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Incidents List

  1. Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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.
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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."
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 2007 8 14 DSV "Bar Protector" UK Saipem Saturation Dunbar replacement pipeline project. Collision between Crane on the DSV "Bar Protector" and the Dunbar Platform.  High Potential Incident + Reportable to the HSE as a Dangerous Occurrence
  13. 2006 8 14 Andrews David USA Rutgers Institute 15 SCUBA Aged 56, diving off the research vessel 'Arabella' to install a sensor on the LEO-15 (Longterm Ecosystem Observatory), got into difficulty, was pulled aboard given CPR and air lifted to hospital but did not regain consciousness. CDNN
  14. 2006 1 14 Du Plooy Derrick South Africa Wealth for You 5 Diamond diver at Alexander Bay in the Northern Cape died after a 5m diameter rock with a fell on him. Pumping diamondiferous gravel underwater, commercial diver and also a contract worker at the mine, working alone at the time of the incident. A mining contractor - anonymous out of fear for victimisation - "Tremendous pressure on the mining contractors to deliver a certain volume of diamonds every month. In the past three years three divers died in the region as a result of the pressure on mining contractors".
  15. 2005 10 14 Karamanlis Stephen Greece Aged 28, working on a dredger salvage operation in the new shipyards, accident occurred at 04:00 in the morning, transferred to hospital ashore in Rhodes but declared dead on arrival, reported as drowned. No other details. Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Islani
  16. 2005 6 14 Not Recorded Canada SCUBA Sports diver hired to carry out a commercial dive checking moorings, second dive, lifeline slack, no response, recovered unconscious, hospitalised but survived. No qualifications, procedures, team, stand-by etc
  17. 2004 5 14 Not Recorded Venezuela Diver drowned in lake Maracaibo
  18. 2003 1 14 Regnolio Simone Italy Fireman and Adriatica Subsea Services 10 SCUBA Italian, 33 years old. River Tiber near Rome, Castel Giubileo, power plant water intake partially blocked, S/S Air diver trapped by differential pressure, No appointed supervisor or stand-by, Fire brigade attended, rescue diver in SCUBA on lifeline, he drowned, trapped diver managed to free himself. Fire brigade supv on site, Fire brigade diving team leader (not on site) and director of diving contractor (not on site) prosecuted. La Republica.it
  19. 2002 10 14 Fedin Sergy USSR Topsides Village of Slavyanka, Diving compressor operator, cylinder failed during pumping operations, lost one leg, other severely injured. Undersea Review
  20. 2002 6 14 Jolliff Paul USA 15 SCUBA Firefighter, aged 37, died during the final dive of a 21 day open water SCUBA training course. Objective was to locate a cinder block by conducting sweep searches from a marker buoy and then bring it to surface using an inverted 5 gallon bucket as a lifting bag. Zero visibility, cold water. Underwater comms set only partially operational (he could hear, but not transmit). He and partner located block, as they were rigging it, he suddenly grabbed for his partner's face mask knocking him to one side, dropped his weight belt and disappeared. Second diver surfaced and raised the alarm. Stand-by diver entered the water immediately to commence sweep searches from the original marker buoy but after his 4th sweep was pulled to the surface by the crew pulling up the marker buoy in an attempt to see if the lost diver was still attached to the swim line. Buoy reset, but in a different location.. Search continued and the body was located over two hours later by sonar from a surface support boat. He was tied to the cinder block (They were using 5' long lanyards as the lifting rigging, he had gone into the water with his attached to his harness 'D' ring. It appears he attached it before releasing the second end from his harness). Death certificate recorded death as due to drowning. SCUBA cylinder was empty when recovered, some equipment breakages, but not concluded whether factors in the incident. The investigation made 3 recommendations:- 1: Fire departments should ensure that equipment checks are performed before each dive and defective equipment is repaired or replaced before the dive takes place. 2: Fire Departments should ensure that all participants in diver training have practiced the specific evolution in a controlled environment such as a swimming pool before attempting the evolution in open water.. 3: Fire departments should ensure that search-and-rescue operations establish and use reference points to conduct searches
  21. 2002 3 14 Christie, RN Lt. David UK RN British, aged 28, RN, training dive under HMS Grafton in Portsmouth harbour, found unconscious under hull, when dislodged surfaced rapidly by inflated buoyancy device, fatal pulmonary barotrauma but may already have been dead from lack of oxygen
  22. 2001 10 14 Farr Aubrey Jamica Topsides Aged 32, the third specialist drug search diver to have been murdered in 12 months. His body was found by residents on the soft shoulder of Diamond Road, Kingston, with multiple stab and chop wounds. Two other divers, Carl Lubsey and Donovan Henry, were shot dead in separate incidents in Clarendon and St. James last year. It is alleged that Mr. Farr who had replaced Mr. Lubsey, left his home last weekend to check the hull of a cargo ship in Port Antonio, Portland. The threat of Hurricane Iris forced the ship to leave sooner than expected and Mr. Farr, who was travelling with another diver, returned to Kingston. His body was found on the street about 3 a.m. His van was found on Wednesday, parked on the Port Henderson Road, near to Portmore, St. Catherine. The passenger seat was stained with blood, and the commercial radio was missing but Mr. Farr's diving equipment was intact. The killers of the other two divers have still not been found. Jamaia Gleaner
  23. 2000 10 14 Henry Donovan Jamaica Topsides One of two specialist divers who searched for drugs under the hulls of ships killed in October (the other was Carl Lubsey, 31st October 2000), was probably slain because he turned down bribes for several million dollars according to police sources. His body was discovered on the Farm main road, Montego Bay, St. James, on October 14, two days after he was reported missing from his home. Senior Superintendent Carl Williams, the island's narcotics' chief, said the police believed the divers were killed because of their occupation and hinted that there could be a breakthrough in another week. However the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) reported that while both cases were being investigated, the lawmen are yet to effect an arrest. The Jamaica Gleaner. A third diver, Aubrey Farr, was murdered in October 2001.
  24. 2000 7 14 Poore Tommy USA SCUBA American, vesssel husbandry work on a vessel in the Houston Shipping channel, reported missing, body recovered two days l;ater. No commercial qualifications. NAOCD/cDiver
  25. 1995 2 14 Ayers Wendell USA Pacific Grove Marine Rescue One of a three man dive rescue team attempting to rescue two people from a 40' cabin cruiser that had run aground on rocks 100 yards from shore. The boat rolled trapping him against the rocks. In this case they swam to the boat so not strictly a diving incident but included in the list as this was a professional diver at work as part of a rescue group. Reported in the San Jose Mercury News
  26. 1989 2 14 McIlrath Russell USA SCUBA BAYPORT - A commercial sponge diver died in 40 feet of water off the Hernando County coast Tuesday. U.S. Coast Guard Command Duty Officer Keith Scally said Russell McIlrath, 33, of Parsons, Tenn., died while harvesting sponges from the commercial boat Dream Diver, out of Hudson in Pasco County. Scally said McIlrath was working in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles west of Bayport when the accident occurred about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. McIlrath was taken by helicopter to Shands University Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, where he was pronounced dead at 2:51 p.m., according to Shands spokesman Ralph Ives. The fatality was the second sponge-diving death on the North Suncoast this year; on Jan. 15, St. Petersburg sponge diver Scott Gassner died while diving in 40 feet of water off the Citrus County coast. St Petersburg times
  27. 1987 11 14 MacMillan Mark T Antarctic SCUBA Aged 22, research dive 50 miles west of the US base at McMurdo Sound on Ross Island. No details. Reported in the San Jose Mercury News
  28. 1986 4 14 Space Shuttle Challenger USA Stena Stena Workhorse recovered critical pieces of the space shuttle “Challenger� from seabed at 560'
  29. 1985 6 14 Not Recorded USA South Marsh, Block 41, OCS0G 1192, Platform A, Chevron. "A diver was installing a caisson centraliser when his thumb was caught and severed between the conductor and centraliser". OCS Incidents 1956-1990, page 270
  30. 1984 9 14 Rig 'Zapata Lexington' USA Jack Up, blow out and fire, 4 fatalites
  31. 1980 6 14 Not Recorded USA 27 S/S Air NP 311, Block 197, Cost Well MODU 'Dan Prince', Well No 1, Arco. "The MV 'Ranger' was engaged in sand bagging operations at the drilling rig 'Dan Prince'. The diver went into the water at 18:00 hours to set sandbags around the legs of the drilling rig on the bottom at 88 feet. He came up at 18:43 and passed out after breaking the surface. The diver was brought up on deck where members of the dive crew removed his gear and immediately began CPR treatment. The medic from the 'Dan Prince' came onboard at 18:56. The medic and casualty were put in the DDC at 19:03 hours. A doctor and his assistants entered the chamber at 20:11 hours and remained until the victim was pronounced dead at 20:32 hours. Cause of death was subsequently determined to be decompression sickness. OCS Incidents database 1956 to 1990, page 305
  32. 1977 10 14 Cailleux Claude Netherlands 26 French diver, died of chest injuries from HP gas release when opening up subsea valve, reported as "25mm @ 7MPa"? Press reported a gas leak from a pipeline 8 miles from the broken pipeline valve after the accident that killed a French diver. Straits Times
  33. 1976 7 14 Dupuy R UK ETPM 16 S/S Air French, aged 24. Barge "ETPM 701", mask fitting broke, common supply to main and bailout, drowned, cerebral annoxia.
  34. 1975 6 14 Turner George W Norway Comex 46 SCUBA British, aged 37. Pipelay barge "Choctaw 1", meant to be doing a survey at max depth of 50m, seabed was 69m, slipped lifeline. Two divers entered water on SCUBA, supervisor returns to surface violently ill, puking, stand-by (also in SCUBA) entered water but also returned to surface violently ill and puking, second standby jumped on band mask, narked but located diver's body on seabed. Official report states 'food poisoning' though nobody else who ate in the galley reported any symptoms.................Bad gas???
  35. 1974 10 14 Clark John UK Comex 0 SCUBA British, aged 31, married, two children. Drill rig "Waage I", Acting as surface tender during attachment of a towing line. Swept under cowcatcher or cross member by swell, broken rib, vomited, drowned
  36. 1957 7 14 Not Recorded UK Military Royal Marine taking part in a combined operations exercise in Portland Harbour, failed to surface after three and a half hours, found dead at the bottom of the harbour. "It was in no way associated with any explosion". "Naval authorities are satisfied that the man's death was an accident". The Bulletin
  37. 1949 12 14 Boitelle Andre Australia S/S Air “Thursday Island Diver Paralysed. A French diver, Andre Boitelle, aboard the lugger ‘Kingfisher’, working new ground at 15 fathoms, fell a further three fathoms in an unexpected crevice on the ocean bed. He was brought to the surface paralysed from the waist down, and at present is in the Thursday Island Hospital. His condition is serious�. Our Thursday Island correspondent. Reported in the Cairns Post, Qld. Another report stated:- DEPTH BEAT WHITE DIVER. One of the few white divers engaged in pearling operations at Thursday Island was admitted to hospital severelv paralvsed with 'diver's bends,' according to information received in Townsville on Thursday. The victim is the French diver, known as Andre, who was brought to Thursday Island by the lugger ‘Kingfisher’ on Sunday night. This is believed to be the first case of the 'bends' this year at Thursday Island. Andre, a former sponge diver from Normandy, has been diving at Thursday Island for about six months. Mr. E. A. Duffield, who has pearling interests at Thursday Island, and is at present visiting Townsville, said on Thursday; 'diver's bends' were usually suffered by divers when about the 13 fathom murk. Present operating depth was about 8 fathoms. Mr. Duffield said susceptibility to 'bends' depended on the diver's stamina. He said the usual practice was to depressurise the victim by raising him by degrees to the surface. Reported in the Townsville Bulletin
  38. 1939 3 14 Tsutsui Tanaishi Australia Gregory & Co. S/S Air News from the North. BROOME. From our own correspondent. Broome, March. BROOME DIVER KILLED. Tanaishi Tsutsui (26), a Japanese diver, was accidentally killed on Tuesday. March 14, whilst engaged in pearl fishing operations on one of Gregory and Co's luggers off the Lacepe Islands, some 80 miles north of Broome. Tsutsui was a young married man whose wife is in Japan and who himself had been in Broome for the past six or seven years. A very large gathering of his confreres paid their last respects at a solemn and spectacular oriental funeral on Thursday March 16th. Reported in the Northern Times, WA.
