Incidents List
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Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details -
1983 10 30 Bergersen Bjorn Giaever Norway Comex Houlder 0 Saturation Norwegian, aged 29. Drill rig "Byford Dolphin", Frigg field, explosive decompression of sat system when TUP clamp failed. No interlock, 5 fatalities -
1983 3 16 Pedersen Jarle Norway 7 Norwegian, aged 29, Seaway Falcon, umbilical drawn into stern thruster. -
1980 10 29 O'Sullivan Dermott Norway Oceaneering Diving from the "Sedco Phillips SS", Ekofisk, back injury -
1980 3 27 Rig 'Alexander Kielland' Norway Phillips Pentagon semi submersible, Ekofisk Field, flotel at Eddas. Sructural failure, capsised (alternative story that the rig was deliberately sabotaged with explosives), 123 fatalities. No divers onboard -
1978 2 7 Hoover David R Norway Taylor Diving and Salvage. Brown and Root 324 305 Saturation American, aged 28, hyperbaric weld demonstration from the Brown and Root Barge 324. Older sources quote O2 starvation (Gas mixer had low O2), no bailout (Warner), but the Norwegian authorities cited CO2 buid up, a 2003 report by the NSDA concluded (because of reports including bright red froth/blood on his lips) that the actual cause of death was a high ppO2 (16 bar), and that he had been put on 50/50 He/O2. -
1976 3 1 Rig 'Deep Sea Driller' Norway Semi Sub, drifted and grounded in a storm, 6 fatalities. -
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??? -
1975 2 6 Martin John Douglas Norway Ocean Systems 41 S/S Air British, aged 30. Stavanger Fjord, Condeep platform, reported as 'Lost/ditched helmet, insufficient training' No explanation', body never recovered, but he had 15 years experience. -
1974 10 15 Shields Gary Norway 72 Saturation British, aged 21. DSV "Oregis", Ekofisk pipeline, changed gas topsides, possibly lost/bad gas, entangled, did not use bale out, attempted to cut umbilical, asphyxia. -
1974 8 27 Kelly Peter Norway Northern Divers 91 Saturation British, aged 27. Got a slug of pure Helium on descent, wearing a full face mask, collapsed and died, bell partner (Danny Stockes) wearing a half mask which dislodged, survived. -
1974 8 27 Stockes Danny Norway Northern Divers 91 Saturation Ex Royal Marine Commando, got a slug of pure Helium on descent, knocked off half mask as he collapsed and survived, bell partner Peter Kelly, wearing a full face mask, died. -
1974 1 116 Skipnes Per Norway Ocean Systems 77 Saturation Norwegian, aged 37. "Drill Master", bell drop weights released, bell to surface with doors open, double fatality (Smythe). -
1974 1 16 Smythe Robert John Norway Ocean Systems 77 Saturation British, aged 38, Aged 38. "Drill Master", bell drop weights released, bell to surface with doors open, double fatality (Skipness) -
1971 3 0 Brushneen Michael George Norway Comex 61 S/S Mixed Gas British, aged 33. "Ocean Viking", Bell bounce dive in a new design (possibly untested and subsequently discontinued) constant volume suit, blew up from seabed, pulmonary barotrauma resulting in pneumothorax -
1971 2 1 Lally Thomas "Mick" Norway Comex 71 SCUBA British (Not, as widely reported, American), aged 32. Noted as the first of 55 North Sea fatalities between 1971 and 1984 by Jackie Warner, “Requiem for a diver� (He had no knowledge of RJ Lyons death in the Norwegian sector in 1967 or the double explosion fatality in 1970 off Great Yarmouth), "Ocean Viking", surface jump in a wetsuit (SCUBA with heliox), no bell, at end of dive partner Bjorn Lilleand shivering violently surfaced 5 minutes early from 3 metre stop, put in single person cage and recovered, Lally died, drowned on surface, reported 20 minute delay in recovering him from the sea, probable hypothermia -
1967 10 2 Lyons RJ Norway Sanford Brothers 67 S/S Air British, aged 23. Surface supplied dive to 67 metres from the Ocean Viking (NB Sandford brothers had the diving contract from July 1967 to january 1968 after which Comex took over). During water stops uncontrolled ascent to surface, pulmonary Barotrama leading to pneumothorax. JW, JL and PC -
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 -
2016 1 27 Birkland Sondre Norway AD Offshore SS/Air Aged 22, sucked into the bottom of a pontoon of the Transocean semi sub Henry Goodrich in the Westcom yard when a cement plug or cap lifted off the top of the pontoon as he was installing a blanking plate at the underside hull (IOGP Incident report 275) -
1976 8 10 Gohon Gerard North Sea Comex Topsides Caught his head between the bell and DDC during TUP, permanent paralysis. PC -
1988 12 15 Rig 'Rowan Gorilla I' North Atlantic Jack Up built by the Marathon LeTourneau yard at Vicksburg in 1983. Low levels of drilling activity and high maintenance costs led to the initial decision to move the rig from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Trinidad, West Indies. Lack of a contract led to the subsequent decision to move the rig in winter across the North Atlantic to North Sea area. The rig departed Halifax on 08 Dec 1988, towed by the M/V Smit London. On the morning of the 13 December, a storm to the south-west of the rig's position brought winds of 60 knots and waves over 40 feet. Over the following two days, the rig was battered by high seas resulting in some significant damage. Wind and wave action caused the legs of the rig to oscillate and transmit stresses to the supporting structures on the hull. This caused hull fractures to propogate and flood storage tanks in the rig's stern. The lowering of the rig's stern allowed the high seas to break over the deck, causing containers and other deck cargo to break loose and batter top-side hatches, creating more points of flooding. On top of this, the tow line, having suffered two days of abuse, broke and the Smit London could only stand by as the crew of the rig attempted to control the flooding situation. By 1000 on the morning of the 15th December, the captain of the Smit London noted that the rig was considerably heavier by the stern and, noting similarities with the sinking of the Dan Prince jack-up, warned the rig superintendent that the rig was in imminent danger of sinking. Around noon, a series of waves from 50 to 60 foot high hit the rig, dislodging the remaining loose cargo and causing the stern to hang under the seas. After consideration, the rig superintendent then ordered the crew to abandon the rig via the starboard lifeboat. At 1605, the Rowan Gorilla I rolled aft and capsized. Due to the state of the seas, the decision was made to leave the crew in the lifeboat until calmer weather arrived. On 16 Dec 1988, the crew were finally ferried via a Zodiac from the lifeboat to the Smit London, which returned to Halifax. About 6 weeks after the sinking, an inflated liferaft from the Rowan Gorilla I was recovered in the North Atlantic. The liferaft was assumed to be one of the two washed overboard from the main deck by the heavy sea. The immediate cause of the sinking of the Rowan Gorilla I was the uncontrolled flooding of an unknown number of the rig's internal spaces, causing the loss of positive buoyancy. One of the main contributory factors was the formation of fractures in the rig's hull, which flooded the preload tanks and the port thruster room and caused the rig to settle at the stern. These fractures were thought to have been the result of excessive leg oscillation, which imparted severe stresses onto the hull. Also contributing to the sinking was probable damage to hatches, tank vents and other through-deck fittings on the hull's topside, caused by equipment and deck cargo being broken loose by boarding seas. This damage led to numerous downflooding points on the main deck. US Coastguard Marine Casualty Report -
2013 5 26 Harrison Okene Nigeria West African Ventures (Subsidiary of Sea Trucks) 30 Topsides The Jacson 4 sank in heavy weather off Escravos during a tanker towing operation. The cook was found alive in an air pocket in the upside down wreck on the seabed in 30 or 35 msw by divers 82 hourds later. He was rescued by DCN divers and recovered to the saturation diving system, successfully decompressed (32 hours), bend watch and then flown ashore by helicopter to his family. Longstreath -
2013 5 26 Jacson 4 AHT Nigeria West African Ventures (Subsidiary of Sea Trucks) Topsides Tug, sank in heavy weather while towing a Chevron tanker off Escravos, Nigeria with the loss of 11 lives. One man, Okene Harrison, the cook, was found alive in an air pocket inside the hull 82 hours later and was rescued by divers. Longstreath -
