom of his left foot and quickly lost consciousness. Another instructor at the beach provided first aid but the victim stopped breathing before an ambulance arrived later died. A spokesman for the Okinawa Health Department’s pharmaceutical team said this was the first reported death caused by the venomous fish in 27 years. Reported in Stars and Stripes (Big American forces base in the Area). Sports SCUBA, but professional instructor and at work. -
2010 8 4 Not Recorded Luis Mexico Rubi Munoz Chan Aged 25 from Seibaplaya, Campeche, diving for sea cucumber off the Rubi V as one of a three man crew. Vessel returned to port at 11:30 with his body, press commented on poor equipment and lack of knowledge of diving, but no details. Second diver to die in 15 days (Luis Torres. 22nd July) Reported by Yucatanalamano.com -
2010 7 29 Dobrajc Ziga Italy 4 Rebreather Aged 31, Slovenian biologist working at the Piran Marine Biology centre, diving on a 'Trieste HBY' rebreather off Miramar, injured in the same incident that killed Samo Alajbegovich on the 25th July. He was recovered from the sea unconscious by rescuers 10 metres from the shore in less than 4 metres of water. On life support in hospital for 4 days, declared brain dead, life support switched off. Reported in Slowwwenia.enaa.com -
2010 7 27 McCullough Mike USA SCUBA American, mid twenties. Paraphrased from press reports:- “A SCUBA diver retrieving golf balls at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course drowned Tuesday afternoon, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department said. "The lady driving the boat to the green said she had seen him at the back edge of the green diving for balls but hadn't seen him in an hour and half," said one golfer. “We started looking around to see if we could see him and when we looked over the left side of the green, we saw his face down body limp under the water, about 15 feet (offshore). But he wasn't moving and there weren't any bubbles coming out. The witness and a staff member took a boat out, pulled the body aboard and took the victim to an adjacent dock around 4 pm. The witness said the body was without diving gear when it was spotted. He was pronounced dead at Kootenai Medical Center around 5 p.m He was working for a contractor who picks up golf balls and other debris from the lake bottom in the area. Tuesday afternoon his gear was still at the bottom of the lake, said the sheriff's department. “Our divers will recover that and investigate this as the case goes on�. CDA Press. -
2010 7 25 Alajbegovich Samo Italy 7 Rebreather Aged 41, Slovenian biologist working at the Piran Marine Biology centre, diving on a 'Trieste HDT' rebreather off Miramar, body located in 7 metres of water 200 metres from the beach location where his diving partner, Ziga Dorajc was pulled alive, but unconscious (He subsequently died in hospital), from the water 4 hours earlier. Reported in Slowwwenia.enaa.com -
2010 7 24 Costello Patrick Germany Nordic Dive Enterprise 41 S/S Air 27 year old Swedish air diver working for a Danish contractor on a windfarm project in German waters. Reported as drowned in the last week of a six week diving job, had been airlifting from the DP II 'Maersk Tender', umbilical entangled one of the valves on the airlift. Did not activate his bailout, recovered to surface by the stand-by diver. Translated from German
Press reports dated Monday 26 07 2010:- “Diver dies when working in the offshore windfarm near Borkum. (Bard Offshore). The accident happened on Saturday at 40 meters in depth work. 'Aged 27, a professional diver from Sweden' said a police spokesman, confirming corresponding media reports�. Source: n-tv.de Other press reports indicate a possible lifting incident (TC)<br />UPDATE: The Danish Maritime Authority have released a Casualty Report regards this incident available from: http://www.dma.dk/news/Sider/Casualtyreportaboutdivingaccident.aspx<br />Also see topic in Incidents Diving Forum. -
2010 7 22 Torres Luis Martin Cohuo Mexico From Celestun but resident in Hunucma, wife and two children aged 14 and 7, shellfish diver, died in a decompression incident. No details. Reported by Yucatanalamano.com -
2010 7 21 Wesley Skiles USA 21 Rebreather Aged 52, Professional underwater photographer and explorer of underwater caves in Florida, diving 3 miles off Boynton Beach, found unconscious on the seabed by colleagues, did not respond to treatment. Gainsville Sun -
2010 7 13 Not Recorded Finland S/S Air Reported as a 43 year old diver working at the oil port of Kemi (checking port sonar equipment) became distressed in the water whilst working on Monday 9th July, was pulled to the surface and taken to hospital in a critical condition, died on the following Friday. Dates are confused (Monday was 5th July?) No other details. Reported by hlb.fi -
2010 7 12 Not Recorded Germany 39 year old commercial diver disappeared whilst working on clearing fishing nets from the propeller of the liner 'Noordam' in Bremerhaven (Crew had complained of vibration). Not clear whether propeller rotated or fell off, but diver disappeared in the fast flowing current of the Weser Police report, no other details -
2010 7 2 Hollifield Chris USA Veolia 76 Saturation Aged 33, former US Marine, Post 'Katrina' remedial works off the 'Normand Clipper', possible u/w oxy/arc diving explosion. Standby diver was deployed and located diver unresponsive on the seabed, did not respond to treatment. No details. Survived by wife and unborn son. Personal communication -
2010 6 19 Nasca Michele Italy Aged 57, 7 o'clock in the morning, snorkel diving with his brother to collect seafood near a pier near in the town of Zapponeta (Foggia, Italian East Coast north of Bari), sucked into into the 1 metre diameter inlet of a pump 2.5 metres below sea level (grill may have been faulty) supplying salt water to the 'Margherita di Savona' natural salt drying pans. Reported as 'shredded' by the impeller which was located only 30cm from the entrance. Apparently there was a sign prohibiting swimming in the area at the head of the pier, but not on the beach either side of it. A local fisherman was reported as saying that many years ago another spear fisherman had died at the same place in the same manner. Reported by Stato quotidiano -
2010 6 10 Levican Juan Bernado Chile Aged 30, Town of Quemchi, Butachauques Island, shellfish diver. Surfaced and reported not feeling well, taken ashore by the vessel "Dona Amelia" but arrived at the Metahue medical centre dead and was then transferred to Isla Grande. No other details. GPS Buceo -
2010 6 7 Beare Lloyd USA Dryden Diving 4 S/S Air Aged 45, one of a team that had been diving at the Indian point Nuclear Power Station in Buchanan for a couple of weeks. Working on a retaining wall between the Hudson River and a discharge channel. Stopped responding to surface, pulled up but did not respond to treatment, thought to be natural causes but examiner reported cause of death was not a heart attack. Waiting on reports. NBC News -
2010 6 2 Kumar Krishan India Indian Navy Topsides Aged 26 from Patna, a Navy diver, killed whilst three others, including the pilot and co-pilot, were injured when an Indian Navy Chetak helicopter crashed near the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The helicopter, deployed at INS Dega, crashed into a stream at Ankapalle, about 50 km from Visakhapatnam, although the cause of the crash was not immediately known, a police officer at the crash site said that the helicopter was on a route familiarization mission. It hit a high-tension wire while flying low to locate a landing spot to be used in case of emergencies, spiralled out of control and plunged into the river. Fishermen and locals informed the police who rescued the four Naval personnel from the wreckage in the water and rushed them to Anakapally hospital but Kumar died as they reached the hospital. Express News Service -
2010 5 31 Not Recorded Greece Press report stating that “a diver working for Hellenic Petroleum in Aspropyrgos (West of Athens) died while working on repairs to a water tank� reported as lost consciousness underwater, taken to hospital but did not respond to treatment. No other details. Ekathimerini.com -
2010 5 27 Orellana Luis Alberto Romero Chile 7 SCUBA Iquique, Chile. Shellfish diver with 30 years diving experience, Luis Alberto Romero Orellana, died yesterday at 11 am in a diving accident. At the time of the incident Luis Alberto was doing scrap recovery work for a fishing company. His teammates gave notice of the accident via mobile to the Maritime authorities, the patrol vessel "Defender" and a rescue RIB/divers of Harbor Master recovered the diver's body. Diving solo, no stand-by. Reported by gspbuceo -
2010 5 25 Costa Dr. Paolo Italy 107 Rebreather Aged 60, dive team of 4 people filming for Rai 3 programme "Geo and Geo" on Sardinia (Oliena, Nuoro) in an underwater spring (Su Gologone). Reported as becoming ill (Heart attack) during the ascent, failed to respond to treatment. A companion who assisted him up was treated for omitted decompression. Vip.it -
2010 5 23 Eves Stephen James UK Topsides Aged 26, car crash on his way to work at Connah's Quay at 07:35 on a Sunday Morning. Reported in the Liverpool News -
2010 5 22 Smith Gary USA SCUBA Aged 61, founding member and chief officer of the Lacey Township Dive Team, diving off the 'Dina Dee', a 42' charter vessel out of Barnegat Light, not clear if it was a Search and Rescue dive or training dive (He was an SAR diver Instructor), surfaced unresponsive, did not respond to treatment. Atlantic City Press. -
2010 5 18 Carvalho Sgt. Andre Luiz dos Santos Brazil Navy Navy diver, Rio Naval base on the Island of Mocangue, went missing during a diving exercise, body found by SAR team three hours later. No details -
2010 5 3 Blake Petty Officer Craig Afghanistan Canadian Navy Topsides Aged 37, father of two, Navy clearance diver with the Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic based in Nova Scotia, seconded to Afghanistan because of his mine clearance training, killed by a remote operated roadside bomb as he and colleagues were walking back to the Sperwan Ghar forward Operations Base having successfully defused another IED in Panjwai, 25 miles South west of Kandahar. Wife and two sons, had only been in Afghanistan a couple of weeks, he was the first sailor to die in Afghanistan, killed the day before the Canadian navy celebrated its centennial. He was the 143 member of the Canadian forces to be killed there since 2002. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC). Reported in the Canadian Press -
2010 4 24 Sims Christopher USA Louisiana Oilfield Divers Topsides Aged 39 from Florida, returned onshore due to bad weather, went for a motorcycle ride, crashed off the road into a bayou, body found a day later after reported as missing. Reported as accidental drowning, not wearing a helmet. Houma Today. In March 2011 it was reported in the Louisiana Record that:- The family of a deceased seaman has filed a lawsuit against the man's employer for allegedly allowing him to drive a motorcycle while heavily intoxicated. “He was employed as a seaman, commercial diver and crewmember. When the vessel was ordered to return to shore because of inclement weather, he, along with his co-workers, were taken to the home of a Louisiana oilfield diver's supervisor where they were to remain on call and "on the clock" for further instructions'. The lawsuit claims that the diver's supervisors served their employees alcoholic beverages while waiting to return offshore. A supervisor allegedly supplied him with the keys to a motorcycle despite knowing that he had been drinking heavily. The defendant is accused of negligence for failing to properly plan for the evacuation, bunking and quartering the crew, providing alcoholic beverages to its crew, allowing and providing him with the keys to a motorcycle knowing that he had been drinking and failing to provide him with a safe and nonhazardous workplace� -