  39. 1936 6 14 Wakino Yasujiro Japan S/S Air Akashi diver, had spent 20 hours a day in the water off Higashidecho, Kobe, for 14 days in an attempt to treat decompression illness. "…making good progress so much so that the doctor allowed him a little rice and beef on June 13. On the following day he was able to walk. While in the water the same afternoon, however, he complained of feeling bad again. He was again taken out of the water. By the evening he was unconscious, and he finally died". Straits Times
  40. 1935 9 14 Not Recorded Panama S/S Air Aged 73, pearl diver diving off the lugger 'Winifred' Reported as "Divers epic battle with shark, dies from wounds, Panama, Saturday (Incident could have been the previous Saturday, the 7th September. No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Hull Daily Mail/The British Newspaper Archive
  41. 1933 12 14 Evans Lloyd J. USA 34 S/S Air 40 years old from Bremerton, Washington, went to San Francisco to work on the San Francisco - Oakland Bridge project. He "was raised by easy stages for the usual rest period from 112 feet below the surface where he had been removing pins from a caisson. As his heavy equipment was being removed, he collapsed and became unconscious. He was taken to a dockside decompression chamber and treated under the supervision of Dr. J. Minton who entered the chamber to be with the diver. "The diver died after several hours of efforts had failed to revive him". The first death "on the project from the affliction ("the bends") against which officials said every precaution had been taken". Prescott Evening Courier.
  42. 1930 7 14 Meany Pat UK 9 S/S Air News Headline "Diver Fights a Sea Monster". Fishguard (Wales). A fight to the death between a diver under the sea and a monstrous black conger eel occurred here to-day. The man won with the aid of a hammer. a pick-axe. and a jack-knife. Mr. Pat Meany, a diver who is preparing the foundations of a slipway at Fishguard harbour for the use of the lifeboat, was thirty feet below the surface of the water when he saw through the window of his diving helmet a monster more than six feet long and of great girth writhing towards him. The eel attacked the diver by curling itself round his legs. The man, hampered by his heavy suit and by the pressure of the water, was in danger of being thrown on the sea bottom. “I struck the creature with all my strength on the head with a hammer." Mr. Meany told me. "It went of slowly but soon returned to the attack with its mouth open in an alarmingly ferocious manner. “I took a pick-axe and pinned the eel against the rocky side of the confined space in which I was working, and then with a long knife struck it deep under the gills. “It then wrlthed slowly away, leaving a trail of blood.� Straits Times archives
  43. 1915 1 14 Robinson John Singapore Topham, Jones and Railton 12 S/S Air English (From Southampton) Aged 32. contracted to Singapore Harbour Board during construction of new wharf (Tanjong Pagar section G-F). During underwater lifting/lowering, the diver stopped responding to line pulls and could not be pulled up. They brought up a second diver (named Harvey who was workling 10' to 12' away) and sent him back down to find what the problem was. Harvey went down and then surfaced indicating that they were to pull the diver up but they could not. Harvey went down again and after a signal they managed to pull the diver up. On getting him to the surface they could see the air pipe was severed (Only held by a strand the spiral internal wrap) about 15' from the diver. They attempted artificial respiration which was further continued by arriving doctors, but no response. The investigation concluded that the air line had been caught and severed by the lifting gear due to the strong tide (slack air line) and that the surface crew probably did not understand the diver's signals. Cause of death was given as asphyxia due to suffocation. The coroner observed that "the deceased was dead when brought to the surface". Straits Times.
  44. 1909 6 14 Not Recorded "One of two divers salving the Russian drowned yesterday.." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser/The British Newspaper Archive
  45. 1908 12 14 Smith George USA 15 S/S Air Diving off the wrecking steamer W. H. Morse working on the wreck of the H. M. Whitney, the two sailors working his air pump had a fight over who was in charge ending with one unconscious with a fractured skull, the other rowing away. Other crew members turned out, found the unconscious sailor, started pumping but got no response on the diver's signal line. Pulled him to the surface, unconscious, hospitalised but survived.
  46. 1903 8 14 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Diving Fatalities. BRISBANE. August 21. “A Japanese diver was killed whilst engaged in diving operations in the Missionary Passage, Thursday Island, through a pipe bursting. This makes the third fatality within a week. Reported in the Western Star and Roma Advertiser, Toowoomba, Qld FATALITIES AT THURSDAY ISLAND. The Treasurer has received a notification from the Inspector of Pearlshell Fisheries at Thursday Island, that the ‘Mabel’ had reported that a Japanese diver named Hiogo Santra was killed whilst diving in the Missionary Passage, through the pipe bursting. This makes the third fatality to Japanese divers in a week. A man from the lugger ‘Clifton’ died from paralysis at Kumusi, Missionary Passage, on 14th, and one from the lugger ‘Ivy’ from paralysis at Stephens Island on The 16th. Reported in the Brisbane Courier, Qld.
  47. 1901 6 14 Anderson Martin USA Rodgers Salvage 18 S/S Air American, reported as asphyxiated, heavy bleeding from eyes nose, probably nicked hose, lost air, squeeze, differential pressure.
  48. 1900 8 14 Not Recorded UK "Diver Killed By Sluice Valve. In the Lady Windsor Dep Dock at Barry Docks. On Tuesday, a diver…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Western Mail/The British Newspaper Archive
  49. 1895 12 14 Grant George Australia S/S Air "A diver named George Grant was drowned whilst proceeding with his occupation at Townsville, Queensland, on Saturday. He went down with the faceplate of his diving suit off". Another report says "through his faceplate somehow becoming detached". Reported in the Northern Argus (Clare, SA). Another report states:-A Diver Drowned. BRISBANE, Monday. — A wire from Townsville states that George Grant, a diver, who has been in Government employ for twenty-seven years, met his death very mysteriously on Saturday. He was engaged in clearing the anchor of a punt, and as he stopped down for more than three minutes without making any sign, his mates became anxious, and hauled him up. He was then found to have been drowned. The face-piece, of his diving suit had either fallen off or been, torn away in some unexplainable away. The unfortunate fellow leaves a wife and nine children. He was a prominent member of the local Naval Brigade, and was accordingly buried with naval honors on Sunday. Evening News, Sydney
  50. 2013 6 14 Gabon Sigma Diving Systems 3-6m S/S Air French National, aged 28. Working on an old unused jetty to remove sheet piling with exothermic rods in the harbour of Port Gentil. Diver trapped in sand, buried up to chest. Had to be lifted out with crane using chain brothers around his chest. Not breathing on recovery to surface, revived and medivaced to Johannesburg, then later, on to France. No details known of his current condition. Various emails.
  51. 2014 9 14 Not Recorded Kuwait Diver killed: 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. Reported in the Arab Times online
  52. 2014 8 14 Relique Jesus Spain Aged 43, from Cadiz, married with 2 children, commercial diver for over 10 years, working at the port of Motril in Granada (Extending and deepening), appears to have been a three man team, the incident ocurred just after 8 in the evening, he was seen on the surface, unconcious, treated but was declared deceased at 10:30pm. No details. The Seaside Gazette
  53. 2013 11 14 UAE Scamp / Gubunco SCUBA One of two divers employed by Scamp Middle East (The other was Alex Argoncillo who died 1st December) reported as having died in November/December 2013. Initially reported as 'not diving related' but no details, waiting on clarification from Scamp. PC. A later report states that the incident occurred on 14th Novemver, three divers in the water on SCUBA, weather came up, divers sought refuge in the prop area, one diver ran out of gas, removed his cylinders and gave them to the other divers before surfacing, but was swept away. No lifelines.
  54. 2014 11 14 Thiago Matheus Brazil Sistac 12m Accident happened on the Petrobras production platform P-31 (Albacore field, Campos Basin, 180 km East of Macae) . Sistac are licensed air diving contactor (not IMCA), possibly working on a conductor slot, recovered to surface but did not respond to treatment, investigation ongoing by union. Reported sindipetronf.org.br
  55. 2016 7 14 Austin Sgt. Jason USA Paramedic SCUBA Aged 36, volunteer EMS paramedic with the Washington County-Johnson undergoing diver training at South Holiston Lake, 'working on diver certification', reported as non-work related but it was part of training to do deep diving and he was training with the team. Reported by Johnsoncitypress.com
  56. 2017 6 14 Sango Mervin UAE Atlantis Marine SCUBA Ex-Navy diver, hull cleaning the vessel 'Oil Runner' (Panama flagged crude oil tanker, 270m x 46 m) off Fujairah, evening dive (20:00 - 21:00), heavy swell, current running, apparently had a problem and disappeared from colleagues view. Later found floating on the surface, 'lips exploded and tongue bitten'. PC
  57. 2021 4 14 Dedi Indonesia 72m SCUBA From Pasir Putih village, Situbondo, Java, salvage of a slerek (Traditional Javanese fishing bost) that had sunk on the 6th April, three man dive team secured lines to the boat and it was successfully brought to the surface, diver fell ill and became unconcious, died before he reached Surabaya. Reported as DCI incident. Reported by harianbhirawa.co.id
  58. 2013 5 13 Houston Andrew Australia SCUBA Aged 51, alleged to have received infringement notices for poaching abalone in 1989 and 1992, went missing on Sunday afternoon, his body was found by police divers the day after 50 metres from the beach attached to a 30kg bag of abalone. He had no abalone licence, the daily limit for abalone was 5kg and it was out of season. Abalone poaching in Victoria carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years and a $150,000 fine. Herald Sun
  59. 2013 3 13 Pahit Glenn Philippines Omega Steel & Marine Services SCUBA Aged 27, Double fatality (with Glenn Pahit, also aged 27). Salvage operation on the vessel 'B and E Uno' (en route from Iligan City to Pier 4 in Cebu city carrying 23,000 bags of cement) which ran aground before capsising on July 1st 2012 less than a mile from the coast off Canjulao (Lapu-Lapu city). After 5 months of salvage operations the vessel was refloated in early December but then sank again two days later. The owner of the salvage company said that they had suspended ongoing salvage operations the previous week (waiting on a salvage vessel to lift some components prior to bringing the vessel ashore) and left the two divers guarding the wreck. They were reported missing on Wednesday the 13th, Alger Sumaylo's body was located inside the wreck at low rtide (partially submerged but trapped under the hull) by other salvage contractor divers on the morning of the 14th, they called the coastguard who sent a team who recovered both bodies later that day. Initial reports said that when recovered, both divers "were in complete diving gear" and it was reported that the bodies were already decomposing. The owner surmised that the two divers "had decided to dive to retrieve scrap meta whilst everybody was away". Foul play was ruled out as the divers belongings were intact. Later reports said that the coastguard had asked Soco (Scene Of Crime Operations) to check where the bodies were located as they were not discounting foul play. It was then alleged that the divers did not have permission to dive and might not have been in diving gear, though it appears that both bodies showed significantly decomposition and it is not clear when they died. Reported in the Sun Star
  60. 2013 3 13 Sumaylo Alger Philippines Omega Steel & Marine Services 1 SCUBA Aged 27, Double fatality (with Glenn Pahit, also aged 27). Salvage operation on the vessel 'B and E Uno' (en route from Iligan City to Pier 4 in Cebu city carrying 23,000 bags of cement) which ran aground before capsising on July 1st 2012 less than a mile from the coast off Canjulao (Lapu-Lapu city). After 5 months of salvage operations the vessel was refloated in early December but then sank again two days later. The owner of the salvage company said that they had suspended ongoing salvage operations the previous week (waiting on a salvage vessel to lift some components prior to bringing the vessel ashore) and left the two divers guarding the wreck. They were reported missing on Wednesday the 13th, his body was located inside the wreck at low tide (partially submerged but trapped under the hull) by other salvage contractor divers on the morning of the 14th, they called the coastguard who sent a team who recovered both bodies later that day. Initial reports said that when recovered, both divers "were in complete diving gear" and it was reported that the bodies were already decomposing. The owner surmised that the two divers "had decided to dive to retrieve scrap meta whilst everybody was away". Foul play was ruled out as the divers belongings were intact. Later reports said that the coastguard had asked Soco (Scene Of Crime Operations) to check where the bodies were located as they were not discounting foul play. It was then alleged that the divers did not have permission to dive and might not have been in diving gear, though it appears that both bodies showed significantly decomposition and it is not clear when they died. Reported in the Sun Star
  61. 2012 11 13 Lucyk Corpoal Lionel France Fireman SCUBA Aged 38, professional diver/firefighter, diving with a partner as part of a 4 man team from the St Nazaire fire and rescue centre in heavy seas to cut nets off the propellor of a disabled trawler in the bay between Le Pouliguen and Pornichet, details unclear, but failed to surface, found unconscious near the fishing boat but failed to respond to treatment. Married with a daughter. Reported by Letelegramme.com
  62. 2012 7 13 Knight Michael Louis USA Seaward Marine Aged 49, civilian diver with 24 years experience working on the USS Wasp (Amphibious Assault Ship) at Pier 10 at the Norfolk Navy Base. Pronounced dead at the scene, cause of death not yet determined, no other details. Daily Press.
  63. 2012 4 13 Neve Nigel Gabon Topsides Acting as Company Site Representative on a DSV offshore Gabon, reported as possible stomach heamorrhage, no other etails. Longstreath blog
  64. 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
  65. 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
  66. 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
  67. 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.