2012 8 18 Olurunwa Nigeria Storm surge hit shanty cabins at the Kuramo Beach, Victoria Island early hours of Saturday morning, "So far, only the body of the local diver earlier found on Saturday has been identified. The local diver identified simply as Olurunwa lost his life in his attempt to save the drowning victims. Reported in the Vanguard -
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. -
2012 6 26 Not Recorded Nigeria S/S Air Diver from Ijar described as 'senior' with 25 years of experience working for a contractor out of Port Harcourt (Rivers State). Disappeared during salvage of a sunken dredger on the Ughelli River (Delta State). Reported as having reached the position of the sunken dredger then disappeared. Appears from photos to have been a surface supplied mobile/portable set up, but no details. The dredger was run by a contractor (Owned by the Hon Friday Onodjai, former chairman of of the Ughelli North Local Government council and one time member representinf Ughelli North in the Delta State house of Assembly) working for NDDC (Niger Delta Development Company) and sank on Monday 25th near the Amekpa junction 'while executing a project to open up the river'. Search for the diver continued Thursday 28th admist confrontation with the local Otor-iwhreko community trying to stop the search operation until after ceremonies to appease their Gods for defilement of the river by the dead diver. Riot controlled by the military. It was alleged that prior to the commencement of the dredging, some employees of the owner of the dredger had made some spiritual consultations and disclosed to Hon. Onodjai that there is the need to appease the gods of the river before the commencement of the project, a suggestion Onodjai allegedly refused with a wave of the hand saying that he is a Christian and that such insinuations are mere superstitious beliefs. However, a week after the commencement of the project, the dredger sank and in an attempt to recover it, divers were brought in from Port Harcourt. It was during the rescue of the dredger that one of the divers was discovered missing after he had gone into the water but failed to come out. Another report commented that prior to this incident, there have been a series of profitable excavating activities due to the high demand of white sand for construction activities in the area (So was this a publicly funded river widening operation or commercial sand extraction?) Reported by Urhobo Times/Vanguard. -
2012 3 22 Driifingr Ethan Nigeria DSIT SCUBA Israeli, aged 31, initially reported as installing a diver detection sonar system 'Aquashield' (Built in Israel, owned by an American corporaton, aimed at detecting swimmers, divers, diver delivery vehicles etc) in Lagos harbour and that he failed to surface, body recovered the day after, reported as drowned. Later reports say that he was involved in ship's husbandry (hull cleaning) and 'knocked his head under the hull and died' and that the body was found floating nearby. No confirmed details, Nigerian authorities were disuaded from doing an autopsy after intervention from the Israeli consulate and ZAKA (Autopsy is forbidden under Jewish law unless the procedure is deemed by a rabbinical expert to be 'specifically of life saving value'). Nigerian/Israeli News -
2011 5 25 Not recorded Nigeria Subsea 7 S/S Air Pipeline intervention in shallow water from the "Acergy Hawk", unbolting a pig receiver on a pipeline replacement project. Using air bags, as the pig receiver was freed from the pipeline end flange it rose to the full extent of the hold back line trapping the divers leg resulting in a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula. Although weaknesses were identified in the procedures and RA process, essentially this incidents highlights the risks of of using airbags in shallow water and near zero visibility where the rigging and airbag cannot be fully monitored. Source:- A good and well circulated Oil Company report -
2009 10 15 Woriki Johnson Nigeria Nigerian Navy diver SCUBA Paraphrased from reports:- “A Naval rating on board the new Navy gunship, NNS Zaria, stationed at the Escravos river in Warri South-West local government area of Delta State got drowned in the sea trying to recover the detached anchor of the gunship last Thursday. Informed sources told Vanguard that the rating, from Rivers State, was a diver and was well kitted before taking the plunge into the sea in a bid to retrieve the detached anchor of the new gunship and never surfaced again. His corpse only came afloat Saturday morning and was brought to the Warri Central Hospital morgue where his brother and some relations were on hand planning to take the body for burial immediately since he is a young man. Hospital sources confirmed the incident, just as security operatives kept mum. However, some officers were heard grumbling over why a "so-called new gunship would lose its anchor in so short a time," and also “bemoaning the untimely death of their fallen colleague�. Vanguard. -
2007 10 5 Ward David Nigeria Hydrodive Topsides Kidnapped in August on the way to work in Port Harcourt, held for 56 days until rescued during a raid on his captors base. Daily Telegraph, UK. -
2003 10 19 Stevns Power Nigeria Saipem Rolled over and sank during AHT operations in support of the Castoro Otto, All 11 crew died. -
1989 4 28 Rig 'Al Baz' Nigeria Sante Fe Jack Up, blow out, caught fire, burned and sank, 5 fatalities -
1988 5 24 Olsen Alan Nigeria Comex SCUBA First dive on an SBM. Competition between the divers ("The best diver is the first in the water"), pillar valve not fully opened and flow restricted, became short of air, made a rapid ascent in the well of a crude oil filled buoy but swam into a cross beam and lost his mouthpiece. Drowned. PC -
1980 1 17 Rig 'Sea Quest' Nigeria Texaco Three leg semi Submersible, built 1967 Harland and Wolff, Belfast as the Sedco 135C, made the first commercial oil find on the UKCS (Arbroath Field in 1969), drilled both Montrose and Forties Fields. Renamed Sea Quest, drilling off Warri, blow out, crew evacuated, caught fire, towed out to sea and scuttled in deep water. -
2011 2 9 Rodriguez Norlan Jose Vasquez Nicaragua SCUBA Aged 28, rescue drill training exercise from the vessel "La Novia del Xolotlan" in the port of Managua, came to the surface calling for help but submerged before they could get to him. Body recovered two days later. No details. Nicaraguan Press -
2010 12 8 Agustin Mike Nicaragua Alberto Woo SCUBA Diving off the fishing Vessel 'Marco Polo' for Lobster, they lost his bubble trail, diver disappeared/failed to surface, presumed dead. A few days earlier, another fishing vessel sank, the Captain was never found but two crew members got ashore. The search for the missing diver and Captain was abandoned after 5 days. laprensa.com. No other details. -
2010 12 2 White Danny Williams Nicaragua Pasenic SCUBA Aged 31, diving to retrieve two anchors from the fishing vessel “Lady Sylvia� owned by Pasenic (Nicaraguan Shellfish growers). Solo dive, 30 minutes into the dive was found by colleagues dead on the seabed between the two anchors. Medical examiner stated cause of death was a heart problem. Survived by wife, 3 year old son and 1 year old daughter. Had worked for Pasenic for 11 years. Reported by GPS Diving -
2014 12 22 Bermudez Morfy Alex Nicaragua Alberto Woo 25m SCUBA Honduran, lobster diving from the "Lady Di III" (Licensed to sail with 25, sailed with 24 but because several 'registered' divers did not turn up, sailed with additional unlisted crew including the deceased) out of Bilwi. Navy base personnel reported that he died of DCI as "like most lobstermen, the diver was working without the necessary stops" and there was no time to transfer him ashore to the recompression chamber at the New Dawn Bilwi Hospital.Reported to be the sixth lobster diver to die in the northern caribbean in the second half of this year. elnuevodiario.com.ni -
2008 4 1 Edwards Darryl New Zealand SCUBA New Zealander, aged 54. Wellington harbour, inspecting the hull of a commercial charter vessel he had just hired. Reported as natural causes (a heart attack). Not a commercial diver. -
2004 7 10 Davidson Robert New Zealand SCUBA Aged 35, recreational diver with 20 years experience, failed to surface from a solo crayfish collecting dive, death attributed to asphyxiation due to high carbon monoxide content in his cylinders -