2010 4 23 Salas Jonathon Michael Botello Panama Braswell Shipyard Int SA Aged 21, had been diving at the Braswell shipyard in Balboa (South East entrance to the Panama Canal) for just three months. Apparently ate a meal at noon and after a brief rest, entered the water, 'had a seizure' (Vomited) and drowned. Reported by critica.com.pa -
2010 4 9 Bondrescu Sergeant-Major Emilian Marius Romania Fireman 5 Aged 35 or 36, had worked as a diver for 15 years with the Dolj fire services (ISU), on his day off, hired to work at the village of Radovan on the dam on lake Fantanele, asked to seal the entrance to a drainage pipe. Sucked under, drowned. Took two days to recover the body as nobody could safely get near the outlet. Diving solo, no team, no lifeline. Wife and four year old daughter. www.gds.ro -
2010 4 8 Ojeda Rodrigo Argentina 30 Apparently the 32 year old diver was killed during construction of the Maldonado tunnel in Buenos Aries, possibly a decompression incident. All we know is that city mayor went into print in August saying he found it 'serious' that they had “failed to inform the company�, that the urban development minister and director of works “have concealed the death of a worker on the site that is the most important of his administration�. No other details. Reported in Diario Cronica and Partido de la Cuidad -
2010 4 7 Al-Trabulsi Jonas USA S/S Air Aged 26, of Kemah, drowned while cleaning the hull of a boat and was found floating in the water, was pulled from the water near Waterford Harbor Marina after police were called to investigate. An autopsy performed Thursday listed the cause of death as a drowning, He was a contract hull cleaner and was cleaning a boat in the marina. The compressor he was using to get air was laying on its side when police arrived but it was unknown if that contributed at that time because there was some pressure left. Associated Press. -
2010 3 31 Casagrande Jean Christophe, known as 'Cox' Morocco Hydrokarst 53 SCUBA French (Albigensian) , aged 42, dive to recover a current metre at the site of the commercial freeport 'Tangier med 2000' at Ksar Sghir. Sub contract from SRPTM (Société Réalisation Port Tanger Méditerranée, a Saipem/Bougues company). Reported that his cylinders came to surface and he was found unconscious on the seabed, recovered to the surface by diver two, did not respond to treatment. Experienced diver, had been working with the same contractor since 2004. Engaged to be married. Ongoing investigation. PC plus Bladi.net and ladepeche.fr -
2010 3 30 Han Warrant Officer Joo-Ho South Korea South Korean Navy 24 SCUBA Aged 53, a member of one of the underwater demolition teams attempting to rescue potential trapped survivors in the hull of the 1,200 tonnes Naval vessel “Cheonan� (Sank late 26th after an explosion split her in two 105 miles from the west coast port of Incheon just south of the disputed border line, 58 crew rescued, 46 missing). Reported as becoming unconscious in the water after a dive to 24 metres, brought up and transferred to a nearby US Navy hospital ship 'Salvo', but died. He joined the Navy in 1975 when he was 18, survived by his wife and two children. A South Korean fishing boat that participated in the search operation went into missing 01/04/2010, killing two people and leaving seven others missing. AP Later reports that the Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo. Strategy World, Los Angeles times, Telegraph etc -
2010 3 30 Not Recorded South Korea South Korean Navy 24 SCUBA Two members of the 170 divers in the underwater demolition teams injured attempting to rescue potential trapped survivors in the hull of the 1,200 tonnes Naval vessel “Cheonan� (Sank late 26th after an explosion split her in two 105 miles from the west coast port of Incheon just south of the disputed border line, 58 crew rescued, 46 missing). Reported as being hospitalised on the same day as a colleague, warrant officer Joo-Ho Han, died. AP. Later reported that the Cheonan was sunk by a mine or torpedo. -
2010 3 24 Canales Rodrigo Varas Chile Surface Swimmer Aged 28, shellfish diver off Caldera (El Morro), disappeared. Not counted as a commercial diver for our purposes as this was free diving. Noticia Relacionada -
2010 3 22 Medina Daniel Choquehuanca Renzo Peru Aged 21, from La Bocana, shellfish (Scallops) diving operation off the island 'Lobo de Mar' (Or Isla Lobo de Tierra) 8 hours out of Parachique from the vessel 'Brandon IV', reported as a long dive, surfaced with a pulmonary embolism and died. Body brought ashore and taken to the central morgue in Piura, pronounced cause of death as lung collapse. Reported in La Primera, Peru -
2010 3 17 Not Released Australia Tasmanian Seafoods Aged 45, diving for trepang (sea cucumber) off the Cobourg Peninsula when the crocodile struck. Working from a Tasmanian Seafoods boat with a group of divers in Knocker Bay, about 112 miles north-east of Darwin. The saltwater crocodile, which police said was believed to be anywhere from 6 feet, 5 inches to 9 feet, 8 inches long, and managed to escape. It bit him on the head, neck, shoulders and arms, the Northern Territory News reported. A district Ranger said the man's diving companions rescued him and took him to the Black Point ranger station “Another person on the boat... dragged him out of the water," he said. "He'd got bitten a few times by the croc. He's just been in the wrong place at the wrong time." The man was flown by helicopter to Royal Darwin Hospital. He is in a stable condition and doctors say he won't need significant surgery. Saltwater crocodiles are considered extremely dangerous, and although rare, most attacks by adult 'salties' are fatal given the animals' strength and size. Tasmanian Seafoods Darwin manager visited him and said he was recovering. "He's going all right," he said. “He was an experienced diver who had requested anonymity�. Sky News on-line -
2010 3 7 Sanchez Lareo Anxo Miguel Spain 9 SCUBA Aged 40, asked to free the anchor of a sports boat by the owner 'who knew he was a diver' in the River Ares Estuary at 2 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon (Galicia), failed to surface. Rescue services found his body entangled in fishing gear on the seabed. Reported by gspbuceo.com -
2010 3 2 Dongwoon Kim Philippines Conclinic SCUBA Aged 34, Korean, Doosan Heavy Industries, working as the site manager at a power plant in Cebu (Not employed as a diver, expired work permit and visa). Apparently he 'insisted on fixing a a leak in the cooling water pump area himself' 'with the pump running'. Quote from colleague:- 'When we tested the pump (with the diver still in the water...) he was probably taken by the vacuum to the water pond which is really deep, he must have lost his oxygen in his tank and drowned'. After 15 minutes and he had not surfaced, the crew started to get worried and stopped the pump to carry out a search. Body recovered and taken to hospital but declared dead on arrival. ABS CBN News -
2010 2 16 Woodle PO Ronald Tyler USA US SEAL SCUBA Known as Tyler, Aged 26, Enlisted in 2007, Special warfare operator 2nd class (SEAL) died during a diver training exercise near Key West. Found unconscious in the water, failed to respond to treatment. Citizen times -
2010 2 15 Usimewa Henry Fiji High San Trading Aged 19, had been employed as a diver for three years, diving off the 'Grace III' on Nara reef off Yadua island for sucuwalu (beche-de-mer or sea cucumber). His crew members reported that he was dragged under by an unseen creature leaving only his diving gear behind (Hookah? TC). Search called off two days later, body not recovered. Presumed shark attack. Reported by the Fiji Times online -
2010 2 11 Gonzales Enrique Atila Avalos Mexico Police Federal police dive aged 35 taking part in a search pf the river Tuxpan in the area of La Florida, Jungapeo, for workers of the National Water Board (Conagua) who disappeared when their dredger sank whilst working near a dam (Four workers on the dredger, the supervisor survived and one person drowned but was recovered at the time, two others disappeared). During the search two police officers were swept away, petty Officer Eduardo Lledis Aspiro, aged 41, managed to struggle ashore, bur Gonzales disappeared. His body was found two days later. Reported in El Sol de Morelia. -
2010 2 8 Not Recorded Kuwait Quote from the Arab Times “An Egyptian diver in his 40s died while doing maintenance work on a huge gate in Al-Zour, reports Alam Alyawm daily�. However, the Al-Seyassah daily said �The diver fell off a boat and drowned. The corpse was fished out of the waters by divers from the Coast Guard� No details though this potentially conflicting description brings to mind a significant reporting issue in that I have heard several unofficial rumours that diver fatalities are regularly being reported as 'sailor in the sea, drowned' rather than 'diver killed at work' – a rather convenient tactic for avoiding investigations, bad press and awkward questions. (Though for 'half a story', the events on the pearler 'Dart' off Australia reported in December 1895 take some beating!) .............................TC -
2010 1 6 Bonifacio Petty Officer 3 Armand Philippines Coastguard 68 SCUBA Aged 42, 18 year veteran Coastguard diver working on recovering bodies from the wreck of the MV Catalyn B which sank off Limbones Island (Cavite Province). Volunteered to dive to about 221 feet, as another PCG colleague was unavailable. On the first of three scheduled dives for the day, Bonifacio, along with his dive buddy, retrieved a woman’s body. On their second attempt, the two reached the ship’s wreckage again. On their ascent, however, diver felt Bonifacio shake his hand at about 170 feet deep, a signal that he was not feeling well. Bonifacio reportedly increased his ascension speed, which was against basic diving safety rules. “He wanted to speed up his ascent, which would put him more in a very compromising situation. He was held back although his buddy assisted him in breathing in air)," SOG diving team head Lt. Commander said in a GMA News’ 24 Oras report. At around 140 feet, Bonifacio lost consciousness. He was resurfaced and brought to a decompression chamber for first aid. Inside the chamber, things went well as Bonifacio regained consciousness and was reportedly still able to follow orders. Two hours later, Bonifacio succumbed to cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center. In an ABS-CBN newscast, Bonifacio’s grieving wife rues the death of her husband, who had been in the service for 18 years and was already looking forward to retirement. “I wanted to stop him, as he was getting weak physically," the wife was quoted as saying. Bonifacio had been an integral member of the SOG diving team, had been trained by the Philippine Navy and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. He participated in the relief operation for the typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, which hit the country in 2009. He was also part of the rescue operation for MV Princess of Stars, which sank in Romblon in 2008, where 300 of the 800 passengers remain missing. “We checked the equipment. It’s not the equipment," but a PCG spokesperson admitted in the newscast that government divers do not have the required gas mixture for deep-sea diving. GMA News -
2010 1 4 Renou Simon Italy Fireman 1 Paraphrased from Italian Press Reports:- “ROME - a diver was trapped underwater while working on the maintenance at the dam Castel Jubilee to the north of the capital, where he was working to unlock one of the four sluices which had been raised to drain the high water from recent heavy rains and had not closed completely His diving partner immediately gave the alarm and have started relief operations. 