  68. 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
  69. 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
  70. 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.
  71. 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.
  72. 2003 7 13 Not Recorded USA Apache Topsides Overboard fatality during mooring operations, South Timbalier, crew fell overboard while taking a line off the platform, 30 minutes to recover him, deceased on recovery, crushed to death
  73. 2002 12 13 Not Recorded Liberia Rescue diver Wooden Ferry 'Papa Friends 2000' Lake Piso/Mofo river, rolled over and sank with over 200 onboard (max capacity reported as 100), returning from the funeral of a local footballer , at least 60 dead, but over 100 others not accounted for. Fatalities included a diver trying to rescue people from the wreckage. Reported by BBC, Telegraph, etc.
  74. 2001 11 13 Bray Thomas M USA Police SCUBA American aged 52, Philadelphia police force, assigned to the marine unit, recovering a buoy in the Delaware river near Fort Mifflin in Douth Philadelphia, entangled in the line, drowned. Reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  75. 2001 10 13 Frayne Kenneth USA Firefighter SCUBA American, aged 28. Volunteer fire-fighter with the Channahon fire department. Multi agency dive training exercise included a dive coordinator, an assistant dive coordinator, and seven divers in a man-made lake. They had sunk a boat and two mannequins in the lake to simulate a boating incident. Four of the divers, including the victim, were on their second dive when the victim went missing at the end of the dive. Initial confusion as to whether he had gone ashore, so some time before underwater search commenced. Dispatch was notified of the missing diver, and additional search-and-rescue crews responded to the scene with two rescue boats. The victim was found in the area of his last known location, approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes after he was last seen by his dive partner. His SCUBA cylinder empty, BD partially unbuckled, hood and mask off, regulator out. When the victim was brought to the surface he had blood coming from his nose and mouth. Transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigators recommended that:- 1. Fire departments should develop, implement and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding diver training, 2. Ensure that each diver maintains continuous visual, verbal, or physical contact with his or her dive partner, 3. Ensure that a backup diver and a ninety-percent-ready diver are in position to render assistance, 4. Ensure that the dive coordinator stays informed about the rates of air consumption by divers, 5. Provide divers with refresher training on the hazards of lung over-expansion injuries and prevention measures. Medical examiner and the reviewing medical officer noted the possibility that an air embolism may have contributed to the drowning.
  76. 2001 7 13 Rig 'Marine IV' USA Jack Up, blow out
  77. 2000 8 13 Smith Warren C USA 21 SCUBA Fire-fighter, aged 28, Search and rescue training dive in a lake. Circular search, partner lost the rope and became separated, basic SCUBA gear only, no voice comms, Another diver saw the victim who was distressed and frantically screaming, the victim knocked out the other diver's face piece. The victim, who was entangled in the buoy line was pulled to the surface by the line, given medical assistance and transported to hospital by air ambulance where he was pronounced dead, The cause of death was stated as pulmonary barotrauma. NIOSH report
  78. 1998 11 13 Not Recorded Canada RCMP A police diver was drowned in Cambridge, Ontario when he was trying to recover the body of a boy who drowned. The name of the officer has not been released. No other details. Reported by CBC News
  79. 1998 8 13 Nicolson Constable David Canada Police SCUBA Police diver searching dam for missing 12 year old boy was sucked into same sluice. On a life line but it broke (along with his regulator) when pulled by the surface crew. Drowned. Ontario Ministry of Labour investigator concluded the diver would not have drowned had the dive been conducted according to the  Occupational Health and Safety Act and its diving regulations and recommended charges be laid against Waterloo regional police for several offences under the act, including failing to properly plan, equip and supervise a dive of that type, but the ministry chose not to lay charges because there was not a reasonable prospect of securing a conviction (his investigation identified safe-diving practices that were not followed that night including lack of identifying and controlling the hazardous sluice, failing to use a supply of air from the surface for a dive near a dam, and limited training in doing dives near dams. Several officers argued that police dive teams should be exempt from diving regulations when they are doing an emergency rescue. Investigators argued that the rules do not distinguish between emergency dives and commercial dives because "the hazards facing divers is the same no matter what their purpose." Police officer in charge of operation said that if it had been a missing adult, the search would probably not have gone ahead at that time, 'but with a child.........'
  80. 1998 7 13 Not Recorded South Korea Military South Korean military commanders put troops on the country's eastern coast on alert and declared a curfew in the area after finding the body of a diver who they said was a North Korean commando. The diver, whose body apparently washed up on the beach, was wearing a wet suit, goggles and two oxygen tanks and carrying a Czech-made submachine gun, a hand grenade, radio transmission gear and an underwater camera, the military said. Nearby, investigators found a cone-shaped aluminum submersible boat that could carry up to five commandos. ''Judging from the objects found, it has been proven that the dead diver was an armed infiltrator,'' said a Defense Ministry spokesman. A month ealier, a furor erupted when a South Korean fisherman caught a North Korean submarine in his drift net. The North Korean commandos on board apparently killed the crew and then themselves, but South Korean officials said that some of the commandos had recently been on South Korean soil. That incident aroused only limited outrage in the South, in part because the submarine was 12 miles offshore when it was caught in the net. North Korea said it had lost power and suggested that it had drifted south. A more serious episode occurred when a North Korean submarine ran aground on the South Korean coast in October 1996 and 19 crew members and commandos slipped ashore. Some 70,000 South Korean troops were deployed to hunt them down, and in the end all the North Koreans were killed or committed suicide except one who was captured and another who was never found. The body discovered this morning was found by a South Korean man walking along the beach near the city of Tonghae, 110 miles east of Seoul. Defense Ministry doctors examined the body and said that the man had died of a heart attack and had been dead between 24 and 48 hours. New York Times
  81. 1991 3 13 Wallace Timothy USA 8 SCUBA Aged 27, from Winter Harbour, one of 4 men onboard the scalloper 'Yellow Bird' trying to raise another scallop dragger that had sunk at its moorings in Gouldsboro bay the day before. Reported as diving alone, surfaced, told his companions - which included his father - that he had found the boat and asked for a marker buoy which was thrown to him. He didn't catch it but disappeared below water at around 09:00 and did not resurface. Reported in the Sun Journal.
  82. 1990 12 13 Julien Thiery France Comex Topsides Opened a regen pot that was still under pressure, massive chest injuries. An interlock would have prevented this accident. PC
  83. 1988 7 13 Hastings Robbie USA SCUBA Sports diver aged 30, died after being stung by a Jellyfish (Portuguese man-of-war). Charlotte Observer
  84. 1982 3 13 Anderson Doug USA 70 SCUBA American, aged 34. Had chartered the salvage barge “St Peter� out of Port Townsend and were inspecting a sunken oil barge off the West Whidbey Island for recoverable metal when Heavenor's air lines became entangled, Doug Anderson, acting as standby, entered the water to assist on SCUBA. Neither diver surfaced. Heavnor's body was recovered later by commercial divers from the tug “Constellation� which responded to distress calls.. Double fatality. Unclear if Anderson's body was ever recovered
  85. 1978 12 13 Lim Meng Kian Singapore 2 S/S Air Aged 26. Working on a fishing boat, returning from a voyage into the Indian Ocean when the boat slowed. "Mr Lim, who had some diving experience, volunteered to investigate" using an air hose attached to a compressor. He reported that the vessel's propeller was entangled in rope and took a knife to cut it. After 20 minutes, tugs on his air hose got no response and a second crew member went in to investigate. Diver was motionless in the water, air hose entangled in the propeller, but still had his mask on. Recovered to deck but did not respond to treatment. The coroner commented that there was no apparent reason why he could not have removed his mask and come to the surface from a depth of 2.1 metres and that there was insufficient evidence to show how the diver drowned. "The mask, air hose and compressor were examined and found to be trouble-free". Inquest held in March 1979 recorded an open verdict. Straits Times
  86. 1976 5 13 Dymott C UK SBM Anglesey 37 SCUBA British, aged 26, drowned. 2 divers reported in trouble, located by stand-by(s) on seabed. Dymott with mouthpiece out, dive time listed as 5 hours?
  87. 1968 3 13 Rig 'Dixilyn Julie Ann' USA Jack Up, sank during rig move/towing (caught in a storm).
  88. 1967 11 13 Greig John N F UK S/S Air Described as a senior diver at Aberdeen harbour, died after being trapped underwater whilst inspecting damage to the gates and bridge at the entrance to the port's deepwater basin (Damaged by the 800 ton Slite registered (Sweden) tanker 'Rauken' which collided with the gates and the St Clement's bridge). The gates swung in the tide and trapped his air lines. "His son, Brian, a diver's labourer who was working nearby, was summoned and watched as rescuers fought to save his father's life". The gates were pulled open and he floated to the surface and was lifted unconscious onto the dive boat, CPR and O2 administered, taken to hospital, but pronounced ead. The Glasgow Herald
  89. 1956 8 13 Lund Captain Ove Norway Military Aged 32, Norwegian Navy diver, died in Horten harbour, Oslo. 'in the line of duty' though the authorities branded reports that he died diving under the hulls of visiting soviet fleet vessels as "Sheer madness". His death was announced shortly after the departure of a Russian cruiser and two destroyers. The announcement co-incided with reports that an unidentified submarine was follwing the Russian flotilla. Pittsburgh Press
  90. 1949 10 13 Wila Poeloe Australia N. Paspali S/S Air "Death of a Diver". Darwin, Friday, pearling from the lugger 'Pam'. "Stricken with diver's paralysis, a Koepang pearl diver died on the pearling grounds west of Bathurst Island, yesterday. It was the first case of paralysis since the war". The Advocate, Burnie, Tas.
  91. 1944 10 13 Neller Horace UK Aged 62, :Diver died at work, adjusted air valves, signalled to…." No other details (Pay for access archive) Gloucester Citizen/The British Newspaper Archive
  92. 1942 8 13 Freeman Lt. James Stewart USA Military S/S Air Helmet came off and he drowned, no details, Chicago Tribune
  93. 1940 12 13 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "How Fife diver met his death. Cut his air pipe when it fouled. Efforts to rescue a diver whose air pipe became fouled while he was …" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Dundee Courier/The British Newspaper Archive Same death as reported 1st November?
  94. 1939 7 13 Maeda Makota Australia S/S Air Japanese, aged 18, diving from the Japanese lugger Daikoku Maru off Bathurst island. Lugger out of Darwin. Became paralysed and appeared to recover somewhat but after 10 days bunk-ridden, collapsed and was brought into Darwin, transferred to hospital 'seriously ill'. Reported as the 9th Japanese diver to be stricken by diver's paralysis since the recently started season, the other 8 died. Reported in the Age. Later report|:- “DEATH OF DIVER. The 145 miles dash by the Japanese lugger ‘Kaikoku Maru’ to save the life of a young diver has been unsuccessful. Makota Maeda, 18, who was brought into Darwin on Monday morning suffering from diver's paralysis, died at the Darwin Hospital yesterday. He became paralysed on June 30, when diving in deep water 25 miles north of Bathurst Island. When he collapsed on the tenth day after giving signs of improvement, the lugger ceased fishing and made for Darwin at full speed. Maeda was immediately admitted to hospital, but he did not respond to treatment. "He is the ninth Japanese diver to succumb through diver's paralysis, this season�. Reported in The Northern Standard, Darwin, NT
  95. 1938 7 13 Okada Australia 37 S/S Air “JAPANESE DIVER IS SEIZED UNDER SEA. Dragged By Groper or Shark From Helmet in 20 Fathoms� DARWIN, Tuesday: “Dragged out of his helmet and corselet by a giant groper or shark, a Japanese diver named Okada, 25, was killed on the sea-floor more than 120 feet below the surface, near Bathurst Island. When the Japanese lugger ‘Zuiyo’ reached Darwin late last night with the flag flying half-mast Captain Nakashiba said that 21 divers scoured the seabed for hours after Okada's disappearance; but could find no trace of the missing man. Captain Nakashiba said that his vessel was pearling on the bed off Bathurst Island on Monday when the first diver, who had been using a full diving dress came to the surface, and said that he was suffering from paralysis. After being staged, or decompressed, he was not permitted to dive again and young Okada an apprentice went down. As with many Japanese divers, he refused to wear full diving dress, using only helmet and corselet, the lower part of his body being naked. He was lowered 20 fathoms to the bottom and commenced picking up shell. Twenty minutes later he signalled to be pulled up. He too, was suffering from diver's paralysis. He was, therefore, lowered back to be staged. Shortly afterwards it was noticed that the lifeline had gone slack. It was pulled up and only the helmet and corselet appeared above the surface. Other loggers in the vicinity were signalled to the scene, and 21 divers were sent down to search for Okada; It is believed that one of the giant groupers which slide along the sea floor seized Okada and dragged, him out of his helmet. Another theory is that he was taken by a shark, although experienced divers say that sharks are too timid to attack a diver�. Reported in the Goulburn Evening Penny Post, NSW
  96. 1935 8 13 Siegel USA Military S/S Air Chief ship fitter on USS Falcon, “Died of the bends�. No details
  97. 1934 9 13 Kongo Hisa Australia Bowden Pearling Co. 55 S/S Air "Diver Drowned When Helmet Fills With Water" Japanese diver aged 24, reported that his helmet filled with water as he rose to the surface with a bag of shells at Darnley Island. Diving off the lugger 'Sydney', came to the surfacce unconscious, the vessel master, Captain Yonekawa, thought he was suffering from diver's paralysis, fitted another helmet and took Kongo down again in an attempt to relieve the stricken diver. The Captain remained below for nearly 40 minutes but Kongo failed to respond. He was hauled to the surface dead. Reported in the Advocate, Burnie, Tasmania.