1998 7 16 Ibrahim Lt. Cmmdr. Mohamed Arshad New Zealand Royal Malaysian Navy Malaysian Navy officer, aged 37, on a two year exchange training programme with the Royal New Zealand Navy, killed in a diving exercise at the Navy base in Auckland. No other details. Straits Times -
1975 0 0 Not Recorded New Zealand Oceaneering?? 168 ADS Observation dive (Bell at atmospheric pressure) off the semi-sub Penrod 74 off Southern New Zealand. Top ceiling port started leaking, divers tried to compensate by pressurising the bell but it flooded such that when they got it to the surface, it was too heavy to lift out of the water. Bell eventually recovered and divers put into the chamber for decompression. Diver 1 went for a shower, collapsed unconscious in the shower but was revived and pulled back into the main chamber. Diver 2 (who displayed no sypmptoms of DCI) then also went for a shower and was subsequently found dead. Dive site had no spare gas for chamber treatment and extra helium was sent overnight by high speed road convoy with police escort from Nelson to Invercargill (Bottom of South Island). That gas was only available because Ocean Systems had just come to New Zealand and had set up a base at Nelson (North end of South Island) to support diving operations off the drillship 'Glomar Tasman'. New Zealand Navy did an investigation and discovered the bell had only a single (inboard) viewport (as opposed to double ports with one external for accepting external differential pressure) and the 'O' ring had blown in. OK Dude/Longstreath -
1973 0 0 Not Recorded New Zealand Napier, Jetting Sledge rolled onto the diver. -
1972 10 25 Collett Clive New Zealand Divers fron Proctor Reclaim, NZ on contract to United Salvage Company of Melbourne Killed during diving operations cutting up the wreck of the ferry “Wahine� (Sank at the entrance to Wellington Harboure April 10 1968 by Cyclone 'Giselle' with the loss of 53 people), in an underwater explosion. � The Wahine was lying in the middle of Wellington Harbour and the Harbour Board ordered her removal. The original idea was that she would be pumped full of polyutherane foam and refloated intact. However during another storm on May 8th, 1969, the hull was broken into three pieces. The Salvage company decided then to break the wreck into 30-80 ton segments, which would then be lifted and carried ashore by the floating crane Hikitia. Most of the metal was sent to scrap mills in Auckland to be melted down in steel reinforcing for buildings. All the timber, plastic, fittings and furniture were disposed of at the Wellington rubbish dump. During the salvage, Mr Clive Collett was killed in an explosion while diving� PC -
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 -
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 -
1907 1 23 Harper New Zealand 41 S/S Air Off Aukland, attempting to recover gold from the wreck of the Eligamite. ""After three descents and securing 800 sovereigns, died suddenly", reported in the Camperdown Chronicle, Vic -
1878 6 27 Shervell Henry New Zealand "Henry Shervell, a diver, was committed for trial today for stealing guns from the wreck of the Ann Gambles" Evening Post, National Library of New Zealand. (The 'Ann Gambles' was an iron barque built in 1862 by Harrington and Williamson. She sailed from Gravesend in England in January, was lost in heavy weather at the entrance to Bluff Harbour on the 16th May 1878, the crew were all saved. An Inquiry suspended the master's certificate for six months after concluding that he had been reckless in attempting to enter the port at night without a pilot). -
1868 9 9 Burton Charles New Zealand 27 S/S Air Diving from the SS 'Lady Bird' assessing the wreck of the SS 'Taraniki'. Apparently entangled and Helmet came off, drowned. Excellent contemporary article of the fatality in the Wellington Independent and description of the subsequent salvage operation in Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961. The inquest (described in some detail in the Wellington Independent) 'was held at the Crown and Anchor Hotel before L. Boor Esq., Coroner, and a respectable jury', after mature deliberation, they gave the verdict "Accidental death by drowning whilst in performance of his duties as a diver at the wreck of the Taranki". After being submerged for over a year, she was refoated being towed into Wellington harbour by the 'Ladybird' on the first of October 1889. She finally ran aground and broke in half in November 1878 on Karewa Island with no loss of life -
2014 2 7 Porter Bruce New Zealand The Dive Spot 1m SCUBA Report in Maritime New Zealand dated 10 June 2015 “Whangarei diving company and co-director/skipper fined $75,000 after the death of diver. Reparations of $80,000 are also to be paid. The diver died after being struck by a propeller while on a diving trip to the Poor Knights Islands. Maritime New Zealand prosecuted the company and Mr Barnes under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure that no action or inaction at work caused harm to any person. The incident occurred after the anchor of the vessel “Pacific Hideaway” became snagged on the third dive of the trip. The diver was asked to dive down to unsnag the anchor, but a crewman on board the vessel then freed the anchor using the winch. The skipper believed Mr Porter understood there was no need to dive, but due to a miscommunication the diver entered the water and was struck by the propeller when the vessel’s engines were put into gear. Maritime New Zealand Deputy Director Lindsay Sturt said the tragic incident was entirely avoidable. The risk from propellers was not included in the vessel’s hazard register, nor was it mentioned in the briefing for divers on the day of the accident. In addition, the company did not have a clear system of communicating with divers about their entry into the water, nor did it have a clear policy that passenger divers were never asked to dive to free anchors. “Propeller strike is one of the key risks for those operating a dive operation and that risk must be managed through effective safety processes,” he said. “The consequences of having divers in the water when propellers are turning can be catastrophic, as they were in this case. Those operating commercial charter dive operations have an absolute responsibility to ensure they are operating safely. "That includes ensuring that recreational divers are fully briefed before they enter the water and that good communication is maintained at all times” -
2014 7 7 Porter Bruce New Zealand The Dive Spot 1m SCUBA Report in Maritime New Zealand dated 10 June 2015 “Whangarei diving company and co-director/skipper fined $75,000 after the death of diver. Reparations of $80,000 are also to be paid. The diver died after being struck by a propeller while on a diving trip to the Poor Knights Islands. Maritime New Zealand prosecuted the company and Mr Barnes under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure that no action or inaction at work caused harm to any person. The incident occurred after the anchor of the vessel “Pacific Hideaway” became snagged on the third dive of the trip. The diver was asked to dive down to unsnag the anchor, but a crewman on board the vessel then freed the anchor using the winch. The skipper believed Mr Porter understood there was no need to dive, but due to a miscommunication the diver entered the water and was struck by the propeller when the vessel’s engines were put into gear. Maritime New Zealand Deputy Director Lindsay Sturt said the tragic incident was entirely avoidable. The risk from propellers was not included in the vessel’s hazard register, nor was it mentioned in the briefing for divers on the day of the accident. In addition, the company did not have a clear system of communicating with divers about their entry into the water, nor did it have a clear policy that passenger divers were never asked to dive to free anchors. “Propeller strike is one of the key risks for those operating a dive operation and that risk must be managed through effective safety processes,” he said. “The consequences of having divers in the water when propellers are turning can be catastrophic, as they were in this case. Those operating commercial charter dive operations have an absolute responsibility to ensure they are operating safely. "That includes ensuring that recreational divers are fully briefed before they enter the water and that good communication is maintained at all times” -