Attempts to rescue the diver were made difficult by the water pressure that passes through the slot of the lock, pinning him against t. e wall. Initial rescue attempt failed and a rescue diver from the fire brigade went in with a rescue rope which he secured to the cylinder harness and the diver was successfully pulled to the surface (Hospitalised with hypothermia, but recovered). As the working diver was recovered, the fireman disappeared from sight (the torrent was rising) in a cascade of logs/debris. He was eventually recovered by pulling on his surface line. Might have been sucked into a suction pump that was put into operation to lower the water level or simply hit by debris. “Something had ripped off the mask and his face was cyanotic and blood was pouring from his nose." working diver might have had surface supply (he had comms and a lifeline, Fireman appears to have been on a lifeline but might have been on SCUBA gear. Reported in 'La Repubblica' -
2009 12 17 Peralta Juan Chile Fisherman Topsides Nine miles north of the town of Iquique (Punta Colorada), three man shellfish diving crew in a small (home-made) boat that sailed without authorisation (Port Captain was anticipating storms), vessel overturned in the rough seas, two divers made it ashore - one with a broken arm and were later rescued by helicopter - but the the diver's assistant was swept out to sea and drowned. Body recovered some hours later. Latercera.com -
2009 12 13 Kumar Mukesh India Grafftech Marine and Engineering 37 S/S Air Paraphrased from press reports: Purulia, India .An Indian diver who had is right foot stuck in a pipe for more than two days has died. Rescuers were forced to amputate his leg in order to recover the body after 72 hours. He was attempting to fix a leak inside an underwater chamber of the Purulia Power Project reservoir first noticed in March (The leak was reducing efficiency). The Mumbai-based engineering Company assigned the job to a diving team from Visakhapatnam The job was to locate the leak in the inundated reservoir chamber, find out what had caused it and carry out repairs. The repair work was to have been recorded on camera but there is no footage of Mukesh's dive. During the dive his right foot was sucked into a pipe. A specially trained diving team from Barrackpore called in to assist in the rescue got stuck in a road blockade and took more than 33 hours to reach the accident site. The diver was underwater well over 48 hours before he died. The project manager said amputation was the last resort and a move not without complications. "We had to eliminate all other options and proceed step by step", he said. According to reports Kumar was an experienced diver with 10 years of diving behind him. Purulia, Dec. 16: "Diver Mukesh Kumar's right leg was sawed off and his lifeless body pulled out, 72 hours after his foot got sucked into a drainage pipe in an underwater chamber. The suction at the mouth of the drainage pipe was so great that it had drawn in the leg till almost the thigh, though it was only till the ankle that his had foot got stuck initially. Officials of the Purulia Pumped Storage Project said "The task of locating and repairing the leak has been shelved for the time being". Reported by AHN -
2009 12 8 Kelly Stephen Australia Arafura Pearls Arafura Pearls pearling (farm) operation at Elizabeth Bay, about 50km northwest of Gove in Arnhem Land, 3.15pm on Tuesday. Aged 36, "He had come up from Victoria� (reported as new to the job, had started less than 12 months previously) and “was performing routine farm maintenance work, the water wasn't exceptionally deep but he went down, came up six minutes later, went down again and then when they pulled him back up he wasn't breathing." Transported 48 km to Gove Hospital failed. Doctors declared him dead on arrival in the emergency ward. Awaiting incident report. Reported by NT News.com.au -
2009 12 7 Azoulay Sgt. Gal Israel Naval Commando 3 Rebreather Aged 19. Night training dive for Israeli Naval Commando, simulation of combat dive in enemy port. “The dive was a group exercise, carried out in pairs, simulating a combat dive at an enemy port. The divers had completed similar exercises dozens of times since the beginning of the course. The exercise was supervised by Navy commandos on boats as well as on the beach, and an ambulance and a medic were standing by. The dive was supposed to last two or three hours, and each diver was to take turns being the lead diver. Some 90 minutes after the dive began (Around 02:00), when Azoulay became lead diver, he stopped responding to the routine once-a-minute check. When his partner realized that he was not responding, he carried him to the surface and fired a flare gun to mark their location. Within seconds, a boat arrived and Azoulay was given CPR. He was pronounced dead on shore 40 minutes later.' investigation by Israeli Defence Force concluded that he died from oxygen poisoning. One press reports that this was the first fatal accident in training for the unit since 1995, another states that an 18 year old soldier from the same unit was killed during a training exercise designed to “test underwater breathing about three years ago� Jerusalem Post -
2009 12 6 Not Relevant James Edward USA SCUBA or snorkel James Edward XXXX, aged 61, who was found dead at Swami's Beach in Encinitas in December, drowned in the ocean while under the influence of methamphetamine, the Medical Examiner's Office said Friday. Along with "acute methamphetamine intoxication," cardiovascular disease was a contributing factor to the drowning, the medical examiner said. A surfer found XXXX's body facedown in the sand about 7:40 a.m. on Dec. 9, "clad in a full wet suit and flippers and obviously dead," the medical examiner's report said. His brother told reporters at the time that James XXXX had gone lobster diving late Dec. 6 or early Dec. 7 before a rainstorm hit the county. San Diego Union-Tribune -
2009 11 30 Jao Peter Philippines CJMS Diving Services Topsides Dive team working at the gas powered power plant in Limay. Paraphrased from press reports:- “A diver died while a colleague is in critical condition after they entered a nine-meter chlorination tank inside the power plant in Alangan, Limay, Bataan, last Monday. The newly designated police chief reported that Peter Jao, a diving expert of the CJMS Diving Services, did not reach the hospital alive. He suffered broken ribs and skull. The police report stated that the cause of the falling incident was due to a foul odor that the victim inhaled while climbing the ladder on his way out of the chlorination tank. As Jao fell into the cemented flooring of the chlorination tank, his companion identified as Nenito Quintana, also a diver, went down the tank and tried to rescue him. Quintana was assisted by other employees using a crane. As Quintana was climbing the ladder on his way out, he also fell. Rescuers rushed Quintana into the St. Michael Hospital in Orion town. Investigation showed that the two victims proceeded to the chlorination tank at around 9 a.m. Monday to open the water intake valve from the sea. After opening the valve, Jao climbed the ladder but fell after he allegedly inhaled a poisonous substance inside�. Reported in the Manila Bulletin. NB. The power plant uses LPG from the local refinery which reported a death and two unconscious at the sour water treatment plant in September and a vessel chief officer and two seamen injured when a loading hose parted in August (Manila Times) -
2009 11 30 Quntana Nenito Philippines CJMS Diving Services Topsides Dive team working at the gas powered power plant in Limay. Paraphrased from press reports:- “A diver died while a colleague is in critical condition after they entered a nine-meter chlorination tank inside the power plant in Alangan, Limay, Bataan, last Monday. The newly designated police chief reported that Peter Jao, a diving expert of the CJMS Diving Services, did not reach the hospital alive. He suffered broken ribs and skull. The police report stated that the cause of the falling incident was due to a foul odor that the victim inhaled while climbing the ladder on his way out of the chlorination tank. As Jao fell into the cemented flooring of the chlorination tank, his companion identified as Nenito Quintana, also a diver, went down the tank and tried to rescue him. Quintana was assisted by other employees using a crane. As Quintana was climbing the ladder on his way out, he also fell. Rescuers rushed Quintana into the St. Michael Hospital in Orion town. Investigation showed that the two victims proceeded to the chlorination tank at around 9 a.m. Monday to open the water intake valve from the sea. After opening the valve, Jao climbed the ladder but fell after he allegedly inhaled a poisonous substance inside�. Reported in the Manila Bulletin. NB. The power plant uses LPG from the local refinery which reported a death and two unconscious at the sour water treatment plant in September and a vessel chief officer and two seamen injured when a loading hose parted in August (Manila Times) -
2009 11 22 Allen Steve UK RBG 15 S/S Air Aged 43, Braefoot terminal (Fife, Scotland), last dive of the day, completed his dive without comment, reported having difficulties removing his fins at the bottom of the ladder, assisted by stand-by and hoisted to jetty, unconscious, failed to respond to treatment. Update January 2013:- A Fatal Accident Inquiry has ruled that the death of a commercial diver at a Fife harbour was not the result of an accident or any kind of medical or professional malpractice. The inquiry at Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard evidence from 13 witnesses over five days. The Sheriff concluded that the death was as a result of “some kind of cardiac event or arrhythmia� resulting from existing heart and liver problems, not the result of any diving-related procedures, and that he could have died at any time. The inquiry also dismissed criticisms from a Health and Safety inspector that no rescue practice had been rehearsed on the day of the incident. He held a valid certificate of fitness to dive and was a qualified and competent diver, diving as part of a six-strong dive team, the diving operation had started on November 20 and involved an inspection to ascertain the condition of the piles supporting the jetty and, in addition, the installation of a new current-monitoring buoy on the seabed next to the jetty. During the morning he was inside dive control on board the diving vessel. At 5.02pm he entered the water to carry out the final dive of the day to undertake an “as left� survey of the cable installation for the buoy. At no time did he indicate to any of the team or any other person that he was unfit to dive. At 5.07pm he reached the seabed at a dive depth of 15 metres. He then carried out a video survey by slowly ascending the pile and demonstrated that the current-monitoring buoy cable was securely attached to the jetty pile. At 5.21pm he surfaced and swam to the bow of the diving vessel to access the deck via a vertical ladder. At 5.22pm he reported that he was having difficulty removing one of his fins. Given assistance, as he lifted his left leg for fin removal, he continued to roll backwards and started to invert in the water. He appeared to have lost consciousness and emergency recovery was initiated. He was not breathing and there was no carotid pulse, members of the diving team gave CPR. Paramedics then took over but he was pronounced dead at 6.05pm. The Sheriff noted medicine was an “inexact science� but concluded that he could have died at any time. There was no evidence of anything related to the diving operation which might have caused death. The Sheriff concluded: “There is no evidence that the failure to have a diver rescue practice on the day in question was relevant to his death. There were no other facts relevant to the circumstances of his death. The Courier -