  98. 1933 11 13 Nishi Shotaro Australia Roy Edwards 33 S/S Air Japanese pear diver, aged 48, lugger belonging to Mr Roy Edwards working out of Darwin. 60 miles Northwest of Bathurst Island, spent 6 hours doing in water therapeutic decompression the day before, not fully cured, dived the next day to continue treatment (and gather pearls!). Apparently lost control of his air valve, major squeeze, pulled up bleeding profusely from nose, ears etc, died. Reported in the Courier Mail and Canberra Times
  99. 1930 9 13 Not Recorded France Caisson "Divers suffocated, Two dead and three others in critical condition. Five workers engaed in submarine works at Martiques, near Marseilles were found unconscious when a diving,,," No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Nottingham Evening Post/The British Newspaper Archive
  100. 1930 1 13 Hoffman or Hofferman Andrew Australia S/S Air Aged 65, from Cardiff, working in Newcastle Harbour, reported that a wire caught his air hose just above his helmet, another diver working with him brought him to the surface but attempts at resuscitation failed. Recorded as suffocated from blocked air pipe. Reported in the Western Argus and Sydney Morning Herald
  101. 1926 7 13 Williams Irving USA 15 S/S Air Described as a native of Kennebunk, working near Harpswell attempting to raise the power sloop 'Bradley A' which went ashore 10 days earlier on Bold Dick, a rocky pinnacle near Ragged Island in Casco Bay with the loss of three of the four crew. Reported as drowned at work, apparently an incident involving his air lines (being tended by his brother) which parted, but no details . Reported in the New York Times
  102. 1904 4 13 Hoar William J USA 23 S/S Air Trapped by differential pressure on the mouth of a pipe in the Bointon resevoir (Jersey City Water Supply Co.), they kept pumping air to him for 96 hours. Led to calls for divers to be given telephone communications instead of signal rope
  103. 1900 11 13 Roderick John Australia S/S Air "A Death. A well Known Diver, John Roderick, met with his death at Mort's Dock. He was engaged in a .." "..that the diver was in a serious position. He was quickly released, but when pulled to the surface found to be dead, having been.." "A diver drowned, aged 56, a married man with 7 children, employed as a diver at Mort's Dock, Palmain, was working under a steamer yesterday when the air pipe attached to his helmet became jambed and he was drowned" Reported in the Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW)
  104. 1896 7 13 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Thursday Island (Provincial Press Agency), July 13. "The lugger 'Muriel' has returned to port with the body of a Japanese diver who had died from paralysis while working in too deep water, making the second death from the same cause". Warwick Argus, Qld
  105. 1895 3 13 Connor? Gibraltar Military S/S Air "Naval diver drowned while searching for an iron chute lost overboard at Gibraltar on the 3rd March" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Portsmouth Evening News/The British Newspaper Archive
  106. 1889 3 13 Not Recorded Malta S/S Air "A German diver drowned. Malta, March 13. The 'Sultan' is still in the same position, but some anxiety is felt on account of the swell.." (HMS Sultan, a broadside iroclad, was launched in 1870, ran aground 600 yards in the Comino chamnnel between Malta and Gozo on 6th March 1889, she slipped off the rocks killing a diver and sank on the 14th March in a gale, refloated by Baghino & C, refitted and served until 1896, in reserve until 1906, renamed Fishgard IV as a training ship). No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Shields Daily Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  107. 1872 4 13 Hooper Chile S/S Air "Telegraphic News. Hooper, a diver of Liverpool died suddenly at Pichidangui whilst raising the cargo of a sunken vessel at Cape Horn. The Pacific Steam Navigation... " No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in Manchester Times/Birmingham Daily Post/Leeds Mercury/The British Newspaper Archive
  108. 1862 3 13 Wlliams UK Dock Board "…diver in the employ of the dock board who fell overboard at woodside on the 31st March last and was drowned, the body which was in fearfully..." Report from an inquest held in Birkenhead by Mr Churton over the body in June 1862. No other details (Pay for access archive). Reported in the Liverpool Daily Post/The British Newspaper Archive
  109. 2013 7 13 Wilkinson-Lowe Richard James Boris Germany RS Diving 20m S/S Air British, Aged 26, Riffgat Windfarm (15 km NorthWest of Borkum Island), diving from the 4 point moored vessel 'Union Beaver' (Built 1991 as the 'Salvage Chief' by Fulton Marine, Ruisbroek, Belgium, 56m long, Belgian Flag, IMO No 8918564, Owned and operated by URS Salvage and Contracting (Smit Transport, Belgium), installing 6 ton mattresses over cables, appears to have had a concrete mat dropped on him. Reported by Radio Bremen
  110. 1993 10 13 Locke Stewart UK J Allan Diving Services 3 S/S Air Hired by Customs and Excise to recover £20 million worth of drugs (Cannabis) from the yatch 'Ambrosia' beached on Scotstown beah (Peterhead, Scotland). Diving contractor was fined £1,200 after some kind of legal deal. Allegations during the inquiry that he committede suicide by cutting his umbilical, Sherriff determined it was accidental death with the most probable cause being that he got into difficulties and was forced to cut his umbilical and ditch his helmet. Diving conditions in the rough shallow water were described as 'hazardous'. Criticism by the Sherriff for it only a 3 man team (the diver, a supervisor who doubled as stand-by diver and an unqualified tender), lack of involvement/supervision by Customs and Excise, lack of communication with a police diving team on site. Widow intended to sue (defunct) diving contractor and Customs and Excise. No further details. Reported in the Herald Scotland
  111. 2016 6 13 Not Reported USA Cleaning the hull of a boat at the Fort Myers Marina, found floating in the Marina at Edison Ford an hour later, initial reports indicate that he may have been electrocuted from faulty wiring from the boats supply hooked up to the shoreside mains supply. No other details. Reported by news-press. com
  112. 2016 12 13 Nava Pascasio Nino Mexico CAPAMA Aged 58, working for the Acapulco Municipal Water and Sewage Commission (CAPAMA), Papagayo 2 catchment are in the town of Salsipuedes, pumps still running, took six hours to recover the body (Nobody could authorise turning off the pumps), appears to have been another differential pressure incident. Reported by El Sur, periodico de guerrero
  113. 2012 9 12 Not Recorded USA Ocean Corps, Houston Two trainees, one aged 18 or 28, the other 34, reported as 'hospitalised in a critical condition'. The accident occurred at around 10:00 or 11:00 hours, commercial diver training (Inspection/NDT training) in a tank, recovered from the tank, one unconscious, the other conscious, transferred by 'LifeFlight' helicopter to hospital. Apparently "Diving in the indoor tank on SCUBA on their first day of unsupervised diving. The instructor was helping another student when other students noticed something was wrong". No other details. KHOU news
  114. 2012 8 12 Udoh Godwin Nigeria OMAK / Eidesvik 35 S/S Air Working off the "Atlantis Dweller". Diving contractor was OMAK (Not IMCA) a "Local content' initiative Nigerian subsidiary of Eidesvik AS (IMCA member) set up in Port Harcourt, (subcontracted to Fugro), the diver was locally qualified (PTI in Rivers State) and had a local medical (No evidence to say either had an effect on the incident), his first dive after arriving on board, dive was to 35 msw, Dive time line seems to have been:- 16:16 left surface, 16:31 to 16:36 "about 15-20 minutes into dive displayed signs of distress/panic", 16:39 stand-by left surface and freed umbilical of unconscious but breathing diver, 16:50 Divers left bottom, 16:58 Unconscious diver appears to stop breathing, 17:01 Divers on surface, 17:03 In DDC with DMT, 17:08 Second DMT locked in, 17:53 CPR discontinued 'after 45 minutes'. When helmet was removed on surface, interior was dry and it was reported he had white froth around his mouth. The Police autopsy states death due to drowning, the hospital death certificate says asphyxia leading to cerebral hypoxia and myocardial infarction). Oil Company Incient Report.
  115. 2012 5 12 Thakur Ramesh Singapore Cutech Marine Services Pty SCUBA Aged 35, ex Indian Navy diving instructor (Left the Navy August 2011, had been working for Cutech for several months) from Kanyakumari (Kerala, South India). Hull cleaning on the VLCC "Kokkari" 4 km Southeast of the South Marine Pier. Singapore Maritime and Port Authority received a report that a diver had gone missing at 14:55, a search failed to locate the diver. Married, two children aged 5 and 7, Reported by AsiaOne
  116. 2012 4 12 Bogs Arsinas UAE Target Engineering 18 SS/Air Reported that a Philippino diver (Not IMCA certified, alledgedly refused certification by WCCD) was brought to the surface from depth without completing decompression (dive possibly aborted by supervisor because "diver was not performing adequately in the water"). After 10 minutes on deck, collapsed. Put in a DDC and treated (Table? Depth?) but did not respond. Transferred to hospital but died the day after. No investigation, reported to his family by the contractor that he 'died in his room of a heart attack' Possibly no medical, possibly not fit to dive. Reported by The Divers Association
  117. 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
  118. 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
  119. 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.
  120. 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
  121. 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
  122. 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.
  123. 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.
  124. 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.
  125. 2008 6 12 Qadar R. N. Abdul UAE SCUBA Kenyan, married with two children Gulf-news: Quote at the time :Sharjah: “A scuba diver working on a ship at Hamriya Port was killed while checking the ship's engine. The engineer was unaware that the scuba diver was working and switched on the engine, causing the scuba diver to get caught between the propeller blades. Police were unable to find most of the body parts and gave up the search after three days. The people involved in the incident were arrested, including an engineer and two assistants, who claimed that it was an accident and that they had no intention of killing him�. The Ukrainian engineer on the supply vessel 'Orel' who started the engine was found responsible and fined £34,000 'blood money' even though he claimed that he did not know the diver was in the water and had been instructed to start the engine by the chief engineer. Xpress online Note. The Ukrainian marine engineer was prevented from leaving Sharjah until he paid about US$73,000 “diya�, blood money, and a Dh6,000 fine. “I’m very sorry for the death of the man, who I know has two children. I feel for them as I am also a father of two,� He said the accident – which took place when he started the main engine – was not solely his fault as he was ordered by the chief engineer to start it not knowing Abdul Qader was still working astern. “Due to incomplete and inaccurate information and the lack of a translator [during court hearings], all responsibility was laid on me. I am not in a position to pay the amount. I cannot get a job as I don’t have my documents. My wife in Ukraine earns just $120 (Dh440) a month. He started working for the Sharjah-based Whitesea Shipping Company and Supply LLC in March 2007. “I haven’t seen my family since then. I want nothing more than to be home with them,� In August 2009, he received help from the local Russian speaking community, and was allowed home.
  126. 2008 5 12 Smith Othel D USA International Diving Services S/S Air American, aged 24, one year out of diving school, died while working in a potable water storage tank in Paris, Texas. International Diving Services of Arlington, TX. "Pumps still running, sucked onto an inlet" Possibly no bailout or stand-by rig, body recovered by fire brigade (on SCUBA!)
  127. 2008 3 12 Not Recorded USA Chet Morrison Topsides Injured in explosion onboard DSV "Jillian Morrison", medivac but released from hospital after treatment
  128. 2008 3 12 Not Recorded Netherlands Fire Brigade volunteer SCUBA Dutch, aged 38, member of the voluntary fire brigade from Terneuzen, died while recovering a car from the Gent-Terneuzen canal, apparently he did not surface as expected, was recovered alive but in critical condition and died later in hospital. The autopsy report stated "drowning". The driver of the car apparently committed suicide by driving into the canal. He was being sought by police in connection with the murder of his 2 children 24/02/2008.
  129. 2008 3 12 Not Recorded Middle East CCC 126 Saturation Accidental sat system blowdown, 6 in sat, accidentally blown down from 50 m to 126 m (internal valve accidental closed by diver). No injuries, project delay, (Full report published on OD website)
  130. 2007 8 12 Not Recorded Norway Saipem On 12 August a 48-year-old man died in an accident during work (lifting operation) on board the crane vessel Saipem 7000 near the Gullfaks field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. At around the 1000hrs the man fell overboard and was found dead shortly afterwards following a rescue operation. The deceased was an employee of Saipem, who during the weekend of 12/13 August has been working for Statoil installing a subsea separator at the Tordis field. The cause of the accident is being investigated (Actually found one and a half hours later on the seabed by the ROV) first offshore Norwegian fatality since 2002.