1886 11 0 Not Recorded New Guinea "A party of pearl divers have been murdered at Johannes Island, near New Guinea. Six soldiers at Cairo, finding an unexploded shell, struck it with a hammer, causing a detonation..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the North Devon Journal/The British Newspaper Archive -
2011 6 19 Kruckenberg Kenny Netherlands Titan Topsides American aged 29, salvage diver. Killed on deck by a chain that parted under load during salvage operations on the wreck of the MV Vincs Gorthon. The Ministry of Waterways North Sea Division, part of the Dutch, Ministry of Waterways, awarded Titan the wreck removal project. The Vinca Gorthon lies approximately 29 kilometers off the Netherland coast at a depth of 24.5 meters in a shipping traffic lane. The vessel protruded 10 meters from the seabed and had become a danger to modern ships with a draft of 15 meters or more. The Vinca Gorthon weighed approximately 19,000 tonnes with cargo, and measured 166 meters long and 23 meters wide. The ship, which was laden with rolls of paper and tank trailers with paper pulp, was enroute from the Swedish port of Oskarshamn to Antwerp, Belgium when she sank. Sources:- Crowley and Dutch press -
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. -
2001 12 4 Cleugh Andrew Ross Netherlands 22 S/S Air British, aged 29, trapped underwater during a pipeline survey, trench wall collapse “caused by an earth tremor�, inquest in March 2006, drowned, no real details. -
1997 0 0 Not Recorded Netherlands S/S Air Umbilical snagged on lifting basket, tried to cut umbilical but prevented by steel comms cable -
1996 0 0 Noordhof Ellard Netherlands GB Diving 0 S/S Air Working off a jack up, umbilical caught on wellhead, asphyxiated on the surface -
1991 0 0 Black George Netherlands Comex 37 Saturation Bellman, 2 divers in the water, died of a heart attack in the bell. No details -
1990 0 0 Bonebaker Guus Netherlands GB Diving 5 S/S Air ETPM 1601, Dive basket on fixed rails, basket jammed during recovery, diver attempted to free it whilst surface pulled on lift wire, his head got trapped between cage/barge, broken neck -
1979 0 0 Not Recorded Netherlands 14 SCUBA Dutch diver, preparing to weld, just vanished. Not confirmed, just rumour. -
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 -
1975 2 6 Not Recorded Netherlands 14 Recorded on HSE database, but not in Dutch records -
2013 1 18 DSV "Hallin Penrith" Myanmar The DSV “Hallin Penrith� sank on the 18th of January after being holed on the evening of the 17th. Hallin stated that they were convening an internal enquiry with the assistance of 3rd party experts to establish exactly what happened. Notwithstanding the fact that the inquiry is still in progress to determine the full facts, it initially appears that Penrith hit an unchartered rock while going at 10Kts offshore Myanmar. At the time of the incident Penrith was contracted to support survey work connected with pipelay work offshore Myanmar. All 42 crew and client personnel abandoned ship to the life rafts initially, and were evacuated thereafter to the clients pipelay barge. There were no injuries to personnel other than 2 minor first aid cases suffered in the initial impact. The crew are in the process of being repatriated. Penrith is fully insured and whilst extremely regrettable, this incident will not unduly impact the company financially or put anyone’s job at risk. Longstreath<br />Update: It is understood that Hallin received a full insurance settlement after the incident. -
2017 6 22 Naung Ko Saw Myanmar An-na-wa 40m Aged 45, Salvage of a crashed Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) Y-8 (Chinese built (Shaanxi) four engine turboprop military transport plane) off Launglon Township (13 miles from Dawai). Removing nets from the tail and trying to locate the black box, at least two, possibly three successive dives with partner Ko Thant Zin Oo, surfaced and prepared to eat, Ko Saw Naung collapsed, Ko Thant Zin Oo paralysed legs/hands. 'Local villagers' took them both down to 60 feet, Ko Saw Naung recovered consciousness. Recovered to surface and both passed out, possibly 6 further attempts at in water treatment 'I recovered conscious, he did not' said Ko Thant Zin Oo. Taken ashore and given three further therapeutic treatments, Ko Thant Zin Oo recovered in hospital but Ko Saw Nauntg died. Reported in the Myanmar times -
2010 3 31 Casagrande Jean Christophe, known as 'Cox' Morocco Hydrokarst 53 SCUBA French (Albigensian) , aged 42, dive to recover a current metre at the site of the commercial freeport 'Tangier med 2000' at Ksar Sghir. Sub contract from SRPTM (Société Réalisation Port Tanger Méditerranée, a Saipem/Bougues company). Reported that his cylinders came to surface and he was found unconscious on the seabed, recovered to the surface by diver two, did not respond to treatment. Experienced diver, had been working with the same contractor since 2004. Engaged to be married. Ongoing investigation. PC plus Bladi.net and ladepeche.fr -
2011 9 25 Hussin Hazri Miri or Malaysia Allied Marine (AME) Surface Swimmer Aged 43, riser installation job from the vessel 'Mas Mulia' (Pipelay barge owned by Target Engineering). Diver acting as a surface swimmer, 11:12 PM (Night operation) installing a pneumo hose and cutting mooring lines in the splashzone. Was hit and submerged several times by 1 metre swell. On returning towards the dive basket was seen floating facedown on the surface, stand-by diver recovered him onboard, CPR was administered, flown to Miri hospital by helicopter but pronounced dead on arrival at 02:30. Borneo Post/PC Later (Longstreath website, April 2013!) reported as 'drowned' but no details or report. -
2008 2 29 Heng Hii Teck Miri Not Reported 13 SCUBA Aged 42, professional ship repair divers working under the hull of the "Bunga Kelana 6' five miles off Bintulu, entered water, failed to surface, SAR diver located bodies two days later on ship's water inlet grill, but failed to recover divers due to currents. -
2008 2 29 Jung Chew Kim Miri Not Reported 13 SCUBA Aged 37, professional ship repair divers working under the hull of the 'Bunga Kelana 6' five miles off Bintulu, entered water, failed to surface, SAR diver located bodies two days later on ship's water inlet grill, but failed to recover divers due to currents. -
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) -
2007 10 1 Nuestro Eddie Middle East Global subtec Diver fatality, Philippino, approx 60 years old. At 20' stop, difficulty breathing, chest pains, St/By jumped, diver brought to surface and decompressed in DDC. Possible heart attack. -
2005 7 19 Atanassov Atanas Middle East FDI Saturation Bulgarian, onboard the "Gulmar Falcon", End of bell run, Heart attack. Discovered to be on medication for high blood pressure. -
1985 0 0 Kirkpatrick Jock Middle East McDermott 15 Saturation Paraphrased from a personal communication (Names removed and some of the more acrimonious details moderated or removed - apologies to all, but one has to be circumspect with some of this stuff, TC ):- “Sub Sea had seconded 6 welder divers to McDermotts for a job in the Red Sea off the DB 27. At the time of the incident, the AODC was debating the issue of a minimum of 2% O2 in the base gas, McDermott disagreed with it, one reason was "It will be difficult for the LST to calculate blow down", the job was an air sat weld at around 15 - 21 msw, the industry had just started using air sat's then, air being cheaper than Heliox, base gas was pure N2. The dive panel was an “in-house� built very small dive/sat panel. One of the chambers wasn't being used, so the take off was being used to flow gas to the welding habitat to keep the water out. During the dive (Air sat, so as usual at the time, the attitude of "Oh its only an air dive, don't need to analyze the divers gas", and the analyzer was either turned off or not even installed. One of the chambers had lost a few FSW, so the dive sup reached over, turned off the air supply to the sat panel which was supplying air to the habitat, turned on the N2, which was chamber make up, made up, and put air back on. Unbeknown to all at the time, the sat panel and dive panel had no check valves installed, N2 around 200 psi, air around 150 psi, (either way, the N2 to the sat panel was higher than the air to the dive panel), N2 tracked over to the dive panel, down to the diver, and zap, diver passed out from being given pure nitrogen. Initially not knowing what had happened, they were going to jump the bell man, (who was on same gas supply). Fortunately, before he donned his mask the bellman saw the diver underneath the bell and pulled him in, but he failed to respond to treatment. After the fatality, a SSOL safety rep was mobilized to the job in to carry out an investigation, (because of the 6 SSOL divers in sat). The panel designer/builder also arrived on site with a dive tech, SSOL told the dive tech to disconnect the line connecting both panels, and the crew to mix up the N2 base gas to around 9% to give a PPO2 of around 210 mbs at the working depth, (Think it was around 50 fsw). This was done, but as the investigation team was departing they noticed that the dive tech had connected the pipe up again, when he was asked why, he said "Well it hasn't happened before, and will probably not happen again.............." There were rumours that the dive supervisors were reluctant to sign off the dive logs and reports that showed the fatality was due to pure N2. -