2009 11 15 Morales Miguel Angel Chile 2 SCUBA Aged 49, Cleaning operation in a 'pond' (9 billion m3 storage facility) owned by the National oil Company, described as having 30 years diving experience and working for a diving sub-contractor. One other team member (A none-diver, so effectively a solo SCUBA dive) raised the alarm when he failed to surface. Body recovered 7 hours later. No other details. La Estrella/Cronica -
2009 11 3 Johnson Michael USA US Aqua Vac Inc SCUBA Aged 45, specialist lake and pond clearing contractor working at the Baxter health Care campus where there are a string of retention ponds. Diver got into difficulty, a co-worker went in to aid him (hospitalised with hypothermia) but unable to pull him out. Recovered from the pond bottom 45 minutes later by fire department rescue divers, helicopter to hospital but pronounced dead. "Air hose had broken",. Chicago Daily Herald -
2009 10 27 de la Cruz Luis Benavides Peru Scallop diver S/S Air Aged 28, married with three children, in the afternoon, diving site was about three hours transit from El Dorado beach, compressor failed, boat came back to port with his body. No details, but appears no bailout or DDC on site. Reported in Diario de Chimbote -
2009 10 15 Woriki Johnson Nigeria Nigerian Navy diver SCUBA Paraphrased from reports:- “A Naval rating on board the new Navy gunship, NNS Zaria, stationed at the Escravos river in Warri South-West local government area of Delta State got drowned in the sea trying to recover the detached anchor of the gunship last Thursday. Informed sources told Vanguard that the rating, from Rivers State, was a diver and was well kitted before taking the plunge into the sea in a bid to retrieve the detached anchor of the new gunship and never surfaced again. His corpse only came afloat Saturday morning and was brought to the Warri Central Hospital morgue where his brother and some relations were on hand planning to take the body for burial immediately since he is a young man. Hospital sources confirmed the incident, just as security operatives kept mum. However, some officers were heard grumbling over why a "so-called new gunship would lose its anchor in so short a time," and also “bemoaning the untimely death of their fallen colleague�. Vanguard. -
2009 10 6 York Jamie Canada ODS Marine 4 SCUBA Paraphrased from press reports. “Canadian, from Ottawa, aged 35, contracted by Parks Canada to carry out cleaning operations along the Trent waterway drowned following the accident on Dam 1 at Trenton's north end despite dramatic attempts to rescue him. Initial reports indicated the diver became trapped while removing logs in four metres of water. He said the ministry dispatched their own divers to the scene in order to help with the rescue attempt. At one point one of the ministry divers supplied air to the trapped man. Fellow dive team members called for help at about 9:20 am when the diver did not surface. At that point, reports to rescue officials said, he'd been down for five minutes without contact from the surface. It would be more than two hours before his body was recovered and resuscitation efforts would be called off.� The Belleville Intelligencer. Parks Canada later disbanded their part-time in-house dive team ('having reviewed their insurance') even though they had a 100 year safe diving record and the diver that died was working for a diving contractor. Court case in 2011 The trial was told that he was diving from a pontoon boat positioned near the dam when he reported that a “stop log,� the device used to control water flow, was not sitting properly. He told the support crew aboard the boat that the water was “ripping� through the gap. He was told to try to get a closer view of the stop log, but was sucked by the current into the gap. A crew from the Quinte West Fire Department used underwater cameras to find York’s body and was able to free him, but he was pronounced dead at Trenton Memorial Hospital. A post-mortem found York had died from chest compression while he was trapped. A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the pontoon boat had been positioned in such a way that York’s umbilical cord to the surface had been sucked into the gap by the current, pulling the diver in with it. The Ministry found that the dive should have been stopped as soon as York reported the gap. Contractor was fined $100,000 and also ordered to pay a 25-per-cent victim surcharge to assist victims of crime. The diving supervisor was personnaly fined $8,000 for failing to ensure the diver was provided with safe working conditions, protection, measures and procedures (Specifically the diving supervisor "shall ensure that diving is not conducted in hazardous water flow conditions" The Ottawa Citizen/Belleville Intelligencer -
2009 9 22 Chandrashekhar Petty Officer Clearance Diver 1 India Indian Marine Commando Topsides Paraphrased from press reports:- “A clearance diver attached to the Indian Navy marine commando (Marco) in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district to control the infiltration of terrorists from across the border to Jammu and Kashmir through Wullar Lake, a 65 sq km freshwater lake, in Baramulla. Terrorists attacked the marcos camp. In retaliatory fire, one terrorist was killed and one marco died,� a senior Indian Navy official said. “He is survived by his wife and two children�. Sporting long beards and toting AK-47 assault rifles, marcos can be mistaken for militants and they follow in letter and spirit the adage of the counter-terrorism doctrine: ‘Fight a militant like a militant'. Dubbed as the ‘bearded force’ by the militants, Marcos have a knack of executing covert operations. Officially known as the Indian Marine Special Force, the unit was raised in 1987 out of naval divers to lead amphibious operations. Personnel volunteering for the force have a two-year training programme with a pass rate of only 10-25 percent. “They operate sporting beards and wearing ‘pheren’ (Kashmiri suit), thus making them indistinguishable from the locals,� another navy official added. The Marcos have gained a fearsome reputation among terrorists who refer to them as the Dadhiwali Fauj (bearded army) since Marcos are the only non-Sikh personnel allowed to grow beards, or ‘Jal Murgi’ (water hens) for the speed in which they assault from the water and even ‘Magarmachh’ (crocodiles) for their amphibious capability. OK, not a diving accident, but a diver on site, at work, so included, TC. Reported in the Thaindian News -
2009 9 21 Reeves Larry USA SCUBA A Houston Attorney's website quotes the following regarding Jones Act compensation. “A commercial diver died in such an accident in Florida last week. The diver was at work near a wreck site, about four miles east of Rodriguez Key when he fell unconscious. He was brought onto the boat, and the other crews alerted the Coast Guard. The CG rescue boat arrived at the scene, and personnel administered CPR, but the diver never recovered. Investigations into the accident are still going on.� However, this comment appears to link to the death of Larry Herman Reeves, a 67-year-old tourist from Maryville, Tennessee, who died while scuba diving with his wife off Key Largo, Florida. The scuba diver was pronounced dead by the US Coast Guard paramedics who arrived at the scene in response to a call by witnesses. Unless further clarified, this fatality is excluded from the 'count' of working diver fatalities, TC. -
2009 9 19 Gunderson Jerry USA Rebreather Paraphrased from press reports:- “Aged 75, started diving for golf balls in 1953, when he was 19. His passion for diving for golf balls led to the founding of a chain of seven golf-supply stores, was found dead in the centre of the lake at the Deer Creek Country Club in Deerfield Beach on Saturday. Drowned. One of his sons died while diving for golf balls in a lake 27 years ago. "I lost my brother to the water, too," said Jerry Gunderson's other son, Marc, 53 who used to dive for golf balls himself. Jerry Gunderson started retrieving, collecting and reselling golf balls soon after his first dive as a teenager. At first, it was the simple act of fishing out the golf balls in a Lake Worth course in the 1950s, washing them, and reselling them. But he went on to build a Deerfield Beach-based chain of golf-supply stores called International Golf. He sold the business a few years ago and worked as a freelance diver for smaller companies. -
2009 9 18 Chia Gerald Singapore J Diving Services 20 SCUBA Paraphrased from the news report “1st time working for company, 2nd diving assignment for firm, 3rd day on the job, Diver drowns. 21-year-old diver's body found after two days. His badly decomposed body, missing off Western Singapore for two days, bobbed to the surface on Sunday evening; air tank taken by police for probe. In between running his own scuba diving firm, known as Jet Scuba, Mr Chia did freelance work for commercial diving companies. Relatives identified him through the tattoos on his body. The body of Mr Gerald Chia Jia Jie, 21, was found near the oil rig he had been working on, still clad in dark-blue work overalls and with his gas tank and face mask still in place. A Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) boat, part of the search operations that had been under way for more than 50 hours, spotted the body at about 6pm. When Mr Chia went missing at around noon last Friday, he was on only his second assignment underwater for J Diving Services. He had started freelancing for the company only two days before that. He was carrying out installation works on the oil rig berthed in the Jurong West Anchorage at the time, 'his job was to install shackles on the rig, a relatively simple task', said the diving supervisor. 'Seasoned divers would take 15 minutes to do it, and newcomers, half an hour at the most', he added. Mr Chia had gone underwater, about 20m down, with a more experienced partner, as is the practice in the industry. The pair were supposed to surface together, but his buddy told his colleagues later that Mr Chia needed to share oxygen (it was air, simple SCUBA operation, TC) with him, although it was not clear why. Mr Chia took two breaths of air before ascending to the surface. The supervisor said Mr Chia's buddy followed him up, but lost sight of him and started searching for him without success. Friends said Mr Chia, who studied marketing at the Management Development Institute of Singapore, took up leisure diving only a few years ago, but quickly became a qualified dive instructor.� Reported in the Straits Times (Note. Reports, if accurate!! indicate basic sports SCUBA gear (half mask not full face) and only PADI qualified whilst Singapore regulations (TA/WSH) for use of SCUBA at work require minimum full face mask, life line, surface communications, locator beacon and professional qualifications, but this is only speculation pending official reports TC) -
2009 9 17 Not Recorded UK Kaymac Marine 6 S/S Air Aged 27, dredging operation at the new Pembroke power station, in the water 90 minutes and reported feeling unwell, passed out before he reached the surface, recovered to deck, given O2, airlifted to DDRS in Plymouth, later released fit and well. Sequence appears to have been:- Reported feeling funny, was asked to flush hat from bail out, no response, Supervisor switched him to HP supply, pulled back to cage, deck, hat off, O2 administered, came round. From going on to HP to hat off on deck, 3 minutes. HSE investigation. Root cause appears to have been foul road compressor air from air lance buffeting it's way upwards into the helmet past a loose neck dam. Possible additional seabed contamination from Methane and H2S. (NB Road compressor was sited well clear of diving compressors, did not contaminate diving gas, contamination took place at the work site). Team switched to free flow/contaminated water suitable helmets (AH5). Milford Mercury & PC. -