  131. 2007 1 12 Verma SK UAE Arab Tanker Services 31 S/S Air Switching gases at first stop, no gas (valve closed on HP bottle but with an 'open' tag)
  132. 2004 12 12 Fukai Naoyoshi Japan SCUBA A 48-year-old fisherman (diving for lobsters) was caught in the screw of a 1.2T fishing boat and died soon after off Ukishima beach in Nishina, Nishiizucho, Shizuoka Prefecture. Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. No details, not sure whether this was a sports dive (Not included in professional 'count' TC)
  133. 2004 11 12 Watts Superior Saturation Injury claim and counter claim, court case, no details
  134. 2004 5 12 Shultz Don USA Police SCUBA Aged 43, part of a four man Phoenix Police team searching a canal for a wheelchair belonging to a woman who had drowned in the canal on Monday 10th May. Life line came off, found in a one foot gap under a lock gate mouthpiece out. Hospitalised in a critical condition, taken off life support on Wednesday and died three hours later. Reported by KVOA
  135. 2004 2 12 Walters Jeff UK Royal Navy 36 years old, Royal Navy Northern Diving Group based at HM Naval Base Clyde (Faslane), died during a training dive off Oban, heart attack, no details
  136. 2003 4 12 Williams Douglas USA NW Diving and Marine SCUBA American, 42 year old, just North of the Hood Canal Bridge, using a drill u/w to install buoy anchors, entangled, umbilcal wrapped around neck, asphyxiated or drowned. No other details, reported in the Spokesman review and Moscow Pullman Daily News.
  137. 2000 5 12 King Edward USA Reported as "Quahog diver was found dead after reported missing. Boat and diver was found day after he was lost. Apparent Drowning" NAOCD/cDiver
  138. 2000 1 12 Washburn Todd USA Marion Hill Associates 18 “A New Jersey diver remained missing in the Allegheny River on Monday even after authorities reduced the flow of water over a dam to aid in the search. Officials said efforts to find the body of Todd Washburn, 33, of Trenton, would continue Tuesday, but water flow would have to be returned to normal. Washburn worked for a company, Marion Hill Associates, that was inspecting the privately owned Piney Hydroelectric Station near Reesedale, Armstrong County.� (Part of the report also states that “Last year, 90 of the nation's 2500 commercial divers were killed on the job�, also that “the diver had 18 months experience as a commercial diver�. His body was recovered 5 days later downstream of the plant. No details of the actual cause of the incident. 2 Citations/$3,000. Associated Press/NACOD/cDiver
  139. 1999 3 12 Tyre Shelley Tortola SCUBA American recreational diver aged 46, headmistress of a private school in Massachusetts, expert diver. Married David Swain in 1993. Federal prosecutor in Rhode Island wrote that there was "overwhelming circumstantial evidence proving that Swain murdered his wife�, evidence included Swain's "unusual behavior" after Tyre's death, his alleged financial motivation and the condition of Tyre's scuba equipment, which experts suggest "indicate that a violent struggle took place under water." A lawyer for Tyre's parents argued Swain killed his wife for money and had been involved in a romantic relationship with another woman. He said Swain knew he would not have been entitled to any money if he divorced his wife because of the couple's prenuptial agreement. Alleged that Swain cut off her air supply and held her in the water until she drowned.
  140. 1998 10 12 Not Recorded Tunisia Adriatica Subsea Services 75 S/S Mixed Gas Spanish, aged 33, Bounce diving, Galeazzi type bell, (no DDC, decompression done in the bell). The day before had passed out in the water, recovered by the bellman. Passed out during locking out, recovered dead. Ill fitting unisuit reported as a contributory factor
  141. 1997 9 12 Kielty Steve USA Magone Marine SCUBA In September 1997, a 47-year-old experienced commercial diver on an underwater pipeline construction project, who had made no dives during the previous 2-3 years used scuba gear while attaching a mooring line to a buoy anchor line. The equipment was not in good condition, and both the primary and alternate regulator were leaking and in need of repair. Shortly after he submerged, the tether line floated to the surface. After he was signaled without response, the team leader put on scuba gear, submerged, and found the diver on the sea floor with a weight belt on and both tether line and tank high-pressure hose severed. The diver was recovered, and CPR was unsuccessful. The investigation did not determine how the hose was severed, and the cause of death was listed as drowning. OSHA cited the employer for violations including inadequate training in using tools/equipment and in CPR, absence of a ready standby diver, diver not line tended, lack of a reserve tank, and rescue not conducted in a timely manner. NIOSH review of occupational diving fatalities in Alaska
  142. 1993 2 12 Herpin Jude USA AOD 42 South Timbalier, Block 0152, 00464, Structure E, Chevron, "Cutting a window in the 10 ¾ inch casing. The surface personnel heard an explosion on the diver’s monitor. A standby diver went into the water immediately and when he reached the other diver he found him unconscious and his helmet off. The injured diver later died in the decompression chamber of cardiac arrest" OCS Incident database 1991-1994m page 65
  143. 1990 9 12 Dol Tadayoshi Singapore Japanese diver, aged 41, killed in an underwater explosion in an underwater pile cutting operation at a lighter berth (Location unclear, reported in the Singapore press but incident could have been Indonesia or Malaysia). Straits Times
  144. 1989 7 12 Barnes Roger USA Louisville Water Company 5 Aged 32, Sludge clearing at the Crescent Hill Filter Plant, disappeared, sucked into a 24" pipe (Not wearing lifelines because both he and his dive partner decide not to use safety lines in case they got entangled on equipment in the basin), body recovered an hour later. Had bbeen working for the water company as a diver for 10 years but had no commercial qualifications. Reported in the Daily News
  145. 1987 8 12 Not Recorded Saudi Arabia Navy The official Saudi Press agency meanwhile reported that a Saudi Navy frogman was killed and a second wounded when they got too close to a mine being detonated after it was pulled from the Persian Gulf.It said the accident occurred in water 180 miles to the Northwest of Ras Tanura". The Telegraph.
  146. 1984 12 12 Fusco Quartermaster Seaman Arthur A. Honduras US Special Forces SCUBA Aged 24, Seal team 4 based at Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek, Va. "Two Navy divers killed blasting Honduran Logjam". Among around 40 special forces dispatched to Honduras to join the Destroyer USS Caron for exercise 'Kings Guard', a coastal surveillance exercise involving the Caron and other vessels from Honduras and El Salvador. As the exercise was winfing down, the Navy dipatched Fusco and Uyedo to the east coast of Honduras for a 'civic action' to help residents of six small villages who had been totally isolated for several years because of log jams on the Amatingri river. The two apparently placed 14 pounds of C4 on a large log jam in a lagoon but they apparently failed to move their small boat far enough away. One man died at the scene, the second died en route to hospital in Comayagua. Shenectady Gazette
  147. 1984 12 12 Not Recorded USA 20 S/S Air NO 03-07, Block 631, OCS-Y 0511, Sedco 708, Well No 1, Atlantic Richfield. "The diver left surface at 11:55 hours to work on an anchor at 65 feet. At approximately 12:35 hours, a garbled message came over the diving phone. The crew could not get an understandable response from the diver. He was observed at the surface trying to climb the ladder to the landing. He fell back into the water. One man climbed down the ladder and another jumped into the water to help. The diver lost consciousness and the two men got him to the landing. He was not breathing and had no pulse. CPR was started and he was moved to the DDC. CPR was continued until the doctor arrived at 18:28 hours and pronounced the victim dead. Cause of death was subsequently determined to be air embolism. OCS incidents database 1956 to 1990, page 306
  148. 1984 12 12 Uyeda Engine Man 2nd Class Michael R Honduras US Special Forces SCUBA Aged 22, Special Boat Unit 24 based at Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek, Va. "Two Navy divers killed blasting Honduran Logjam". Among around 40 special forces dispatched to Honduras to join the Destroyer USS Caron for exercise 'Kings Guard', a coastal surveillance exercise involving the Caron and other vessels from Honduras and El Salvador. As the exercise was winfing down, the Navy dipatched Fusco and Uyedo to the east coast of Honduras for a 'civic action' to help residents of six small villages who had been totally isolated for several years because of log jams on the Amatingri river. The two apparently placed 14 pounds of C4 on a large log jam in a lagoon but they apparently failed to move their small boat far enough away. One man died at the scene, the second died en route to hospital in Comayagua. Shenectady Gazette
  149. 1977 12 12 Hassan Abdul Hamid bin Singapore Selco Malaysian, aged 32, underwater repir work on the American aircraft carrier 'Midway' with fellow diver John Then, off Manof War Anchorage, 'got into difficulties',was found unconscious in the water, died on arrival in hospital. No other details. Straits Times
  150. 1977 1 12 Rig 'Scan Sea' West Pacific Jack Up, sank during rig move/towing
  151. 1976 5 12 Hubert Nicholas UK North Sea Diving Services 37 S/S Air British, aged 24. Pipelay barge "PT One Elfa Norge", looking for a broken transponder on the bottom of the TP1 under construction in Loch Fyne. After an uneventful dive he was approaching the surface when he died. It subsequently turned out that the transponder was not broken and the fault was on the surface. The cause of death was reported as AGE (Arterial Gas Embolism) through diving with a chest infection, lung collapse, pulmonary barotrauma
  152. 1976 1 12 Howell RN John "Scouse" UK Subsea 146 Saturation British, aged 27. He was still in the Navy, but on EVT (Spending time with prospective employees prior to leaving the armed forces). Semi-sub drill rig "Western Pacesetter 1". He passed out shortly after leaving bell, officially reported as suspected switched off own gas by knocking ball valve, drowning/hypoxia, but other sources indicate his gas was contaminated and he passed out on the seabed. His bellman could not (or would not) get him back into the bell and tied him to the outside of the bell and removed his helmet. The body was taken to RNPL for autopsy, cause of death, drowning.
  153. 1975 3 12 Rene Pierre Canada 50 Aged 32 from Montreal, "Four specialists in underwater medicine tried unsuccessfully to save the life of a diver who became ill while working in the Port of Quebec. Police said that he became ill while inspecting the outlet of a sewage conduit in the middle of the St Lawrence River". Edmonton Journal
  154. 1974 6 12 Doigne Colin Australia Yarra Harbour Trust 9 S/S Air Aged 37, former Royal Navy Diver, One of a team of three divers undertaking routine maintenance to beacon marking the entrance to the mouth of the Yarra River, choppy water, his air hose got entangled with his support vessel propeller. Reported as dead before he could be recovered to the surface. Survived by his wife and two daughters aged 12 years and 4 months. The Age.
  155. 1963 9 12 Jensen Aksel Denmark Diver hit by an anchor COPENHAGEN, Wed. A ship dropped anchor at Vejle, Denmark, today on to the head of diver, Aksel Jensen, who was working underwater, port officials reported. He was taken to hospital with suspected concussion. Reuter
  156. 1957 3 12 Not Recorded Mexico Saturation Acapulco, a diver, described as an ex-Olympic diver and trainer of navy frogmen, died on a dive into Acapulco bay in a search for the bodies of two wealthy American tourist thought to have been murdered on a glass bottomed boat. No other details. Reported in the Los Angeles Times.