1965 0 0 Burgill Chris Middle East Taylor Diving? Died in the Persian Gulf when his umbilical snagged on the ladder as he jumped off the barge' OD -
2012 5 17 Cancino Manuel Gomez Gonzalo Mexico SCUBA Aged 28, poaching for sea cucumber 22 miles off Progreso (Yucatan) with two companions off a 25' boat. Inexperienced, probably did not use decompression stops, died before he got to hospital. Autopsy stated death due to decompression illness. Progresohoy.com -
2012 5 4 Dzul Felix Jesus Canul Mexico Fisherman SCUBA Commercial sea Cucumber fishing out of Puerto Chicxulub (Yucatan Penninsula), reported chest pains, taken ashore died in hospital (CMA - Centro Medico de las Americas in Merida). Reported as death due to decompression illness. Progresohoy.com -
2012 4 22 Sprout Brad Robert Mexico Global Diving and Salvage American, aged 29, Working a DP DSV ('Captain Tale'?off Cuidad del Carmen, may have been an umbilical in thruste/lost gas incident, no other details -
2012 2 24 Amando Hugo Villajuana Mexico SCUBA Aged 36 from Puerta Chuburna, wife and four children. First diver to die in the official - on the second day - of the Sea Cucumber season, harvesting operation onboard the 25 foot long "VMCM 5" working 20 miles out of Celestun (Yucatan Penninsula). Accident ocurred at 13:00, admitted to hospiral in Celustan at 16:00, declared dead at 17:30. Reported as due to DCI, depth initially reported as 'cinco brazas '(5 fathoms or 30 feet) but later corrected as 12 fathoms (60 feet). No other details. Reported by Por Esto -
2012 2 2 Amaro Canche Victor Mexico Aged 43, sea cucumber harvesting out of Puerto Chicxulub 'out of season' (Fishing season opens on the 22nd February), no permit, boat 'Dumbos' not registered, reported as the first fisherman/diver to die in 2012, came ashore, felt unwell, taken to the American medical centre, but declared dead, apparently died of DCI related injuries, may have cut short decompression stops to shorten dive/avoid detection by Naval patrol boat. SIPSE.COM Yucatan -
2011 12 22 Diaz Jose Mexico Fisherman Aged 33, from the town of Timucuy, diving off the vessel "Golfo II" (Gulf II), lobster fising operation out of Yucalpeten, 15:00 hours, Captain of the boat radiod ashore to tell the port authorities that the diver had drowned. No details. Progresohoy.com -
2011 9 2 Cardenas Jose Jesus Mendoza Mexico SCUBA Aged 34 from Puerto Libertad, living in El Desemboque (Caborca), clam diving off a boat owned by Germain Marin Guzman some 3 km off the beach, surfaced and complained of chest pains, died before he got to hospital. La Policiaca -
2011 8 22 Soto Luis Enriques Cabrales Mexico SCUBA Aged 30 from Guaymas, living in El Desemboque (Caborca), clam diver 'decompression illness'. La Policiaca -
2011 8 12 Alonso Roberto Lopez Moroyoqui Mexico SCUBA Aged 17, living in Colonia Nueva Penasco, possibly his first trip as a working clam diver, diving 10 km off La Cholla, ill when surfaced, transferred to the Penasco hyperbaric centre, reported as having died of 'severe decompression sickness type 2' Nuevodia.com.mx -
2011 8 4 Cordova Gabriel Humberto Delgadillo Mexico SCUBA Aged 24, clam diving off La Cholla, Puerta Penasca. Reported as 'lost his life by drowning' in 'Los canales de la Choya' (The La Choya Channels). No details. Reported by La Policaca -
2011 7 19 Banaga Carlos Lucero Mexico Baja Acuafarm Aged 42, decompression incident onboard the vessel Buenaventura II 25 miles off the island of Coronado, evacuated by helicopter to the Ensenada Naval hyperbaric centre, successfully treated and discharged. Mexican Press -
2011 7 15 Martinez Edgar Saul Reyes Mexico SCUBA Aged 22 from Hermosillo, Colonia Oriente, clam diver, died at Puerta Penasco on La Cholla beach. No details. Reported in La Policiaca -
2011 5 25 Chavez Angel Lopez Mexico Construcciones Mare Aged 29, diving at the Ensada Marine Terminal. Reports indicate that the Federal Department of Labour laumched an investigation following an accident that was hidden from the authorities and that at that time the construction company had not allowed inspectors from the Ministry to enter the site (Companies are required to notify the authorities within 72 hours, the accident happened on the 25th May and apparently as of 4th August - the date of the report - authorities had neither been informed nor allowed access to the site). Autopsy listed causes of death as due to rib and spine injuries, lacerations to the chest, Accident occurred during cutting operations, injuries caused by a falling metal bar hitting the diver in the chest. No other details. AFN/Ensenada.net etc -
2011 5 15 Palma Miguel Angel Cupul Mexico 15 SCUBA Aged 60, 25 miles offshore from Merida (Yucatan penninsula) collecting sea cucumber, rescued alive and taken ashore for treatment but died. Causes reported as cerebral anoxia/acute decompression illness. Reported by Sipse.com -
2011 5 14 Cetz Joshua Mexico Aged 37, sea cucumber harvesting off Celustun from the vessel 'Dick Tracy', transferred to chamber ashore but died. Reported as the third diver to die of DCI this season (which finished on the 15th May). Reported by Por Esto -
2011 4 19 Enriques Jesus "Chuy" Mexico 9 Aged 28 from Holbrox, Quintana Roo, sea cucumber harvesting 24 miles off Celustan, died underwater at about 14:00 hours. No details. Reported by Sipse.com -
2011 1 5 Flores Alvaro Hernandez Mexico Aged 28, diving under the fishing boat 'Joisafco III' that had run aground near a packing plant assessing hull damage and preparing to refloat the vessel. The Captain started the engines and the rotating propeller immediately sliced off the diver's left arm. His brother on deck reached in to try to pull the diver out but the propeller dragged him under and inflicted a fatal cut to the throat that virtually decapitated him. Fire department divers recovered the body and severed arm. Reported by Hoy Tamaulipas.net -
2010 8 9 Castro Antonio Romero Mexico Almeja Caterina 36 S/S Air Paraphrased from press reports:- “Aged 47 years (or 50 years, depending on report), from Cuidad Constitucion, scallop diver working out of Ensenada Blanca at the Magdalena Bay Complex, went home after work, felt ill, went to the Port of San Carlos hyperbaric centre. A health official in the hyperbaric chamber located in the port said that it must report that this unfortunate diver did not die in the hyperbaric chamber as previously reported due to lack of oxygen and much less about the lack of timely patient care but to the seriousness of the symptoms caused by severe decompression, this being the cause of death, according to the opinion of the medical examiner who performed the autopsy. Cause of death listed as 'inadequate decompression, decompression illness, massive pulmonary thrombosis and oedema' It was stated that prior to the this person had been working for 4 hours at 30 meters when the compressor stopped. Dive related to the fishing industry of the municipality of Comondu. No other details. Reported by Peninsulardigital.com -
2010 8 4 Not Recorded Luis Mexico Rubi Munoz Chan Aged 25 from Seibaplaya, Campeche, diving for sea cucumber off the Rubi V as one of a three man crew. Vessel returned to port at 11:30 with his body, press commented on poor equipment and lack of knowledge of diving, but no details. Second diver to die in 15 days (Luis Torres. 22nd July) Reported by Yucatanalamano.com -
2010 7 22 Torres Luis Martin Cohuo Mexico From Celestun but resident in Hunucma, wife and two children aged 14 and 7, shellfish diver, died in a decompression incident. No details. Reported by Yucatanalamano.com -