2009 9 16 Heastie Charles Bahamas Royal Bahamas Defence Force Surface Swimmer Paraphrased from press reports: “A 21 year old Royal Bahamas Defence Force marine is clinging to life in a coma after nearly drowning during a training exercise at the community pools in South Beach. The male marine seaman was swimming laps in one of the pools during a scuba diving lesson along with several fellow officers. As his colleagues surfaced at one end of the pool, someone noticed that the marine was motionless at the bottom. His colleagues pulled him out and performed CPR until an ambulance arrived. "It was a dive course. They were taking scuba diving lessons at the Betty Kelly Kenning pools and they were doing breathing exercises, breath holding and snorkel clearing. "When (the other officers) got to the other end, someone shouted out to them that one of their divers was underwater and that's when they got him surfaced and administered CPR until the ambulance arrived," It is unclear if the marine - who has been on the Force for less than five years - had any pre-existing health issues but like all his colleagues, would have taken part in an annual physical last January. A brief press release issued by the Force said the marine was admitted to Doctor's Hospital "following a diving exercise" at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex. The statement added that the marine was in critical, but stable condition. Reported in the Tribune. -
2009 9 16 McCloskey Sgt Ist Class Shawn Afghanistan US Special Forces 0 Topsides Aged 33-year-old , killed by a roadside IED, Special Operations Diver Supervisor (amongst many qualifications) serving in Helmand province. Enlisted into the U.S. Army in January of 2002 as a Special Forces candidate. He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in May 2004. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC). Reported by Fayette County News. -
2009 9 5 Renner Robert “Robbie� USA J. H. Reid SCUBA Aged 42. Paraphrased from initial press reports:- “State police have recovered the body of a SCUBA diver who disappeared while looking for some missing construction equipment in a Monmouth County river. Robert Renner was part of a (Dock builder) crew that's constructing a 65-foot fixed span bridge to replace the aging Highlands-Sea Bright Bridge, but was off duty when he entered the Shrewsbury River on Saturday. He was trying to recover a jack that had fallen from the bridge earlier in the week. Diving solo from a 20' flat bottomed boat, went in with a downline tied to his arm. The rope came loose and he failed to resurface, the two people who were with him in a boat notified authorities shortly before noon. His body was recovered about six hours later. Officials say the area where Renner was diving is filled with debris and known for swift currents, and rescuers had to wait a few hours until they could safely enter the water. The cause of death was not immediately known.� Reported in the Star Ledger, NJ.com.. (OK, Not strictly “at work� so not included in the 'count', a weekend dive, unasked, just trying to do his boss a favour, but included here as a tragic example of why we have commercial standards. TC) -
2009 9 2 Guerro Giovanni Ecuador Inepaca SCUBA Aged 37, Wife and two daughters, Died in a diving accident onboard the fishing vessel 'King'. Had worked 8 years as a diver for the company, had been onboard two months. Family informed but vessel would not be back in port for another 4 days. No details. Eldiario.ec -
2009 8 30 Not Recorded Kazakhstan Kazair Services SAR exercise Basic details reported as an air rescue exercise in which three local divers were dropped into the water from a Helicopter. A body has now been found with the life jacket uninflated. The recovery crew pulled the jacket inflation on recovering the body and it functioned correctly. Additional, but as yet unconfirmed reports, indicated that Kazair services employed three divers from a local diving contractor who were deployed from the helicopter, that a vessel in the area decided it was a good opportunity to launch its FRC during the exercise.(Not planned) and it was that FRC which recovered the second diver (it is assumed the first diver was recovered by helicopter), the third diver disappeared under the water and his helicopter lifejacket failed to inflate. Personal communication, TC -
2009 8 28 Gillies Alasdair UK Eilean Glas Salmon Ltd 15 SCUBA ver to go down with him, but he was on leave the day of the accident, and there was no-one else equipped to go to the diver’s assistance. The contractor admitted that while operating as diving contractors in the loch to clean out dead fish from cage nets, carry out maintenance work, and install a predator net, it failed to issue diving rules or lay down emergency procedures. It also admitted failing to appoint a diving supervisor; failure to provide a logbook; and failing to ensure that the divers employed had their personal logbooks signed daily by a supervisor, failing to test and examine Scuba air cylinders to ensure they were safe for diving; to control access to diving equipment in a store; and to prepare a written health and safety policy for employees. Contractor fined ₤1,000. -
2009 8 16 Amor Murray Australia South West Rocks Dive Centre SCUBA Aged 62, lost a hand and leg when a cylinder being charged exploded. Paraphrased from official reports “A SCUBA cylinder ruptured causing serious injuries to the person who was filling the cylinder. The cylinder was an 88 cu ft aluminium manufactured to Australian Standard by CIG in 1983/84 and was in current test. The cylinder had a working pressure (WP) 224 bar (3248.84 psi) and a test pressure (TP) 352 bar (5105.328 psi). A number of SCUBA cylinders that had been filled during the same time were checked and were gauged at 220 bars (3190.83 psi). The compressor had a blow off (safety valve) fitted and set at 285-290 bars (4133.575 – 4206 psi) which was tested during the investigation and blew at 282.68 bar (4100psi) on the compressor gauge. The investigators concluded that the cylinder could be over filled by a person not taking notice of the pressure showing on the fill panel gauge, however this pressure is below the test pressure of this cylinder, and based on the fact that 10 other cylinders in this same group of cylinders all showed a pressure of 220 bars (3190.83 psi) there was no reason to believe that this cylinder was in fact over filled. The cylinder when it ruptured exploded into 4 pieces and the valve. In 2 of the pieces there was evidence of cracks through the neck and threaded area of the cylinder. The investigators noted that there were records available showing a number of aluminium cylinders manufactured world wide prior to 1990 from 6351-T6 alloys that have ruptured, in some cases with serious consequences. workcover.nsw.gov.au, dol.govt.nz -
2009 8 11 Holbrook Rob (Stan) Vietnam Aqua Diving Services 57 S/S Mixed Gas Aged 56, Ex RN and very experienced diver. Working from the Swiber barge 'Glorious' 70 miles off Vung Tau. Wet bell, surface supplied mixed gas bounce dive, night shift. 160' excursion from the wet bell to attach a surface line to previously installed webbing strops around a pipeline. Initial reports indicate they moved the barge to follow him way past the intended location (webbing strops had actually been removed by the day shift which is why he did not locate them) and that as he returned to the bell his umbilical became snagged on a seabed obstruction behind him at the same time as the barge was moving back. Lost gas, went onto bailout, reported he could see the wet bell then lost comms. Surface deployed standby found diver back a wet bell (unconscious?), bell recovered to surface but on the way up the diver was ripped out of the bell at 80' and fell back to the seabed (Not secured in bell, umbilical still snagged on seabed), bell sent back down and diver recovered, diver clipped in, bell recovered to surface but on the way up the diver was ripped out of the bell at 80' and again fell back to the seabed (umbilical still snagged on seabed, ripped 'D' ring off his stab jacket). Eventually brought to the surface on the third attempt by which time the diver had been in the water 60 minutes, the standby diver 40 minutes. Apparently both diver and standby were put into the DDC (No in-water decompression stops). The diver was pronounced dead by barge medic (it is likely that the diver had died before being brought to the surface) The above comes from personal communications, official reports to follow, TC. His Funeral was reported publicly in the Bournemouth Daily Echo. Inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death in 2010 -
2009 8 3 Kasikcilar Taner Asian Turkey Aged 40, Salvage diving operation on the wreck of the Ro-ro ferry 'Hayak N' (Sank 300 metres off Bandirma as it left port en route to Istanbul on the14th September 2008 with the loss of 5 truck drivers), injured in an underwater explosion during cutting sheet metal that killed diver Rasul Kasikcilar, second diver (Tamer Kasikcilar). Reported in Netgazete.com -
2009 8 3 Plateau Rasul Turkey Aged 40, Salvage diving operation on the wreck of the Ro-Ro ferry 'Hayak N' (Sank 300 metres off Bandirma as it left port en route to Istanbul on the14th September 2008 with the loss of 5 truck drivers), killed in an underwater explosion during cutting sheet metal, second diver (Tamer Kasikcilar) was injured and taken to hospital. Reported in Netgazete.com -
2009 7 28 Ricciarelli Louis USA 6 S/S Air American, aged 56, diving off Quonset point from the 25'.commercial fishing vessel 'Chelsea Ann' for Qhahogs (clams). Diving solo, no crew. Alerted as 'not returned' by his wife, boat located with diving hose over the side. Divers recovered him from the seabed, deceased. “Equipment failure/lost gas� but no details. Reported in the Providence Journal -
2009 7 24 Not Recorded Australia Peter Cunningham Holdings 17 metre Cray fishing vessel 'Wave Crest' (with 1500 litres of diesel fuel onboard) was blown ashore and then sank in Waubs Bay, near Bicheno. The salvage company raised the boat and sealed the fuel leak but Workplace Standards Tasmania prosecuted. “The diver was not properly qualified to be involved in that process," The diver was fined $300 dollars and the company fined $600. ABC News, Australia -
2009 7 12 Nevmatov Rafik Azerbaijan Caspian Diving and Rescue Topsides MI-8 helicopter coming in from the block 4 off Chilov island, crashed into the sea in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, wreckage located at a depth of 85-89 meters.. Three man crew survived and one passenger survived, two passengers missing, presumed dead - crane operator Viktor Mostavenko and commercial diver Rafik Neymatov. -
2009 7 11 Sparks David USA Orion Marine Commercial diver died on a pipeline diving operation in Lake Lanier, Georgia, rumours of entanglement, but no details -
2009 7 6 Brown Darren UK Shell Seekers SCUBA Aged 41, Gathering scallops in Lulworth cove. Diving solo from a RIB with a boat handler who was collecting the scallops in bags marked by surface buoys . She raised the alarm when she came to the last marker buoy and the diver was missing. Three Coastguard teams scoured the shoreline, Weymouth inshore and all weather RNLI lifeboats and Coastguard helicopter searched at sea joined by RN mine hunter HMS Middleton (on exercise in the area) but it was a safety boat from the Army's Lulworth range which found him three hours later, swimming with the tide three miles away. “Diver was difficult to locate because he was not carrying a surface detection aid, however the fact that he was wearing a dry suit increased his survivability� (in the water for about four-and-a-half hours). Quote:- "That's the risks we take to supply shellfish to these top celebrity chefs, it highlights the dangers we take and we depend on getting paid reasonably for our efforts�. He said that he will now always carry day and night flares and other aids. -