  157. 1949 8 12 Not Recorded "Diver killed by wreck blast.."No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Aberdeen Journal/The British Newspaper Archive
  158. 1942 11 12 Davis Owen USA Merrit and Chapman S/S Air American, aged 26 or 28, diving in Newtown Creek (leak in an oil pipe crossing the creek), long island,'Lost helmet'. Son of Captain W. N. Davis, US Navy Salvage Corps. 'Helmet Lost. Diver dies' New York Times Pay per view
  159. 1935 7 12 Martin Indonesia 31 S/S Air Koepang diver out of Darwin on the lugger 'Flying Cloud' working off the Aru Islands (Indonesian waters due north of Darwin). Standing in as the second diver (who was off sick), When pulled up from decompression stop, was found to be dead. “Diving gear in perfect working order�. Inquest returned a verdict of accidental death by suffocation (Essentially blaming the diver for adjusting his air valve and shutting off his own air). Reported in 'The Age'
  160. 1928 12 12 Christophe Lambiris USA 18 S/S Air Aged 25, Sponge diver out of Tarpon springs onboard the vessel “Bessie�, 100 miles out, reported as “drowned when his airline parted�. The Evening Independent
  161. 1909 7 12 Swee Ong Singapore Sir John Jackson S/S Air Chinese diver, working near Johnston's Pier laying the foundations for a new sea wall for the Teluk Ayer reclamation. An iron ladder used for his ascent and descent became detached and fell on him breaking his back and cutting his head. He was pulled up, his diving dress was cut off and he was taken to hospital where he died. Straits Times
  162. 1908 9 12 Newton UK Military S/S Air "Navy diver killed, Air pipe cut by warship cable. Navy diver met his death in a strange manner at Cromarty Firth on Saturday. Chief Carpenter…" "..tide, the diver's gear came into contact with the ship's cable, and was completely severed. Newton must have died immediately from...." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Cheltenham Chronicle/Derby Daily Telegraph/The British Newspaper Archive
  163. 1908 7 12 Mogg Joseph Australia McPherson 15 S/S Air Paraphrased from a report in the Northern territory times and gazette. “Inquiry held at the Court House into the cause of death of pearl diver Joseph Mogg, The lugger 'Ada' was anchored off Shoal Bay. His only experience was acquired recently in the Arru I Island pearling fleet. Had been down 30 minutes when the first length of piping, directly connected with the pump, burst on deck. It was about four minutes from the time the pipe burst until on diver was on surface, bleeding from his mouth and eats, possibly "diver was little bit alive." One witness stated that he had complained that the length of piping which burst was not good. The owner denied this (the same length of pipe had been used on the previous tide to 19 fathoms and stated that he had 22 years practical experience of pearling, and attributed present mishap to a flaw in the piping. “The life of piping with steel wires was about 4 years, and this piping had only been in use two and a half seasons. A diver who knew his business would at once close the air escape valve in his helmet. If that were done there was, according to the maker's specifications, enough air in the dress to keep a man alive for 15 minutes). The evidence showed that the valve had never been closed, and, in his opinion, “The diver had never tried to come up. In a precisely similar accident which bad taken place at Cape Keith four years ago, the diver had been brought up alive, and practically unhurt, from 21 fathoms of water.� The Jury found "That J. Mogg's death was caused by suffocation through an air pipe breaking, and that no blame is attachable to anybody." Also added a rider to following effect: " We are of opinion that the system of half yearly tests of diving gear should be carried out at Port Darwin under some responsible Government official." (This is the earliest recommendation for 6 monthly dive equipment inspection witnessed by a third party that I have found, pity it took us 70 or 80 years to catch on! TC..........)
  164. 1908 1 12 Clarke John New Zealand 41 S/S Air Off Aukland, second diver to die (the other was Harper, 1907) working on the wreck of the Eligamite "A telegram from the Elingamite expedition states that the party is returning to Auckland, Diver Clarke having died at 10:30 last night. no further information is given. This is the second diver who has died while engaged in attempting to recover the gold lost in the Elingamite". Hawera and Normamby Star, National Library of New Zealand
  165. 1903 11 12 Kling A Singapore S/S Air Repair to the bottom plates (a problem discovered on her last voyage to Madras) of the SS 'Zamania' at Tanjong Pagar dock 'diver who went down was seized by a shark. His leg and arm were torn off and he died almost immediately' Straits Times
  166. 1894 5 12 Gurr (or Gun?) Alfred Henry UK S/S Air "Shocking accident. A man named Alfred Henry Gurr, living in Buckland, who was employed at new harbour works as a diver, met with..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald/The British Newspaper Archive
  167. 1875 8 12 Tippett John Hicks UK 9 S/S Air EXTRAORDINARY DEATH OF A DIVER. The diving cutter ‘Sir Francis Burdett’ has arrived at Hull with the body of James Tippett, diver, aged 37, The crew have been engaged for some time in preparations to blow up the steamer ‘Shamrock’, sunk at the entrance to the Humber in 30 feet of water. Yesterday morning Tippett went down under water fully dressed, when those on the cutter felt convinced something was wrong. He was hauled onboard but was found to be dead. The glass at the front of his helmet had been broken by some means and so had let in the water. He must have been dead long before he was got on board, Reported in the Bradford Observer
  168. 1872 8 12 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "Diver drowned at the Aberdeen Beakwater. One of the divers at the new breakwater, Aberdeen,…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in Dundee Courier/The British Newspaper Archive
  169. 2013 8 12 Huamaní Lloclla Daniel Franklin Peru Fenix Power Unknown Huamaní Lloclla, Daniel Franklin, aged 29, Peruvian Navy Diver with 12 years diving experience, sub-contracted to work for Fenix power in Chilca (520MW power plant being built about 65 kilometres south of Lima), appears to have either suffered a head injury (early reports) or to have been sucked into a seawater cooling inlet pipe and drowned at 14:00 (Later reports indicate differential pressure, pumps not turned off)<br />There have been other military divers killed in South America when serving but apparently 'sub-contracted/hired out/moonlighting/training/'? to government sponsored civil engineering projects by private corporations, seems to be common practice.
  170. 2016 2 12 Rodriguez Marquex Joshua Spain Piscifactoria del Atlantico Aged 42, diving at the Playa Quemada, Yaiza, Lanzarote (Canary Islands) fish farm since 2004, children aged 9 and 13, dived to cut a rope off a propellor and was fatally injured when the propeller was engaged. Reported in La Provincia
  171. 2015 4 12 Umudov Kamil Azerbaijan SOCAR SCUBA A diver of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has been killed at about 5 pm today. SOCAR informs that diver Kamil Umudov, 39, died when a pipe was being attached to the jacket at Bulla field. “In 5-10 minutes another diver, who noticed that Umudov does not respond to signals, went down into the water and found him unconscious. Despite the victim was given primary health care, his life was not saved," SOCAR said in a statement. The causes of the accident are being examined by a specially created commission. Reported by ABC.az
  172. 2021 12 12 Sawiran Herman Indonesia 11m S/S Air Palembang, South Sumatra. Family diving team of two bothers and a brother-in-law (the victim) led by father installing a PDAM pump (high volume unit weighing 3 tons). Diving on an air compressor with a 100 metre hose hookah set up to check pump status. Hose went tight then broke, stand-by dived in. Diver had gone head first into the pump, head and torso missing, hips and legs recovered to surface. Divers questioned why the pump was running whilst they were doing the inspection. Reported in Indonesian Press.
  173. 2012 1 11 Hentze Jakun Andrias Faroes SJH Diving 2 SCUBA Aged 44, repair programme on the SHEFA-2 (SHEtland - FAroes fibre optic communication) cable of Nolsoy island. Was found in shallow water with his mask off and empty cylinder. No other details. Reported by SIBC, Dimma,fo, sandportal.fo
  174. 2012 1 11 Not Recorded Malaysia Rumoured that two divers were killed on a job in Malaysia but no details, not confirmed (Longstreath)
  175. 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)
  176. 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.
  177. 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
  178. 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
  179. 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.
  180. 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.
  181. 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
  182. 2008 3 11 Altland Matt USA Chet Morrison Topsides Diver onboard the DSV "Jillian Morisson", Explosion knocked him into the water, fractured shouder, crushed elbow, collapsed lung, scalp injuries. Medivac to hospital in Lafayette.
  183. 2008 3 11 DSV "Jillian Morisson" USA Chet Morrison Tuesday evening, engine room explosion on board the vessel, 1 missing, 6 to hospital, 3 later released. Boat had a 12' x 20' hole in deck and sank in 30' of water, later salvaged and taken to New Orleans boatyard
  184. 2008 3 11 Not Recorded USA Chet Morrison Topsides Injured in explosion onboard DSV "Jillian Morrison", medivac but released from hospital after treatment
  185. 2008 3 11 Sievers Andy USA Chet Morrison Topsides Killed in explosion, blown into water, search called off 3 days later, body recovered offshore Ecuador
  186. 2008 3 11 Sonia Michael USA Chet Morrison Topsides Aged 43, crewman in the engine room, seriously injured in explosion onboard DSV "Jillian Morrison", died in hospital three days later
  187. 2008 3 11 Stevenson Robert USA Chet Morrison Topsides Aged 39, crewman in the engine room. Injured in explosion onboard DSV "Jillian Morrison", medivac seriously injured, died in hospital
  188. 2008 2 11 Not Recorded ADCI DDC ADCI safety alert relating to failed viewport due to heat from fluorescent lightbulb
  189. 2007 11 11 Not Recorded France La Schaphandre 10 SCUBA Aged 39, French commercial diver, died during completion of work on the lock downstream of the slew bridge in Rochefort Harbour, no details
  190. 2005 8 11 Not Recorded Philippines SCUBA A diver looter drowned in Subic Bay near the former US navy base north of Manila when attempting to steal artifacts from the sunken battleship U.S.S. New York which served in the second world war. A local patrol ship found a small boat carrying two diver looters, who were apprehended after a short chase. One of the divers escaped from the patrol-men and drowned “due to his poor diving gear� The other diver was arrested with his looted materials (scrap metal) confiscated. Xinhua News Agency
  191. 2004 7 11 Beek Raymond van Malta 3 Freeport of Berzebbugia, conducting a video survey of hull of vessel "Verlaine", bow thruster started, Master & Chief engineer charged with involuntary homicide, prosecution failed on lack of proof, March 2007. Two other divers were reported injured in the same incident
  192. 2004 7 11 Not Recorded Malta 3 Freeport of Berzebbugia, Raymond van Beek was killed whilst conducting a video survey of hull of vessel "Verlaine", bow thruster started, Master & Chief engineer charged with involuntary homicide, prosecution failed on lack of proof, March 2007. Two other divers were reported injured in the same incident and were taken to St Luke's hospital for treatement but were never mentioned in subsequent reports.
  193. 2004 4 11 Kneen Christopher UAE SCUBA International SCUBA British, aged 19, sucked into a pipe, desalination plant at Fujairah, UAE. Sports/tourist SCUBA diver doing a commercial dive, diving instructor who sent him to the plant was found guilty of causing death, plant operators were not held responsible for not turning off the pump that sucked him in.
  194. 2004 3 11 Miller Mark USA Fireman SCUBA American fire-fighter/diver aged 43, testing new equipment in a lake, not tethered to partner, drowned under ice, ill fitting dry suit and 44lb weight belt blamed as contributory factors. NIOSH Report
  195. 2003 9 11 Rig 'Parker 14-J' USA Manti Operating Co 4 leg Jack Up owned by the Parker Drilling Company, was jacking up at new location when a problem arose with the number 2 jacking motor on the starboard bow leg. Jacking operations ceased and repair operations commenced, where a chock block was inserted to prevent movement of the jacking cogs and the defective motor was removed. Whilst easing the weight onto the chock block, gears on the number 1 jacking motor starting turning causing the starboard side of the barge to lower. The aft starboard leg brakes then failed causing the rig to fall onto its starboard side. Several men, including the crane operator, were injured during the collapse as personnel were being transferred onto the rig from a crew boat by crane. Most of the forty-one crew were picked up by nearby vessels, with two crew airlifted by the Coast Guard to a Gulfport Hospital.
  196. 2001 6 11 Willis Emmett Clive USA SCUBA Aged 51, professional golf ball diver, 15th hole of the Westport Country club in Hickory, drowned, no details apart him only having been SCUBA certified three months prior to his death.
  197. 2000 11 11 Davis Ted USA Energy Partners or D & W Welding Services 23 South Pass 28, The diver was working on a severed pipeline when he lost communication with the surface. A second diver was unable to locate the first diver. Pressure differential, sucked into a pipe when dredging cleared blocked pipe opening, body reciovered the following day.
  198. 2000 10 11 Linscomb John USA Land and Underwater Welding Topsides American, Bayou Adams near Orange, Texas, incident occurred when the divers were returning to a boatramp at the end of a diving project and their boat hit a power line tower. The diver was killed. Another diver, who was operating the boat, was seriously injured. NAOCD/cDiver blog, No other details.
  199. 2000 10 11 Not Recorded USA Land and Underwater Welding Topsides American, Bayou Adams near Orange, Texas, incident occurred when the divers were returning to a boatramp at the end of a diving project and their boat hit a power line tower. The diver was, who was operating the boat, was seriously injured, another diver (John Linscomb) was killed. NAOCD/cDiver blog, No other details.
  200. 1999 11 11 Not Recorded USA Southwest Marine American, San Diego, This was reported as a drowning fatality by a possibly untrained SCUBA diver doing commercial work. No details, possibly dual report of death of Ramsey Downie reported a month earlier (Died 8/10/1999). NAOCD/cDiver.
  201. 1999 7 11 Imajo Hiroshige Japan S/S Air Aged 32, diving off the vessel 'Sumitoyo Maru' in Osaka, apparently killed in the water after being hit of the head by his deck mounted air compressor that was pulled off the deck by a tight airline. May have been a lightweight hookah system, no other details. AxccessMyLibrary.com
  202. 1999 1 11 Glazzard Robert UAE Oceaneering Topsides British, aged 28, missing overboard at night from Seabulk Hercules along with New Zealand dive tech Aaron Harper/Aaron Hopa. Suspected garrotted and dead before in the water. Stories of drug smuggling/debts, open verdict, no conclusion.