2010 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. -
2008 11 14 Cordoba Cayetano Mexico Potable Water Inspection (Canadian contractor) Aged 43, one of two divers (With Manolo Diaz) who went into the three metre diameter Cutzamala fresh water pipeline system, suffocated and swept away by the water. Bodies (and those of the two resuce divers) recovered two days later. "There was no intentional homicide in the death of the divers who technically died of lack of breathable air" - they entered the confined space without using diving gear. Quadruple fatality. El Siglo de Torreon.com.mx -
2008 11 14 Diaz Manolo Mexico Potable Water Inspection (Canadian contractor) Aged 45, one of two divers (With Cayetano Cordoba) who went into the three metre diameter Cutzamala fresh water pipeline system, suffocated and swept away by the water. Bodies (and those of the two resuce divers) recovered two days later. "There was no intentional homicide in the death of the divers who technically died of lack of breathable air" - they entered the confined space without using diving gear. Quadruple fatality. El Siglo de Torreon.com.mx -
2008 11 14 Hernandez Raciel Mexico Potable Water Inspection (Canadian contractor) Aged 36, one of two rescue divers (with Juan Camal Yan) who went into the three metre diameter Cutzamala fresh water pipeline system to rescue two divers who had gone missing earlier in the day (Cayetano Cordoba and Manolo Diaz) , like the divers they were trying to rescue, they suffocated and were swept away by the water. All four bodies were recovered two days later. "There was no intentional homicide in the death of the divers who technically died of lack of breathable air"" - they entered the confined space without using diving gear. Quadruple fatality. El Siglo de Torreon.com.mx.com.mx -
2008 11 14 Yan Juan Camal Mexico Potable Water Inspection (Canadian contractor) Aged 36, one of two rescue divers (with Raciel Hernandez) who went into the three metre diameter Cutzamala fresh water pipeline system to rescue two divers who had gone missing earlier in the day (Cayetano Cordoba and Manolo Diaz) , like the divers they were trying to rescue, they suffocated and were swept away by the water. All four bodies were recovered two days later. "There was no intentional homicide in the death of the divers who technically died of lack of breathable air" - they entered the confined space without using diving gear. Quadruple fatality. El Siglo de Torreon.com.mx.com.mx -
2007 12 29 Ernesto Silva Olguin Mexico Pemex Aged 35, Diving off the drilling rig 'Pride California' -
2007 10 23 Rig 'Usumacinta' Mexico PEMEX Jack Up, drilling well KAB-103 in the Bay of Campeche, caught in a storm, rig moved hitting a producing christmas ttree, blow out, major hydrocarbon release. 22 fatalities. Investigation has not been made public, speculation that the rig suffereda structural or jacking mechanism failure. -
1993 0 0 Silva Jose Luis Mexico A diver died while cleaning storm drains in Mexico City in 1994, clearing a blockage which suddenly gave way, drowned. Reported in an interview in 2004 with Julio Cuc, one of the founder divers with the permanent Mexico city sewer diving team formed in 1982, article in UK Guardian. Futher reported as�Silva was killed after he dislodged a tire that was blocking a floodgate west of the city. Like a stopper removed from a bathtub, the sudden suction of the free-flowing water pulled Silva through a small opening in the dam. His co-workers found his battered body more than a mile downstream.� Los Angeles Times -
1987 10 10 Rig 'Yum II / Zapoteca Mexico PEMEX Jack Up, driling in the Bay of Campeche, blow out -
1986 9 0 Rig 'Zacateca' Mexico Perforadora Co Jack Up. Sank -
1985 12 15 DSV Huichol II, ex Kattenturm Mexico Condux, a subsidiary of Protexa, working for Pemex Sank in a storm off Cuidad del Carmem inside a Pemex exploration block. 27+, 32 or 33 fatalities out of POB of 71. Rumoured to have sunk with 4 (Oceaneering?) divers in saturation, unclear if other dive team members perished. Salvage operations started 4 days after the vesel sank, the wreck was lifted by the crane barge 'Tolteca' and 21 bodies recovered during February 1986, vessel was partially lifted and then re-sunk in shallow water outside the Pemex exploration block. Lawyers were still arguing with the insurers about the (incompetent) salvage costs 7 years later. The vessel was built in 1966 as the 'Kattenturm', one of eleven '2500' class supply vessels, fitted with a ASK (Honeywell) DP system (with a single bow thruster) and saturation diving system designed by Hans Keller with a unique 'egg shaped' diving bell in 1976. US court of appeals records -
1985 12 15 Not Recorded Mexico Saturation One of four Mexican divers reported as being in saturation when the Huichol II sank in a storm off Cuidad del Carmen, bodies possibly recovered during salvage operations in February. -
1979 8 15 Anderson Allan Mexico Taylor Diving and Salvage 50 Saturation American, aged 32, "Ixtox I" blow-out 3rd of June, Bay of Campeche, Mexico, Drill rig "Sedco 135F" sank. Diver died during attempts to shut in the well, off the barge "LB Meaders", caught in vortex at wellhead and blown to the surface. Well finally capped 23/3/1980, second biggest oil-spill in history. Wife and two children aged 11 and 7. -
1979 6 3 Rig 'SF 135' Mexico PEMEX Three leg semi-submersible. Drilling on IXTOC 1, blow out, major oil release, rig sank. Diver Allan Andersion died on the 15th August during attempts to shut in the well. Well was finally capped 23/3/1980 -
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. -
0 0 0 Witherow David Mexico American, head injuries during spoolpiece lifting operation -
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 -
2021 8 4 Aguilar Torres Ruben Mexico Arendal Diving off the Jacson 34, initially reported as 'an accident on an oiltanker' and 'bursting of a pipeline caused the death' but no real details. The same contractor (Arendal) had a previous fatalty in 2019 (Adolfo Leon Carrillo) Reported in social media (Facebook) and Tabascohoy.com -
1896 12 26 Hobbs RN Mediterranean Navy "Death of a Naval Diver. News has been received from HMS Anson (Pre-deadnought battleship commissioned 1889, broken up in 1909 on Mediterranean Station that leading shipwright Hobbs, of that vessel, while diving for a lost anchor..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Worcester Journa/The British Newspaper Archive -
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 -
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. -
1953 7 10 Not Recorded Malta RN Chamber Four Naval ratings, 3 British and 1 Indian, killed in a explosion in the decompression chamber of the 1440 ton RFA Salvage vessel 'Sea Salvor' during diver training whilst in Valetta harbour. A fifth Naval rating died a day later. No Details, but believed to be the same incident reported by Sheffield and Desautels in which 5 people died . The Glasgow Herald -
1953 7 10 Not Recorded Malta RN 52 Chamber Paraphrased from paper:- “Within 2 minutes of commencing pressurisation an unprotected 100 Watt bulb imploded at between 5 and 6 bara (!34-170 fsw) and incandescent ignited the canvas floor. The five occupants unsuccessfully trued to stamp out several small fires which rapidly spread to the wooden floor and benches. Within 1 minute flames engulfed the chamber and the pressure rose to 9.2 bara (265 fsw). The chamber was surfaced 5 minutes into the dive and when opened flames came out of the open doorway requitring extingushing by fire hose. Within 6 hours all 5 occupants had expired from their 90-100% total body surface area burns�. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. -
1941 7 26 Tesei Major Teseo Malta Military Submarine Italian human torpedo attack on Valletta harbour resulted in the death of one of the co-founders (With Major Elios Toschi) of the human torpedo unit of the Italian Navy (1 Flottiglia Mezzi d'Assalto) founded in 1938, re-organised in 1940 as the Decima Flottiglia MAS (10th light Flotilla of Assault Craft). -