2009 6 26 Not Recorded Honduras 43 SCUBA Paraphrased from press report:- “The Honduran indigenous community in La Mosquitia lives from the lobster catch. The export of the 'Panulirus argus' is also one of the most profitable Honduran exports, especially to the United States. During the lobster season, from August to May, most of the adult Miskito men dive, while younger males accompany them in small boats known as 'cayucos', floating alongside the bigger lobster boats. A study by the Honduran special ombudsman for ethnic groups and cultural heritage, sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), based in Washington, found that there are 4,200 divers living with injuries, nearly half the total Miskito diving population of 9,000. The Miskito men work 12 to 17 days out at sea, in five-hour diving sessions at depths of up to 43 meters. The annual death toll among Miskito lobster divers averages around 50, according to several reports.� IPS (Inter Press Service) NOTE, IF I ADD THESE DEATHS, 50 PER YEAR JUST SINCE 2000, THAT ADDS 500 DEATHS TO THE LIST TC -
2009 6 24 Logan Christopher USA 2 S/S Air American, aged 27, hired by Las Colinas Country Club to retrieve lost golf balls Employees at the club noticed that one of the men employed by the company contracted to recover the balls had not returned by closing time at 8 p.m, So someone went to look for him. Near the eighteenth green, an employee saw Logan’s breathing apparatus floating in the water and noticed that the pump that supplies the air was not running. The Irving Fire Department responded and found the diver's body submerged in the water. The Dallas County medical examiner’s office has ruled the death an accident due to drowning and the toxic effects of carbon monoxide. Wife and three year old son. Was SCUBA certified , took the part time job with a friend's golf ball retrieval business because his employer had cut his hours. -
2009 6 20 Terzuoli Joseph USA 70 Rebreather American, aged 46. Ran a wreck diving company diving from the 50' diving boat 'John Jack', took a party to dive on the WW1 wreck of the 'Texel'. Diving solo, SCUBA rebreather, apparently caught in fishing lines. Recovered by crew members. Had started diving again even though he had had a triple heart bypass in April, two months earlier. -
2009 6 16 Hassan Alabi Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department SCUBA Aged 41, working for the Setiu Fire and Rescue Department, part of a team undertaking a search for a missing person who had fallen from a boat into lake Kenyir. Entangled in the branches of a submerged tree, drowned. Body recovered by colleagues some 7 hours later. Inference is no comms/lifeline. Wife and three children awarded 25,635RM (£4,400) compensation.. -
2009 6 14 Cylinder Explosion USA Panama City Dive and Ski Centre Topsides A storage bank tank used to fill smaller scuba air cylinders exploded knocking holes in the wall and roof of a dive shop. No one was injured by the blast. A co-owner of the business said the tank was not overfilled and he did not know why it exploded with the proper amount of pressure in it." -
2009 6 8 Popov Andrei Vasilii Italy SCUBA Aged 28, Bulgarian, diving off a Spanish flagged commercial coral harvesting vessel 28 miles West of the Island of Marettimo (off Sicily). "Plunged into the sea and never resurfaced. The prosecutor's office of the Sicilian town of Trapani has ordered that an investigation is conducted into the disappearance". No details -
2009 6 5 Not Recorded Greece Aged 61, professional diver killed in the gulf of Thermaikos (Thessalonika) in an industrial accident, appears to have been crushed between floating units of some kind, body transferred ashore by Coastguard, "constrictive suffocating death". No other details. Reported by Enet.gr -
2009 5 24 Spencer Carl Greece 120 Rebreather British, aged 37. National Geographic Expedition filming the wreck of the 'Britannic' (Sister vessel to the 'Titanic'). British Hospital ship sank by a mine in 1916 with the loss of 30 lives off the Greek island of Kea. Reported to have surfaced rapidly, unconscious, flown by military super puma to Athens Naval Hospital, but did not respond to treatment -
2009 5 20 Sheffield David Anthony USA SCUBA Aged 44, volunteer member of Itawamba County dive team, searching Buttahatchie River for a missing teenager, spent two hours in the water, surfaced saying that he was unable to breath, taken onboard the boat and transferred to hospital but failed to respond to treatment, declared dead on arrival. Fatal heart attack. The body of the teenager was found three days later half a mile down river from where he disappeared. Media reports, PSD diver -
2009 5 18 Not Recorded Finland Aged 24 or 34, Bridge on a (hydro-electric?) dam at Ilomantsi in North Karelia, underwater repair works, trapped by differential pressure, body was dug out. No other details, reported in Journals Archive -
2009 5 17 Osburn Steven Dale USA 18 SCUBA Aged 58, member of Santa Cruz Underwater Recovery team, routine training dive in Patagonia lake, lost contact with team, located after 8 minutes, unconscious, brought to surface, failed to respond to treatment. -
2009 5 7 Shellenberger USN Eric F USA USN Aged 36, SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) team 1 based at Pearl City, Hawaii, very experienced US Navy SEAL, night training exercise in Puget Sound, “encountered difficulty in the water and did an emergency ascent�, treated in a DDC but failed to respond to treatment -
2009 5 5 Smith Dewey USA Aquarius Underwater Laboratory Rebreather American, aged 36, Scientist working at the Aquarius underwater laboratory (Florida Keys), operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, (part of NOAA) at the laboratory (a teaching facility), 'assisting military divers with a saturation mission', found unconscious on the seabed, did not respond to treatment, autopsy reported as inconclusive. -
2009 5 4 Holt David C USA DIT 12 SCUBA American, aged 37, father of 2 undergoing commercial diver training. Harbour training dive at pier 66, Seattle. 4 divers in the water, diver surfaced, then sank, found on the bottom after 10 to 15 minutes, CPR, unconscious, taken to Harbor View Hospital, Seattle, critical in hospital, died several days later when taken off life support. No details. -
2009 5 4 Wilson Christopher USA Veolia 63 Saturation American, aged 38, Vermillion area, Stingray pipeline, DSV Kingfisher, floating a pipeline 10 miles south of Sabine pass, oversized air bag, no hold back, inverter line tied to inadequate weight, failed air bag rigging, dragged from depth to 22 metres. -
2009 5 1 Pesce and Martinizi Vincenza USA 8 Topsides Ocean Hyperbaric Neurologic Centre, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, 62 year old Italian woman with her 4 year old grandson, Francesco, undergoing hyperbaric oxygen treatment in a one man 'clam shell' chamber (Built by Vickers, 1967). they had flown over from Italy to get hyperbaric oxygen treatment (not available in Italy) for the boy who had cerebral palsy 100% O2 at 1.75 atm. 20 minutes into treatment, internal chamber fire. Decompressed in 90 seconds, 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 90% of their bodies, the woman died the following day, the boy died 6 weeks later. Ignition source may have been an internal speaker (no matches or electronic equipment inside the chamber) -
2009 5 0 Not recorded GOM 61 S/S Mixed Gas Cutting up of the wreck of the "High Island III" "There we were making gas dive after gas dive burning box after box of Brocos cutting up a bent and twisted pile of drilling derrick. The diver had rigged up to a big pile of I-beam and angle iron and was cutting it free of bottom. "up on the load, cut cut cut; up on the load, cut cut cut. Diver says, "OK get up on the load it's free to the surface." and goes back to the class II bell to watch the load come up. As it clears bottom I see what looks like a huge (20 to 30ft) cloud coming up under this pile of scrap. No shit, this was all this gas trapped in the scrap pile! The diver asks me "What the hell is that?" I respond knowingly, "The bomb you were building." I never would have thought that could happen". -
2009 4 16 Not Recorded Canada S/S Air South Thompson river, Lafarge bridge, Campbell Creek, near Kamloops. Press report says “ “Emergency crews were called in to rescue four people after a barge overturned, trapping one person underneath, “It sucked,� said one of the four workers stranded in the water. “We flipped and when we got up top, the boss called (the emergency services) and they were there in about five minutes.� The workers were doing regular maintenance of a water intake in the river when one of the ropes securing their barge snapped, the second line securing the barge remained intact, keeping the vessel stationary in the water. The operations manager said it’s unsettling to see workers in the water when they’re not supposed to be — especially at this time of year. All the workers were out of the water before the emergency services arrived and none suffered serious injuries.� No mention of diving, but the accompanying photograph shows two guys on the overturned hull of the barge dressed in dry-suits pulling a commercial, helmeted, surface supplied diver out of the water. Was this an overturned diving operation? No other details. -
2009 4 5 Connor Melvin 'Chippy' Anguilla Fisherman SCUBA Aged 64, self employed diver/fisherman "He never worked for a man yet, from the time he was a boy all he did was dive", had been diving for lobster, conchs and welks since he was 16 (in 1960), described as a 'fit bachelor who had a plywood and fibreglass fishing boat (built by a relative) named the boat Victoria after the British Queen Victoria because his birthday, 24th May, fell on the same date as hers'. He was diving solo off Blowing point with matker buoy and flag and appears to have been run over around 09:00 hours by a 'Fun Time' charter vessel and died of propeller injuries. The Anguillian -
2009 4 4 Daniel Yvon France SARL Kerioica SCUBA Aged 50, commercial diver and the manager of SARL Keroica, under contract to Armour Travaux Sous Marins, La Trinite sur Mer harbour, Pontoon inspection, solo, no stand-by, -
2009 4 3 Guha Mrinal Kanti India National Diving Services 9 S/S Air Calcutta, Haldia dock complex (HDC). Clearing outer (Haldi River) side gate seal/runners. Diving partner (Halder) surfaced after 10 minutes, gasping. Guha did not surface. Standby divers found his body late in the day. Air hoses parted while they where underwater (Probably lightweight 'hookah' gear), no bailouts, lifelines. Report indicates confined space/penetration dive in zero visibility on gate runner mechanism. Reported in the Times of India -
2009 4 3 Halder Meghnad India National Diving Services 9 S/S Air Calcutta, Haldia dock complex (HDC). Clearing outer (Haldi River) side gate seals/runners. Surfaced after 10 minutes, gasping. Hospitalised but reported OK. Standby divers recovered the body of his dive partner (Guha) later in the day. Air hoses parted while they where underwater (Probably lightweight 'hookah' gear), no bailouts, lifelines. Report indicates confined space/penetration dive in zero visibility on lock gate runner mechanism. Reported in the Times of India -
2009 4 2 Coach Larry USA 2 SCUBA Aged 64, ran a diving business in Dallas, employed by Nacogdoches Soil and Water Conservation District (Conservation Agency), to unblock a 24� drainage/lake overflow pipe. Drove to site alone in his pick up, solo, SCUBA, no standby, lifeline or team. Started working at the inlet (upstream) end. Initial reports indicate that he removed the metal intake grill to get better access to the blockage, soon after bubbles stopped coming up. Rescue team blocked the exit (downstream) of the pipe with an air bag to reduce suction/flow and then recovered the diver from the inlet end using grapples. Had to remove harness/stab jacket to free body. Recovery operation took 30 hours (Entangled in debris some distance inside the pipe). -