  203. 1998 8 11 Cranfield Walter Guam Deep Sea Technologies SCUBA Paraphrased from OSHA reports:- “San Franciso. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined a diving contractor $75,000 following the death of a diver who died from decompression sickness while working on a project to salvage artifacts from a Manila galleon which sank off the coast of Guam in 1690. After a six month investigation, OSHA cited Deep Sea Technologies, a subcontractor of The Pilar Project Ltd., for willful violations which led to the death, including failure to use two-way voice communication between a mixed-gas diver and surface crew; having no decompression chamber ready for use at the dive site; requiring employees using SCUBA equipment to dive deeper than 130 feet in sea water; exceeding the allowable service pressure on the compressed gas cylinders used by SCUBA divers, and lack of tables at the dive site which outline safe diving depths and durations. The violations are covered under OSHA's Commercial Diving Operations regulations.� The company was also cited for one less-than-serious violation for failing to notify OSHA of the fatality within eight hours. “OSHA will not tolerate this type of situation," said the enforcement director for OSHA in the western states. "This fatality could have been prevented. The employer knew they were diving too deep for the equipment they used, that they had no two-way communication, and that the tanks were over pressurized, and yet they continued to put the divers at risk, resulting in this tragic consequence." Ha also noted that another diver on The Pilar Project died in 1994, and another required emergency evacuation in 1993
  204. 1994 12 11 Buckley Todd USA Puget Watermen 18 S/S Air American student at Evergreen State College aged 22, time off to earn money, harvesting sea urchins. Bubbles stopped, pulled to surface, lifeline and weight belt wrapped around airline, unconscious, respiratory arrest, hypothermia and decompression illness, died in hospital.
  205. 1991 6 11 Hansen Kenneth USA Surface Swimmer Police diver aged 26, drowned during a rescue exercise in New York Harour, not wearing lifejacket or strobe, Officer in command charged with "Failure to supervise", speculation that he was told not to wear a lifevest to make it more realistic exercise staged for visiting German TV crew. NY Times
  206. 1989 8 11 Carter Mike USA 4 SCUBA Aged 34, described as an experienced diver, drowned whilst replacing a pond drainage system on a farm three miles north of the town of Marion, 'not entangled or trapped, plenty of air in his tank. Investigators stated that “He might have been tired from work done on the previous day and plan no autopsy or further investigations�
  207. 1989 2 11 Wells Timothy L USA Police SCUBA American police officer aged 36, Williston, North Dakota, cold water training dive in the Missouri river, found under thick ice near the shore by colleagues, tank empty, drowned
  208. 1989 1 11 Harjula Albert O. USA 17 S/S Air Aged 29, working on the 80 foot high Wilderness Dam (Owned by Great Northern Paper), got trapped by water pressure at a leak point on the dam face. Rescue diver (Daniel Sullivan), also got trapped at the same location. Both were pulled out using winches after a second rescue diver, Brian Michaud, managed to attached pulling ropes to their harnesses 11 hours after the initial incident, but he was pronounced dead on arrival in hospital Double fatality (Daniel Sullivan). Michaud was hospitalised but OK. Spokane Chronicle
  209. 1989 1 11 Sullivan Daniel USA 17 S/S Air Aged 30, State department of inland fisheries and wildlife. A diver working on the 80 foot high Wilderness Dam (Owned by Great Northern Paper), got trapped underwater by pressure at a leak point on the dam face. Sullivan got trapped at the same location about an hour later during a rescue attempt. Both were pulled out using winches after a second rescue diver, Brian Michaud, managed to attached pulling ropes to their harnesses 11 hours after the initial incident, but he died three hours after arriving at hospital Double fatality (Albert Harjula). Michaud was hospitalised but OK. Spokane Chronicle
  210. 1985 9 11 Not Recorded USA Vermilion, Block 331, OCS-G 2572, Platform A, Marathon. "A diver was securing a buoy to a subsea template. His hand was entangled in a rope that went around the cable. As the boat surged, his hand was pulled through a snatch block cutting off the last joint of his finger". OCS Incidents 1956-1990, page 272
  211. 1981 7 11 Craig Gordon UAE Comex S/S Air Installing a welding habitat onto a pipeline in the Zakum Field. Habitat 'hung up' and the diver , wearing a band-mask, was looking for the cause when it dropped, head crushed, died instantly.
  212. 1981 5 11 Jackson Fred Canada SCUBA Aged 30, salvage operation at lower Cove Terminal, St John Harbour, New Brunswick, grounded freighter, MV 'Opal', surface suppled equipment available, but diver decided to run a hog line under the hull using SCUBA, returned to the support vessel, then rolled onto his side and sank from view. Immediate search could not find the diver (harbour up to 80' deep, low visibility, high currents). Body recovered six weeks later. Coroner determined the cause as drowning (body was found underwater). However, he had been having pains in his neck, shoulder and chest over the previous two days but no tests/autopsy were not done to determine if he had had a heart attack. PC
  213. 1977 2 11 Joseph Pat USA Fred Devine and Salvage 15 Salvage operations on the tanker “Sansitena� in Los Angeles harbour, Berth 46 (Blew up while alongside, 9 dead, 36 injured in the initial blast 17th December 1976) , had been in the water two hours osy arc cutting operations, gas pocket, underwater explosion, reported as “diver stricken with bends when he surfaced after an underwater explosion�. Also reported that he was the second diver injured on that job in four days. Although he remained in the industry, he was never able to dive again after the accident.. Los Angeles Times, PC.
  214. 1974 4 11 Barthelemy Marc G G UK Comex 93 Saturation French, aged 24. Drill ship "Havdrill". Needed rescue, drowned in bell trunking, exhaustion. Alternative report that diver had lost/restricted gas, returned to bell with umbilical around guide wire, Swedish bellman pulled in umbilical which pulled diver away from bell, British support crew, reverted to native languages, in ensuing panic, bellman cut umbilical and shut bell door, told dive control to recover bell. Body of diver draped over bell weights.
  215. 1966 6 11 Davidson Russell UKCS North Sea Diving Services SCUBA Aged 28, diving from the vessel 'North Shore" at the site of the "Sea Gem" (BP West Sole, capsised and sank 27th December 1965 with the loss of 13 lives), diving with a partner. Both called to the surface but he failed to come up, his partner went back down and found him unresponsive on the seabed and brought him up. No other details. The Glasgow Herald
  216. 1961 10 11 Barron, RN Lt. Julian UK Military Aged 27, drowned at Rosyth Dockyard whilst trying to rescue a trainee diver. Trainee diver's lifeline 'appeared to be fouled and broke', Lt Barron was the standby and was sent into assist, gave a thumbs up and submerged. There was a terrific jerk on his lifeline and then his line broke too. It was later found that both men had been sucked through an open penstock (equalisation pipe between two docks). Diving instructor admitted no diving flag was being flown, civilian dockyard foreman in charge of the sluices stated that he was not aware of diving operations being conducted in the main basin and would have considered the dive site as hazardous because of the penstock (Diving in that area had been stopped two years earlier because of the penstock). No formal communcation link between divers and dock personnel. Following the incident Admiralty orders were put in place covering operation of diving in the docks and civilians in the dockyard also had definite instructions
  217. 1958 3 11 Not Recorded USA Boston Naval Base 4 A civilian diver employed by :contractor working for the Navy at the South Boston Naval Shipyard became wedged at the bottom of piling, twelve feet below the surface within inches of rescue, but drowned. No details. New York Times
  218. 1957 10 11 Williamson Stephen I USA Daspit Bros Marine Divers American, court case quote "engaged in the clearing of a pipe line of debris in navigable waters,and that an employee of Daspit was lifted too rapidly, causing a release of his diving mask and belt, that the vessel and its appurtenances were defective and unseaworthy and that these circumstances were the cause of decedent's death"
  219. 1955 8 11 Not Recorded Germany “Wilhelmshaven. An Underwater explosion today killed a diver working on the wreck of the submerged German cruiser Koln in the harbour here� Reuters
  220. 1954 10 11 Reed Jerry B USA 4 S/S Air Aged 32, Captain of the Ohio River boat 'Martha Green',working at an underwater sluice on a backwater at the Indiana-Kentucky Electric Company plant at Evansville. He had hired a man to handle the surface equipment - who knew nothing about diving equipment - whilst he was diving, the equipment broke down, his air was cut off and he drowned. The News-Sentinel
  221. 1952 6 11 Borradaile Lt-Cmmdr Edward L Canada Military Explosion Aged 42, Royal Canadian Navy diver and mine disposal officer working on a wartime mine reported by fishermen on the beach of Boilla Island, 70 miles from Prince Rupert, BC. He was killed by the explosion, his assistant, PO D Ross, aged 30, suffered a serious leg injury. Ottawa Citizen
  222. 1945 9 11 Not Recorded USA Military Chamber Brooklyn Navy Base, 2 divers died, one injured, possibly dead, during chamber training (simulated dive) onboard a Salvage vessel off Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Chamber fire reported as having been started by sparks from an overheating electric fan. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164.
  223. 1944 3 11 McCann George UK S/S Air Aged 38, working in a diving bell at the bottom of the Clyde, killed in an explosion attributed to marsh gas from the silt at the bottom of the river, double fatality with George Wight McKenzie, Inquest recorded a verdict of "Death by drowning in the river Clyde after an explosion" The Glasgow Herald
  224. 1944 3 11 McKenzie George Wight UK S/S Air Aged 35, working in a diving bell at the bottom of the Clyde, killed in an explosion attributed to marsh gas from the silt at the bottom of the river, double fatality with George McCann, Inquest recorded a verdict of "Death by drowning in the river Clyde after an explosion" The Glasgow Herald
  225. 1943 6 11 Isnor Oswald Canada Article relating to the award of a George Medal and two posthumous commendations for brave conduct to Canadian civilians. "Commendation - Oswald Isnor of Halifax, chief diver on a salvage ship, who was killed while helping to salvage a "very large and valuable cargo of rubber tires" from a grounded ship'. Reported in the Edmonton Journal in June 1943
  226. 1940 8 11 Loy Wong Australia S/S Air Evidence given in Broome at the inquest into the death of a diver who died at sea 120 miles South of Broome. "What was believed to be a form of divers paralysis is really collapse caused by depletion of the natural salts of the body as a result of excesive perspiration while working at depth. The diver, after having complained of dizziness, was treated for what is known locally as 'half-caste paralysis'. The medical officer said that during the past 40 years many divers must have died from this complaint going on to explain that the symptoms were so similar those of actual diver's paralysis that the divers could not tell the difference with any ecrtainty". As a result of the evidence at this inquest, it is now thought that if divers drank salt liquid before the day's work, this would considerably assist in replacing the body chlorines and prevent collapse which are the symptoms usually preceeding death in these cases. Straits Times
  227. 1936 7 11 Kumanoto Tokeo Australia E. J. Hennessey 29 S/S Air “DEATH OF JAPANESE DIVER�. BRISBANE, Sunday, - Tho pearling lugger ‘Keriri’ reached Thursday Island yesterday, with the body of a Japanese diver, Tokeo Kumanoto (28), who died while working in16 fathoms of water at Whappo Reef. The cause of his death was heart and lung trouble. He evidently felt an attack coining on, and discarded his helmet in an effort to reach the surface, but the pressure of water was too great, and he was dead when he came to the top. Reported in the Advocate, Burnie, Tas.