1908 9 0 Not Recorded Malta Navy S/S Air DIVER FALLS ASLEEP. An extraordinary story of a diver falling asleep underwater is reported from Malta. Some time ago when the battle ship Dreadnought was there, one of her seamen divers went below to clear her propeller of some flotsam but failed to come to the surface again. Signals by telephone and lifeline were sent to him without avail, and when some brushes and other things came to the surface it was feared that the man was dead. Another diver was then sent below, and found the other man asleep seated comfortably upon one of the giant propeller blades. Reported in The Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal, NSW -
1902 8 20 Not Recorded Malta Military S/S Air "A diver's death. How a missing torpedo cost a life. A few days ago, HMS Barham (Third class cruiser launched in 1899, scrapped in 1914) was at torpedo practice outside the harbour at Malta.." . No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Angus evening Post/The British Newspaper Archive -
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 -
2015 2 28 Vella Patrick Malta SalpaSub SCUBA Married, three children. "A 36-year-old diver from Zejtun, died in an accident at Palumbo Shipyards this morning. A spokesman for Palumbo said the company called SalpaSub for assistance when it noticed that a drydock was taking much longer than usual to be emptied. When Mr Vella, a director of SalpaSub, arrived, he dived to see what was wrong but did not return to the surface. This was around 11.45am. Palumbo called for assistance and a search was launched by members of the Civil Protection Department and the Armed Forces. Mr Vella, a marine biologist, was eventually brought up by the AFM and taken to Mater Dei Hospital, where he died soon after. An inquiry is being held. Five divers conducted the search for the missing worker and eventually found him stuck in a gate valve. It has not yet been confirmed how he ended up there, but sources have suggested that somebody who wasn't aware of the diver's presence opened a valve, consequently pulling him into the hole with a great force. A Palumbo spokesman on Saturday denied reports that the diver had been sucked in by the water pressure, saying there was no such mechanism. Sources told this newspaper the diver was called in to measure the diameter of a defective valve whose diameter was about that of a bucket". Reported by the Times of Malta -
2008 5 22 Rudakov Roman Maldives Touring Maldives SCUBA Russian tourist, aged 41, diving off the “Baani Adventurer� died from contaminated air (reported as 150ppm CO in his tank), 9 others ill with 80ppm CO in their tanks. Complaints from previous day and requests to change filter ignored (cheap none-CO absorbing filter fitted on compressor), Medical O2 cylinder onboard dive boat was empty. -
2012 10 18 Lyng Stig Erik Malaysia Fugro Topsides Norwegian, aged 53, servicing a tsunami warning metocean (Fugro Oceanor Wavescan) buoy off Sipadan from the MV Pendamar. Buoy lifted onto deck for maintenance after two years in the water. The last of 16 bolts holding an access lid was rusted so IP used an angle grinder. The internal atmoshere had been contaminated by gases from the batteries, resulting in an explosion which caused the lid to hit him causing fatal injuries. Reported by the Sun (Malaysia). IMCA SF 5/13 issued April 4th 2013. with detailed eport. NB Buoy manuals did highlight danger and required purging prior to access (Not done on this occassion). Procedures modified and explosion potential warning signs now used on the buoys (Similar to those already used by NOAA on their buoys) -
2012 1 11 Not Recorded Malaysia Rumoured that two divers were killed on a job in Malaysia but no details, not confirmed (Longstreath) -
2009 6 16 Hassan Alabi Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department SCUBA Aged 41, working for the Setiu Fire and Rescue Department, part of a team undertaking a search for a missing person who had fallen from a boat into lake Kenyir. Entangled in the branches of a submerged tree, drowned. Body recovered by colleagues some 7 hours later. Inference is no comms/lifeline. Wife and three children awarded 25,635RM (£4,400) compensation.. -
2008 8 30 Not Recorded Malaysia DOF 55 Saturation DSV Geosea, relocating spoolpiece with air bags, uncontrolled lift of spoolpiece dragged diver 2 from 55m to 36m, lost comms/video, both divers locked back in, OK, no holdbacks on liftbags. -
2007 9 0 Kok Damien Tan Yee Malaysia Master Tech 30 S/S Air Singaporean, Cable lay, relocating dredge, KM18 band mask, suspected band mask off, possible head injuries, Trained by Singaporean Navy, inadequate equipment, inadequate team size, no quals, 'supervisor' qualified as trainee supervisor only. -
2007 6 1 Henderson Phil Malaysia Sarku Topsides Australian Diving Supervisor on the Shell Chartered DSV Sarku Clementine, passed away offshore, natural causes, (possible heart attack). -
2000 5 19 Harun Mohd Nor Malaysia Fire and Rescue Services SCUBA Paraphrased from the newspaper report:- “Another diver from the Fire and Rescue Services Department's scuba diving unit disappeared this morning during a search operation for a colleague who had gone missing since Monday around the waters of Pulau Lalang and Pulau Saga. The diver, identified as Mohd Nor Harun, in his 40s, is feared to have suffered a similar fate as his colleague, Idris Ahmad, 36. Idris was believed to have drowned while clearing the waters of discarded fishing nets. A police spokesman said the incident occurred about 11.30am today when the diver failed to surface for a break. His body was found by fisherman 3 days later. 40 divers were taking part in the search. Another diver became unconscious during the search and was admitted to the armed forces hospital at the Lumut naval base�. Reported in the New Straits Times -
2000 5 16 Ahmad Idris Malaysia Fire and Rescue Services SCUBA Paraphrased from the newspaper report:- “Another diver from the Fire and Rescue Services Department's scuba diving unit disappeared this morning during a search operation for a colleague who had gone missing since Monday around the waters of Pulau Lalang and Pulau Saga. The diver, identified as Mohd Nor Harun, in his 40s, is feared to have suffered a similar fate as his colleague, Idris Ahmad, 36. Idris was believed to have drowned while clearing the waters of discarded fishing nets. A police spokesman said the incident occurred about 11.30am today when the diver failed to surface for a break. His body was found by fisherman 3 days later. 40 divers were taking part in the search. Another diver became unconscious during the search and was admitted to the armed forces hospital at the Lumut naval base�. Reported in the New Straits Times -
1996 5 27 Loveday Julian Malaysia Aged 30 or 31, diver on the Pergau hydroelectric dam project at Kelantan, drowned during leak repair operations two weeks before he was due to be married (Not clear whether he fell off the barge or was killed in an underwater accident). No other details. Straits Times -
1985 0 0 Yacob Samsi bin Malaysia BUE Malaysia SCUBA Diving off the DB Thor (8 point anchored crane barge, built 1972 from a 20-year-old vessel (The ‘Veedol’ built 1955) which was cut in half (The stern section was converted to a bulk oil carrier). Its old bow was towed to Rotterdam and used as the basis for a new vessel, ‘WS Thor’, IMO No 8626898, launched in 1974, a diving support derrick pontoon for operation in the North Sea. It was fitted out with, among other things, a diving bell, compression chambers, and pile-driving hammers. In 1982 she was renamed the DB Thor, in 1989 she became the McDermott DB 52, final fate of the vessel is not known ). The diver had swum a line under the barge and was being recovered to deck in a diving basket when it was hit by the swell and he fell out. He had used the line as a lifeline during his swim but had tied it off to the basket. Body never recovered. PC -
1983 10 30 Not Recorded Malaysia Pearl diver Topsides Japanese pear diver working a vessel 30 km off Semporna, Sabah. The vessel was attacked by pirates, he was shot dead, two other divers were injured. Straits Times -
1947 4 21 Saman Mat Malaysia Penang, Reported as "Dived to free a rope which had been entangled and he asked for the ship's engines to be restarted. A few moments later the water was red with blood". At the inquest 'the theory was advanced that he was killed by the ship's propellor when trying to free a rope' Straits Times -
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" -
2021 8 3 Lazaroo Calvin Patrick Malaysia SCUBA Aged 27, diving with three others to salvage a boat off Sungai Besar, trying to tie a line to it and went missing. Body still with diving gear found floating on surface on the 8th of August about 9km SW of Sungai Besar. Reported in Maysian Press -