2009 4 1 Stevenson David “Luey� UK Technip Topsides Aged 44, working as a rigger onboard the DSV, died from injuries on board the DSV Wellservicer off the coast of Aberdeen. During fitting of a new active bell cursor system, he was working on top of the diving bell when the winch for the active bell cursor failed and fell on top of him. A report by the government's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) stated: "He was on top of the bell with his inertia reel fall arrester attached to his safety harness preparing for buoyancy block removal as the cursor was raised. A few seconds later, the winch rendered and the cursor fell uncontrollably. He attempted to get clear of the falling cursor but his inertia reel fall arrester locked in place, preventing any chance of escape. The cursor continued to fall, trapping him between it and the diving bell." The report said the winch failure was caused by a faulty valve in the winch control system, which prevented the brakes from applying once hydraulic power was removed. They further stated "The installation team failed to apply the most basic of safety principles while working under the suspended load. Regardless of whether the winch had been commissioned and declared fully functional, the cursor should have been supported by additional means, before anyone went underneath it." Reported in the Scotsman. -
2009 3 29 Not Recorded Vietnam SCUBA Professional oyster fisherman. Phu Cu District, central province of Binh Dinh. Fishermen on their boat spotted bubbles and movement in the water. Assuming he had spotted a large fish, the boat's senior fisherman packed a small can with dynamite and tossed it overboard. When he jumped into the water to harvest the fish, he found the body of a dead diver who had been diving for shellfish. They attempted to escape but were captured by coast guards who responded to the sound of the explosion. The fishermen were charged with killing the diver and destroying aquatic resources with the illegal use of explosives -
2009 3 26 Burfield Ronald USA Police 4 SCUBA American, aged 46, Erie County police training dive, found on lake bed, did not respond to treatment. -
2009 3 18 Not Recorded Thailand Navy 0 Royal Thai Navy SEAL, oil installation security exercise, Arthit field, Gulf of Thailand, officer was climbing ladder from sea up to installation at the end of the exercise in the field , apparently slipped and fell off into the sea, swept away, reported as missing, presumed dead. -
2009 3 0 Not Recorded Australia 1 SCUBA Aged 56, ex-professional diver called out by yacht owner after moorings failed and boat drifted into another. Diver went in to clear ropes from the propeller, failed to surface. Emergency service divers found him entangled in the ropes, unconscious, did not respond to treatment and pronounced dead. (Not strictly a commercial dive, but fulfils the criteria of 'a diver at work' and certainly ticks all the 'lessons learnt' in terms of solo SCUBA dive, TC) Reported in 'Diver' -
2009 2 25 Mirabella Maurilio Honduras Waihuka Adventure Divers SCUBA Diving business owner on Roatan island selling shark feeding dives to tourists. Allegedly tried to kill a competing dive operator underwater at a shark feeding site. Witnesses said he attacked another dive guide who took a group of tourists to the shark feeding site, apparently attempting to prevent the competing dive operator from profiting off of "his sharks". He tried to shut off his air supply. The authorities have charged Mirabella with attempted murder (He declined to comment on the charges, but said he sells shark feeding dives because "without sharks, scuba diving in Roatan isn't worth much"). -
2009 2 17 Not Recorded USA Veolia Joliet, Illinois, diver rumoured to have lost a hand in an incident with a fire pump No details -
2009 2 11 de Gelder Paul Australia Australian Navy 0 SCUBA Australian Navy clearance diver, aged 31, in-water exercise testing sonar defence equipment off HMAS Darwin in Garden Bay, near Sydney, whilst swimming on the surface was attacked by a shark, lost a hand, severe leg injuries led to loss of leg, intensive care but stable, survived. -
2009 2 5 Arriagada Ramon Riquelme Chile SCUBA Aged 41, died after being sucked into a water collection pipe while doing cleaning, at the Licancel cellulose plant (Wood pup) in the Region of Maule. The inlet pipe he was clearing connects the Mataquito river to the plant. Reported by Cooperativa.cl -
2009 2 5 Barnes Ted USA Freedom Diving Corporation 1 S/S Air American, aged 48, working under the fishing vessel “Ocean pride III� in Gloucester Harbour loop, sustained head and other injuries when his air hose and tending lines entangled in moving propeller when engine was started by crew member unaware of diving operation while he was under the boat. Ended up unconscious and wrapped into propeller, cut free and recovered by coastguard. No stand-by, lifeline ot person in charge. Quote:- "The best thing about this accident is you get to appreciate everything you have more. I now look at my wife, children and grandchildren and my life and appreciate them all the more," Barnes said. "This was just a fluke accident." -
2009 2 3 Not Recorded India HHI Topsides BG Field (Mumbai High area) Platform collapsed during installation, people in the water but no fatalities, lift barge holed, apparently not reported in the press. Jacket recovered to surface April 2009, later re-installed -
2009 1 31 Greenfield Sapper Sean Afghanistan Canadian soldier Topsides Aged 25, died after his armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar. He was a member of 24 Field Engineer Squadron, 2 Combat Engineer Regiment serving with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group. He was described by Padre Roy Laudenorio as a dependable combat engineer and diver. His Commander described Greenfield as an exceptionally fit soldier who recently completed a combat diver's course and aspired to join Canada's elite JTF2 special forces team. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC) Reported by CBC.ca -
2009 1 16 Shneider Kenneth USA Doug's Diving 3 S/S Air Aged 42, diving for clams in Tillamook Bay, diving solo from an 18' RIB apparently sub-contracted from the clam licence owner who reported the boat had not returned at dusk at 17:45, USCG found the diver dead in the water around 17:20 compressor not running, using hookah because he had a problem with his SCUBA tank. No other details. The Daily Astorian -
2009 1 1 Not Recorded India Sub tech 54 S/S Air One comment was that a diver working off the DSV Samudra Pabra, swimming a leg, felt unwell but died in the chamber during decompression, no details. Note. This incident bears an uncanny similarity to another thought to have occurred before January 2007 where a diver off Bombay died during saturation decompression. Death ascribed to myocardial infarcation and therefore not diving related. Other sources consider that a likely cause could have been an undiagnosed spontaneous pneumothorax. All these memories come from personal communications and need verification. Can anybody clarify? TC -
2009 1 0 Not Recorded USA Global Seattle Deck Dalles dam, Oregon, crane collapsed over dive spread, damage to dive control cabin and compressor, no injuries reported. Dalles Chronicle -
2008 12 9 Cuppini Alexander Italy SCUBA Aged 47 years died, maintenance of the Enel dam in San Pellegrino. Contractor prosecuted - diver had no medical, there was no risk assessment, there were no emergency procedures, inadequate diver training, diving equipment in poor state of repair and maintenance (using non-original parts that caused the failure of the regulator's first stage, dirt inside the first stage restricting gas flow) No back up equipment, no communications, no stand-by diver. Cause of death put down to a combination of “hypothermia and respiratory distress with accumulation of carbon dioxide." He appears to have died before anybody on the surface realised he had a problem. Reported in L'Eco di Bergamo.it -
2008 12 6 Parker Jonathon Canada 14 Canadian, aged 21. One of a two man commercial diving team working with a crew to refloat a fishing boat that sank in the Northumberland Strait in September about three kilometres off the coast of Pointe-Sapin. "He was struck or squeezed under the boat� Times & Transcript -
2008 12 2 Sanchez Carlos Julio Ecuador Paraphrased from press reports:- “Aged 28, Diver died in a sewer in the town Manta, Manabi, trapped in a sewage pipe and was overcome by fumes. 
The victim spent more than seven hours inside a manhole until his body was rescued by personnel from the National Police, the Fire Department and Civil Defense, which initially had to use hydraulic drill, and then a bulldozer to dig down to the pipe where the diver was trapped. The head of the Fire Department said that apparently when the diver was in the culvert and pulled out what prevented the passage of water "We believe the current pushed him, prompting him to lose control and stay in a sitting position Four divers entered the pipeline, but all effort was in vain. Eldiario.ec -
2008 11 21 Grewal Satpal Singh India ONGC Topsides Indian, aged 52, diver was working on deck of the MSV “Hal Anant� with a grinding machine, wheel disintegrated, pieces entered his left eye/scalp, medivac ashore but declared dead on arrival at hospital. -
2008 11 21 Not Recorded Argentina Navy Topsides Navy tactical diver undergoing training, died in a parachute accident -
2008 11 18 Not Recorded Greece Shellfish diver off the vessel 'Agios Dimitrios' with two other crew in the Palaiomanas Gulf, working 2 to 12 metres for two or three dives a day up to two and a half hours each (No decompression). Diver apparently recovered unconscious from the water. Vessel returned to Kalamarias Port and diver transferred to hospital where he was pronounced dead. 'Relevant Port Authorities investigating'. No details. Divers Union of Thessalonika website -
2008 11 17 B AC Spain Broth SA or Consomar SA 28 SCUBA Aged 50, head of a diving contractor from Valencia, Broth Sa, working (Inspection and filming) on an outfall 1 kilometre off the town of Moraira-Teulada (Spanish East coast, South of Valencia), failed to surface. Supervisor dived but could not find him. The next day, after a two hour search by a combined fire/civil guard diving team, his body was discovered trapped in fishing nets. He had ditched his cylinders/buoyancy vest in a last attempt to escape the nets when his air ran out. Reported by Levante-EMV.com -
2008 11 14 Cordoba Cayetano Mexico Potable Water Inspection (Canadian contractor) Aged 43, one of two divers (With Manolo Diaz) who went into the three metre diameter Cutzamala fresh water pipeline system, suffocated and swept away by the water. Bodies (and those of the two resuce divers) recovered two days later. "There was no intentional homicide in the death of the divers who technically died of lack of breathable air" - they entered the confined space without using diving gear. Quadruple fatality. El Siglo de Torreon.com.mx -
2008 11 14 Diaz Manolo Mexico Potable Water Inspection (Canadian contractor) Aged 45, one of two divers (With Cayetano Cordoba) who went into the three metre diameter Cutzamala fresh water pipeline system, suffocated and swept away by the water. Bodies (and those of the two resuce divers) recovered two days later. "There was no intentional homicide in the death of the divers who technically died of lack of breathable air" - they entered the confined space without using diving gear. Quadruple fatality. El Siglo de Torreon.com.mx -
2008 11 14 Hernandez Raciel Mexico Potable Water Inspection (Canadian contractor) Aged 36, one of two rescue divers (with Juan Camal Yan) who went into the three metre diameter Cutzamala fresh water pipeline system to rescue two divers who had gone missing earlier in the day (Cayetano Cordoba and Manolo Diaz) , like the divers they were trying to rescue, they suffocated and were swept away by the water. All four bodies were recovered two days later. "There was no intentional homicide in the death of the divers who technically died of lack of breathable air"" - they entered the confined space without using diving gear. Quadruple fatality. El Siglo de Torreon.com.mx.com.mx -