  228. 1935 2 11 Hopkins Thomas UK S/S Air "Diver's death. Wreck of the 'Gladiator', Portsmouth correspondent, Mr Thomas Hopkins, retired Naval warrant officer who was awarded the...No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Western Morning Nws//The British Newspaper Archive
  229. 1922 9 11 Not Recorded Malaysia FMS Railway Company 12 Caisson Pahang province, about 26 miles from the town of Kuala Lipis, railway construction department building a bridge over the Jelai river, a Philippino diver was working at the bottom of one of the two 40' deep coffer dams when "the whole structure was sucked down below the bed of the river. Mr. Snelling, the diving expert attached to Messrs D. G. Robertson Ltd., was telegraphed for, but although air had been pumped through the life lines for the 96 hours before his arrival, no hopes were entertained of recoverimg the body of the diver". Straits Times"
  230. 1918 5 11 Not Recorded USA Military “Plumber� drowned at navy deep sea training school - A training accident, no details
  231. 1912 7 11 Coem Joseph France S/S Air "Diver killed by pressure. A diver named Joseph Cem has died at Toulon from the effects of too great a…." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Dundee Courier/The British Newspaper Archive
  232. 1911 1 11 Todd George New Zealand Rise and Shine Dredging Company S/S Air Making an inspection of the Rise and Shine Dredging Company's dredge that sank the previous week off Dunedin. "After he had been down a considerable time, those above realised that he gave no answer to their signals. Then he was pulled up and found to be dead". The inquest recorded a verdict of death from natural causes after medical evidence that his heart valves were affected and he died of the effects of heart disease. Northern Advocate, National Library of New Zealand
  233. 1906 4 11 May George Australia Topsides VICTORIA. MELBOURNE. April 12. “George May, a diver, residing at Footscray, was killed last night at Williamstown by being run over by a train. His body was found on the line this morning shockingly mutilated�. Reported in the Kalgoorlie Miner, WA
  234. 1904 7 11 Not Recorded Australia 21 S/S Air “Diver's Terrible Fate. A diver at Boonton, New Jersey, a small village near Paterson, has met with a terrible fate. At Boonton there is a largo reservoir, and the diver was sent down for some purpose to the bottom of the great basin. He caught his foot in some manner at a depth of 70 feet under the surface, and signalled for help. As soon as possible, assistance was sent to him, and diver after diver went down, staying as long as possible in the hope of effecting his release. By Tuesday, the man had been 24 hours under water, and seven divers failed in their efforts to bring him up. Every effort was made to extricate him, and to cut away the obstruction that held his foot, but all the efforts were in vain, and late in the afternoon the signals that the diver had been making grew fainter, and finally ceased� Reported in The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate, Parmatta, NSW
  235. 1891 2 11 Francis Cranky Australia Topsides Thursday island, A high tide, two vessels lost, their crews drowned. "Thursday Island, Wednesday, Heavy gusty squalls still prevail here. It is reported that the lugger 'Kingfisher' has been wrecked off Mount Adolphus island and the crew drowned. The 'King Kow' was also wrecked on the fishing grounds near Dalrymple and a diver known as 'Cranky Francis' and three men were drowned. The tide rose yesterday beyond all previous marks". Reported in the Australian Town and Country Journal, NSW.
  236. 1841 11 11 Not Recorded "Pearl diver, that died (from over exertion or some other cause) immediately after he had reached the land or boat from which he …" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in The Worcester Journal/The British Newspaper Archive
  237. 2014 11 11 Harris Kevin USA Aqua Vac Inc 3m SCUBA Aged 23, from Jenison, Michigan, dredging a retention pond in New Albany (Opposite the Discovery Financial services complex) "His co-worker called 911 at 15:47 after he failed to surface, "We're dredging the pond," he told the dispatcher. "I had a SCUBA diver in the water and I noticed his bubbles stopped coming up. I went into the water to find him and he's not anywhere where his equipment was. ... He's still underwater. I don't know where he is...." Body recovered at 16:47 some 50 feet from shore in 12' of water, air cylinder empty. (Aqua Vac were fined $4,500 after the death of Michael Johnson in November 2009). Reported in the Columbus Dispatch.
  238. 2014 10 11 Not Recorded Saudi Arabia INW 31m SCUBA Seabed survey and marking of subsea assets prior to a jack-up workover rig being mobilised in the KJO Oilfield (Al-Khafji Joint Operations). Failed to surface, body recovered 24 hours later. Longstreath/Emirates 24/7, A report in the Saudi gazzette read:- "DAMMAM – Search and rescue teams from the Eastern Province Border Guards recovered the body of an expatriate diver who drowned in the Al-Khafji area while performing routine work laying down electrical cable signs. Spokesman of the guards, Capt. Omar Al-Aklabi, said the victim was working with a fellow worker who returned to the shore after completing his work, only to find his colleague had not returned with him. He added that search and rescue operations lasted two days and the body was finally located 22 miles from the shore. The case has been referred to investigation bodies"
  239. 2014 10 11 Graves Gary USA 13m SS/Air Aged 36, Diving from the FV 'Momo and Maddie' near Port Hubron (By Kodiak, Alaska), about 6 miles from Old Harbour, Sea Cucumber fishery, diving, initially reported as 'suffering a medical emergency', reported as alive at time of first call, airlifted to hospital, but could not be resuscitated. Reported by the Alaska Dispatch News. Later reports indicate the compressor shut off as he was diving in 40' of water.
  240. 2015 12 11 Kuehn Wayne Douglas Jnr USA SCUBA Aged 48. married with a son and daughter, had a full time job, but as a side line sold second hand golf balls at a dollar each. SCUBA diving at night (Illegally) for golf balls at the Star Ranch golf course. Cause of death not reported ('waiting on toxicology reports'). His father reported him missing after finding his car at the golf course, took two days to find his body in the pond. Reported in Mystatesman
  241. 1997 11 11 McHazlett J. Jerry GOM CalDive International Sat Diving Jerry was aboard the Witch Queen and had completed his first 4 1/2 hour rotation of saturation diving at a depth of approximately 300 feet. Upon reentry into the diving bell Jerry fell back towards the moon pool unconscious and was brought back into the bell by diving partner. The diving partner attempted three times to close bell hatch which had a previously noted faulty pneumatic mechanism and seal. Diving partner attempted to do CPR and finally got hatch closed and bell was brought to surface. Top-side personnel did not attempt any resuscitation or medical treatment. Top-side personnel did not contact on-shore physician to get medical instructions including the use of adrenaline which was available. Witch Queen returned to dock and Jerry was transported to morgue.
  242. 2014 7 11 Setiawan Eko Indonesia PT Primus PLTU SCUBA Expected Delta P. Google translate gives: Two bodies of victims of divers at the Tanjung Jati B Steam Power Plant (PLTU) Jepara were successfully evacuated by Indonesian Navy divers from the Koarmatim Underwater Rescue Service (Dislambair), in the waters of Jepara, Central Java, Friday (11/02). 07). At around 10:00 WIB, the Dislambair Koarmatim Dive Team managed to evacuate the victim's body on behalf of Roni (37), a resident of RT 12 RW 1 Pesisir Village, Besuki, Situbondo, East Java. Previously, the Navy Diving Team also managed to evacuate the victim's body on behalf of Eko Setiawan (25), a resident of RT 04 RW 01 Sidowungu Village, Gresik, East Java, at 12.30 WIB. Eko Setiawan's body was found in the Manhole-5 pipe with a distance of about 30 meters. The evacuation process was very difficult, because the victim was in an underwater pipe with a diameter of 400 cm, with a depth of about 10-16 meters. When it was found the position of the two victims was at a depth of 200 meters from the door of the PLTU cooling pool. For the time being, the exact cause of the accident is not known, but it is suspected that it was caused by ocean currents. The two victims were certified divers who were sent by a third party partner, namely PT. Primus. Kadislambair Koarmatim Marine Colonel (T) Bhirawa Budijuana said, to evacuate the two victims, the Diving Team directly brought diving equipment such as Scuba Set and MK-27 from Surabaya. "This team was sent specifically on direct orders from Pangarmatim Rear Admiral TNI Sri Mohamad Darojatim to assist in the search and evacuation of Search and Rescue (SAR) at PLTU Tanjung Jati," said Kadislambair. Source: https://tni.mil.id/view-63555-dua-korban-di-pltu-tanjung-jati-jepara-berhasil-dievakuasi-penyelam-koarmatim.html
  243. 2014 7 11 Roni Indonesia PT Primus PLTU SCUBA Expected Delta P. Google translate gives: Two bodies of victims of divers at the Tanjung Jati B Steam Power Plant (PLTU) Jepara were successfully evacuated by Indonesian Navy divers from the Koarmatim Underwater Rescue Service (Dislambair), in the waters of Jepara, Central Java, Friday (11/02). 07). At around 10:00 WIB, the Dislambair Koarmatim Dive Team managed to evacuate the victim's body on behalf of Roni (37), a resident of RT 12 RW 1 Pesisir Village, Besuki, Situbondo, East Java. Previously, the Navy Diving Team also managed to evacuate the victim's body on behalf of Eko Setiawan (25), a resident of RT 04 RW 01 Sidowungu Village, Gresik, East Java, at 12.30 WIB. Eko Setiawan's body was found in the Manhole-5 pipe with a distance of about 30 meters. The evacuation process was very difficult, because the victim was in an underwater pipe with a diameter of 400 cm, with a depth of about 10-16 meters. When it was found the position of the two victims was at a depth of 200 meters from the door of the PLTU cooling pool. For the time being, the exact cause of the accident is not known, but it is suspected that it was caused by ocean currents. The two victims were certified divers who were sent by a third party partner, namely PT. Primus. Kadislambair Koarmatim Marine Colonel (T) Bhirawa Budijuana said, to evacuate the two victims, the Diving Team directly brought diving equipment such as Scuba Set and MK-27 from Surabaya. "This team was sent specifically on direct orders from Pangarmatim Rear Admiral TNI Sri Mohamad Darojatim to assist in the search and evacuation of Search and Rescue (SAR) at PLTU Tanjung Jati," said Kadislambair. Source: https://tni.mil.id/view-63555-dua-korban-di-pltu-tanjung-jati-jepara-berhasil-dievakuasi-penyelam-koarmatim.html
  244. 2013 7 10 Millecan Joel USA 20 S/S Air Aged 56, diving solo on hookah about a mile off Loma Point for sea urchin. Deck hand on the 35 foot boat called 911 when he failed to surface, lifeguards brought him to the surfaceunconscious and not breathing and performed CPR before he was transported to a local hospital where he later died. Reported in the San Diego Times
  245. 2012 8 10 Burgan Michael USA Fireman 19 SCUBA Aged 46, Captain in the Sugarcreek Fire department (also dived for the Holmes County dive team) participating in an advanced diving class at the White Star Quarry in Gibsonburg, reported as showing signs of distress after 15 minutes into his second dive of the day, surfaced and called for help before he lost consciousness, recovered from about 61' water depth by fellow divers but pronounced dead at the scene. Firehouse.com news
  246. 2012 8 10 Martin Christopher USA SCUBA Aged 24, hired by Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando to retrieve golf balls. Two divers, but working solo in different locations. The other diver saw the diving tank floating on the surface but neither he or the Orange County Dive Team could locate the body. Body recovered late evening the day after. Presumbed drowned but no other details. Orlando Sentinel
  247. 2012 2 10 Marshall Erica USA KESMARC Chamber Aged 28, died in an explosion at the KESMARC (Kentucky Equine Sports Medicine And Rehabilitation Centre) Farm in Ocla. 12' diameter hyperbaric chamber built in 2009 by New Phase Construction used for treating horses with high ppO2. The horse from Virginia (Landmark's Legendary Affair, a 6 year old thoroughbred gelding), which was being being treated for tissue damage, was killed instantly. Two employees monitoring the horse said that about 22 minutes into the treatment, he became agitated and started to kick (conflicting statements as to whether the horse was sedated on this occasion, though it had received 4 or 5 treatments before without incident), they tried to activate an emergency decompression sequence but the horse had already kicked off a quarter inch thick protective coating. They saw a "massive spark inside the chamber and then flames", Ms Moneley left the panel to call the fire department, Ms Marshall began the decompression sequence. There was then an initial explosion followed by a much larger blast that blew debris 1,200 feet, ripped off part of the roof and the side walls. The horse's steel shoes were not taped or covered "As the chamber had an irremovable protective coating that makes it unecessary". Star Banner, Florida
  248. 2012 2 10 Moneley Sorcha USA KESMARC Chamber Aged 33, from Ireland, at the facility as an observor with an interest in taking the hyperbariv treatment technology to Europe, seriously injured in the same explosion that killed Erica Marshall, airlifted to Shands (University of Florida) for treatment (head trauma). KESMARC (Kentucky Equine Sports Medicine And Rehabilitation Centre) Farm in Ocla. 12' diameter hyperbaric chamber built in 2009 by New Phase Construction used for treating horses with high ppO2. The horse from Virginia (Landmark's Legendary Affair, a 6 year old thoroughbred gelding), which was being being treated for tissue damage, was killed instantly. Two employees monitoring the horse said that about 22 minutes into the treatment, he became agitated and started to kick (conflicting statements as to whether the horse was sedated on this occasion, though it had received 4 or 5 treatments before without incident), they tried to activate an emergency decompression sequence but the horse had already kicked off a quarter inch thick protective coating. They saw a "massive spark inside the chamber and then flames", Ms Moneley left the panel to call the fire department, Ms Marshall began the decompression sequence. There was an initial explosion followed by a much larger blast that blew debris 1,200 feet, ripped off part of the roof and the side walls. The horse's steel shoes were not taped or covered "As the chamber had a irremovable protective coating that makes it unecessary". Star Banner, Florida
  249. 2012 2 10 Sindad I or II Egypt Sinbad Submarine 3 German tourists, (parents and a child) drowned when a sight seeing tourist submarine working out of Hurgada (Tourist resort on the Red Sea Coast) struck a coral reef breaking a porthole leading to water ingress. 13 other tourists were rescued. Reported in the Gulf times and others. The submarine was either the Sinbad I or Sinbad II, built by Mobimar (Turku, Finland) to ABS standards, (No other details that I can find in the public domain, TC)
  250. 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.
  251. 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
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