2008 11 14 Yan Juan Camal Mexico Potable Water Inspection (Canadian contractor) Aged 36, one of two rescue divers (with Raciel Hernandez) who went into the three metre diameter Cutzamala fresh water pipeline system to rescue two divers who had gone missing earlier in the day (Cayetano Cordoba and Manolo Diaz) , like the divers they were trying to rescue, they suffocated and were swept away by the water. All four bodies were recovered two days later. "There was no intentional homicide in the death of the divers who technically died of lack of breathable air" - they entered the confined space without using diving gear. Quadruple fatality. El Siglo de Torreon.com.mx.com.mx -
2008 11 13 Barklay S. USA Global Industries Saturation DSV “Sea Lion� sinking off Fourchon, 4 divers in saturation at 375', no HRV, deliberately grounded. All 4 divers transferred to bell, bell lifted to deck and transferred to “Global Pioneer� and locked onto Pioneer sat system. Transfer took 90 minutes. -
2008 11 13 Bell R USA Global Industries Saturation DSV “Sea Lion� sinking off Fourchon, 4 divers in saturation at 375', no HRV, deliberately grounded. All 4 divers transferred to bell, bell lifted to deck and transferred to “Global Pioneer� and locked onto Pioneer sat system. Transfer took 90 minutes. -
2008 11 12 Brumlow Leonard USA Global Industries Saturation DSV “Sea Lion� sinking off Fourchon, 4 divers in saturation at 375', no HRV, deliberately grounded. All 4 divers transferred to bell, bell lifted to deck and transferred to “Global Pioneer� and locked onto Pioneer sat system. Transfer took 90 minutes. -
2008 11 12 Hanson Eddie USA Global Industries Saturation DSV “Sea Lion� sinking off Fourchon, 4 divers in saturation at 375', no HRV, deliberately grounded. All 4 divers transferred to bell, bell lifted to deck and transferred to “Global Pioneer� and locked onto Pioneer sat system. Transfer took 90 minutes. -
2008 10 21 Stecco Frank J USA Police Surface 42 year old police diver or trainee police diver, surface exercise wearing a dry suit, lost, body recovered 4 days later. Reported as 'drowned'. -
2008 10 20 Lazaro Rodel Philippines Gaspar Salvage & Lighterage Part of a 20 man diving team cutting up wreck of the 'Ocean Papa' which sank off Malalison Island in Culasi, Antique, Philippines “The vessel exploded on Oct. 20 during salvage operations, injuring 2 salvage divers� “Trapped air explosion knocked divers off their feet� Hospitalised with breathing difficulties, later released. (Prob oxy/arc incident, TC) -
2008 10 20 Morales Primitovo Philippines Gaspar salvage & Lighterage Part of a 20 man diving team cutting up wreck of Ocean Papa which sank off Malalison Island in Culasi, Antique, Philippines “The vessel exploded on Oct. 20 during salvage operations, injuring 2 salvage divers� “Trapped air explosion knocked divers off their feet� Hospitalised with breathing difficulties, discovered to have “diabetes and previous respiratory ailment� (Prob oxy/arc incident, TC) -
2008 10 16 Hartley Paul USA SCUBA Aged 51, commercial sea urchin harvester diving from the F/V Sunshine, found floating on surface, unconscious, failed to respond to treatment -
2008 10 11 DSV Mareverma Spain 114-ft diving support vessel “Mareverma� (former beam trawler LT 526) beached at the Playa del Rincon in Algeciras on Oct. 11. The incident was caused by the same storm which also grounded the Fedra and Tawe. -
2008 10 2 Hancock John Philippines Titan Topsides American, aged 38, handling isocyanate on deck, spilt, skin (arm) contact, numbness/breathing difficulties, medivac to hospital -
2008 10 0 Not Recorded Egypt SCUBA Abu Quir harbour, novice diver with a single tank sent to work under a 20 metre beam vessel, lost his way, ran out of air, drowned. No details, though same diving contractor is reported to have had fatalities in March 2004 and November 2007. -
2008 9 17 Not Recorded Spain Saipem Topsides S7000, 60 miles off Almeira, MEDGAZ project (Spain to Algeria) J-lay, 24� pipe, 4 dead, 4 injured. Controls failure dropped two off quad sections. See IMCA SF 18-08 -
2008 9 9 Jamal Mohammed Borhan Singapore Underwater Contractors pty 11 SCUBA Paraphased from press reports at te time;- “Aged 26, East Petroleum "A" anchorage off Bedok Jetty, Oil tanker "Oliva" hull maintenance and inspection work, the diver went in to undertake an inspection but failed to surface, possibly swept away by strong currents. Married 1 year, 1 month old daughter. Body washed up 30 km away on an Indonesian island beach 12 days after he disappeared. Recreational SCUBA training only. Paraphrased from the later official Company report:- “A contract diver disappeared while completing an underwater inspection of a vessel that was anchored. All of the divers were using SCUBA equipment. Two other divers were replacing starboard ballast sea chest gratings for which the contract diver was completing the inspection. The depth of diving operation was 11 meters and the seabed depth was between 50 and 60 meters. Underwater visibility was fair on the day of the incident. The contract diver was last seen about 25 -30 meters off the starboard aft quarter of the vessel when he disappeared from the view of the other two divers. Despite extensive searches, the diver’s body was not recovered until 21 September, approx. 30 kilometres from the initial location. Contributing factors and insufficient controls related to the incident:- Actual Dive Operation did not comply with Dive Contractor’s risk assessment (diver not attached to a tender line), Diving Supervisor was actually diving, which contravenes local and Group standards. Dive operation undertaken using SCUBA (self contained underwater breathing apparatus) in breach of Company and OGP standards, which require surface supplied air. The required diver communications system, tender lines and flotation devices were not provided. One of the divers only had a recreational diving qualification. The Maritime & Port Authority Dive Permit was not complied with� -
2008 9 4 Jolly Brendan Australia Oz Reef Connections S/S Air Australian, aged 31. Diving off Arlington Reef off Cairns. Professional aquarium fish collection (Family business) from the "Shearwater II'. No supervision. Compressor failed to kick in. Recovered unconscious by being pulled aboard. Hookah, no harness, airline under weight belt, no bail out. Torn mouthpiece. Solo aquarium diver, no emergency breathing supply, history of epilepsy. Significant undiagnosed cardiac medical condition and history of epilepsy. Fatal arrhythmia. Queensland Workplace Health and Safety. -
2008 8 30 Not Recorded Malaysia DOF 55 Saturation DSV Geosea, relocating spoolpiece with air bags, uncontrolled lift of spoolpiece dragged diver 2 from 55m to 36m, lost comms/video, both divers locked back in, OK, no holdbacks on liftbags. -
2008 8 22 Buang Abdul Hamid Singapore Dive tech Marine Services SCUBA a 7m diameter propeller (at Singapore Anchorage) on the tanker “Shetland Spirit�- when the engine/propeller was turned on. Buang suffered a broken left keg, ribs, collapsed lung and bruises, two months in hospital. About noon, the captain ordered the engine generators and fuel pumps be started because a nearby ship was drifting and it appeared that there could be a collision if the Shetland Spirit was not moved. Chief Engineer, who assumed that the diving operation was over, also began 'blowing the engine' - without permission - to ensure that there were no leaks or debris in the engine cylinders. The process also caused the propeller to rotate. (He would normally have been required to make a request to the bridge and receive orders from the captain before 'blowing the engine'). Blowing the engine', or turning the engine's drive shaft which is linked to the propeller, has to be done before the engine is actually started. Pleading for leniency, the lawyer stated 'It was reasonable for the accused to assume that there was an emergency.' Chief engineer fined $7,000. -
2008 8 22 Malubag Ryan Jay Carino Singapore Dive tech Marine Services SCUBA Filipino, aged 22, One of three divers working on a 7m diameter propeller (at Singapore Anchorage) on the tanker “Shetland Spirit�- when the propeller was turned on, cuts and bruises, one week in hospital. About noon, the captain ordered the engine generators and fuel pumps be started because a nearby ship was drifting and it appeared that there could be a collision if the Shetland Spirit was not moved. Chief Engineer, who assumed that the diving operation was over, also began 'blowing the engine' - without permission - to ensure that there were no leaks or debris in the engine cylinders. The process also caused the propeller to rotate. (He would normally have been required to make a request to the bridge and receive orders from the captain before 'blowing the engine'). Blowing the engine', or turning the engine's drive shaft which is linked to the propeller, has to be done before the engine is actually started. Pleading for leniency, the lawyer stated 'It was reasonable for the accused to assume that there was an emergency.' Chief engineer fined $7,000. -
2008 8 22 Not Recorded Singapore Dive tech Marine Services SCUBA One of three divers working on a 7m diameter propeller (at Singapore Anchorage) on the tanker “Shetland Spirit�- when the propeller was turned on, the two other divers were injured, he escaped with first aid injuries only About noon, the captain ordered the engine generators and fuel pumps be started because a nearby ship was drifting and it appeared that there could be a collision if the Shetland Spirit was not moved. Chief Engineer, who assumed that the diving operation was over, also began 'blowing the engine' - without permission - to ensure that there were no leaks or debris in the engine cylinders. The process also caused the propeller to rotate. (He would normally have been required to make a request to the bridge and receive orders from the captain before 'blowing the engine'). Blowing the engine', or turning the engine's drive shaft which is linked to the propeller, has to be done before the engine is actually started. Pleading for leniency, the lawyer stated 'It was reasonable for the accused to assume that there was an emergency.' Chief engineer fined $7,000. -
2008 8 15 Not Recorded USA Fisherman SCUBA The body of a missing diver was located by fellow divers underwater after an extensive search by the Coast Guard and Navy crews 38-miles east of St. Augustine, The crew of the commercial fishing vessel 'Animal Control' sent a second diver in the water who located the missing man's body. The crew radioed the Coast Guard rescue coordinators at Sector Jacksonville for help after the missing diver did not resurface from what was supposed to be a 45-minute dive. The diver's body is being transported by a Coast Guard rescue boat crew to Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville where it will be turned over to the Duval County Medical Examiner later this evening. The fishing vessel Animal Control is headed back to St. Augustine. The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the accident. Reported by the USCG in Military.com. No other details/reports -
2008 8 11 Tiznado Marco Antonio Parra Chile Marine Harvest Aged 21, salmon farming, died in Achao hospital after an accident around noon whilst repairing nets, was working with a partner but went back into the water solo to rectify a fault with the netting. Harbourmaster was alerted around 14:00 hours. Boat then had engine failure on the way in to port so company sent a rescue boat plus paramedic, arrived at hospital with vital signs but declared dead at 15:15 hours. No real details