2011 3 31 van Delft Anton Lybia Aged 62, dive team leader working for Zwaytina Zwaytina Oil Company near Ajdabiyah. With two diving companions stayed on site rather than evacuating during the civil war. Compound was raided/looted by government supporters, detained two days, all three escaped to Benghazi. Reported that most of his medicines were lost/confiscated, rationed himself but suffered seizures and died of 'epilepsy'. Reported by Nu.nl -
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. -
2012 4 22 Abu Khalil Hussein Ahmad Lebanon 50 SCUBA Aged 42, head of the Environment and Development department and the Marine Exploration Department, diving off the village of Qleileh, Tyre, inspecting a seafloor project designed to increase fish numbers. His body was located by a Navy SAR team the day after. Reported as having died of a heart attack. Dailystar.com.lb -
1985 6 15 Stethem Robert Dean Lebanon USN Topsides Aged 24, US Navy construction diver with the Seabees. TWA Flight 847 was on its way from Athens to Rome when it was hijacked by Shiite Muslims sympathetic to the Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s leader at the time. The US Navy Seabee team was returning to the U.S. after a training mission in Egypt. When the plane landed in Beirut, Navy diver Robert Stethem was shot and killed, his body dumped on the tarmac.The Commander and five Navy divers were held captive for 17 days in Beirut, Lebanon. -
1893 6 22 Kavanagh Lebanon Military "The lost battleship" (Collision between HMS Camperdown and HMS Victoria which sank in 13 minutes near Tripoli with the loss of 358 crew. Appears that divers were involved in trying to close watertight doors on the Camperdown - which survived the collision. "Diver Kavanagh was drowned while engaged in cutting off the dress (Loaded with lead) of…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Coventry Evening Telegraph/The British Newspaper Archive -
2017 1 5 Vazquez Tojeiro Jesus Ramon La Alcaidesa. San Roque. Cadiz. Spain 80m SCUBA Commercial diver 50 years old born in El Ferrol. La Coruna. Spain. Father of two with more of 26 years of diving experience. On Thursday 5th January 2017 at 11:20 a.m. emergency service number 112 received a call informing that the diver had not emerged from a solo red coral collecting dive after descending around 09:50 a.m. Actuation of Guardia Civil, Salvamento Maritimo and private companies with two ROV without success with poor weather conditions hindering the recovery operation . After several days SAR, on Saturday 14th January at 12:30pm the body was found in 80 m.s.w. and recovered by ROV at 14:30 then transported to the port of Sotogrande. Diver was using SCUBA on air. -
2010 2 8 Not Recorded Kuwait Quote from the Arab Times “An Egyptian diver in his 40s died while doing maintenance work on a huge gate in Al-Zour, reports Alam Alyawm daily�. However, the Al-Seyassah daily said �The diver fell off a boat and drowned. The corpse was fished out of the waters by divers from the Coast Guard� No details though this potentially conflicting description brings to mind a significant reporting issue in that I have heard several unofficial rumours that diver fatalities are regularly being reported as 'sailor in the sea, drowned' rather than 'diver killed at work' – a rather convenient tactic for avoiding investigations, bad press and awkward questions. (Though for 'half a story', the events on the pearler 'Dart' off Australia reported in December 1895 take some beating!) .............................TC -
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 -
2014 4 30 Rupping Luke Kuwait Mammoet Joined SA Navy 2003, went to diving school in Simonstown in 2004, joined the Operational Diving Team (ODT), went back to the Diving School as an Assistant Facilitator in 2004, qualified as supervisor 2007. Left the Navy in 2008 and started commercial diving. Reported as killed in a broco/underwater cutting incident, possibly a salvage job. No other details. -
2004 3 15 Bennett John Korea 45 SCUBA Trimix salvage operation -
2005 3 30 Not Recorded Kiribati Aged 29 “A diver died in Suva last night after he was airlifted from Kiribati with a serious decompression illness. He worked for a diving business owned by a former Kiribati diplomat on the island of Tabiteuea Meang.� No details -
2015 2 3 Kinuthia Francis Kinuthia Kenya SAR diver SCUBA The body of a Kenyan diver who drowned in Kiambere Dam has been recovered after a four-day search. Francis Kinuthia Kinuthia's body was seen floating on Friday. The 52-year-old, who was based in Kamburu Dam, drowned last Tuesday. He had accompanied other divers to search for the body of 19-year-old Patrick Njue. Njue drowned in the dam while fishing on February 1. His body was recovered last Wednesday. Mbeere South police boss Mathew Ekakoro said Kinuthia's body was taken to Embu Level Five Hospital mortuary. He said the deaths were unfortunate. Ekakoro urged fishermen and residents living near the dam to be careful when carrying out their activities. He urged them not to sit on the banks of the dams or allow children to play in the area as it is infested with crocodiles. The Star/AllAfrica -
2009 8 30 Not Recorded Kazakhstan Kazair Services SAR exercise Basic details reported as an air rescue exercise in which three local divers were dropped into the water from a Helicopter. A body has now been found with the life jacket uninflated. The recovery crew pulled the jacket inflation on recovering the body and it functioned correctly. Additional, but as yet unconfirmed reports, indicated that Kazair services employed three divers from a local diving contractor who were deployed from the helicopter, that a vessel in the area decided it was a good opportunity to launch its FRC during the exercise.(Not planned) and it was that FRC which recovered the second diver (it is assumed the first diver was recovered by helicopter), the third diver disappeared under the water and his helicopter lifejacket failed to inflate. Personal communication, TC -
2012 3 17 Shiotsuki Mitsui Japan SCUBA Aged 45, one of three divers (with Saturo Yuge and Taizo Yokoyama) who died on the same dive, removing submerged concrete blocks from a marine farm off Tsukumi in Oita Prefecture. The three entered the water at 09:30, located unconscious underwater at 10:00, all apparently with empty tanks. Coastguard suspect faulty procedures and awaiting autopsy reports. The Japan Times online -
2012 3 17 Yokoyama Taizo Japan SCUBA Aged 45, one of three divers (with Mitsui Shiotsuke and Saturo Yuge) who died on the same dive, removing submerged concrete blocks from a marine farm off Tsukumi in Oita Prefecture. The three entered the water at 09:30, located unconscious underwater at 10:00, all apparently with empty tanks. Coastguard suspect faulty procedures and awaiting autopsy reports. The Japan Times online -
2012 3 17 Yuge Saturo Japan SCUBA Aged 45, one of three divers (with Mitsui Shiotsuki and Taizo Yokoyama) who died on the same dive, removing submerged concrete blocks from a marine farm off Tsukumi in Oita Prefecture. The three entered the water at 09:30, located unconscious underwater at 10:00, all apparently with empty tanks. Coastguard suspect faulty procedures and awaiting autopsy reports. The Japan Times online -
2010 8 5 Not Recorded Japan SCUBA Japaneses, aged 58, a diving instructor giving tourists a diving lesson off Koki Beach in Nago, standing barefoot in shallow water at 9 a.m. stung by a stonefish. Suddenly felt a sharp pain on the bottom of his left foot and quickly lost consciousness. Another instructor at the beach provided first aid but the victim stopped breathing before an ambulance arrived later died. A spokesman for the Okinawa Health Department’s pharmaceutical team said this was the first reported death caused by the venomous fish in 27 years. Reported in Stars and Stripes (Big American forces base in the Area). Sports SCUBA, but professional instructor and at work. -
2005 7 4 Yamashita Takahiro Japan Scientist SCUBA Aged 30, Research scientist (Marine invertebrates) at the University of Tokyo, taking water samples, failed to surface, searchers located his body on the seabed. University of Tokyo report -
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) -
2001 5 5 Draughon USN Mathew Japan USN S/S Air American Navy diver aged 21, diving off USS "Safeguard", salvage of crashed F-16, early hours of the morning, strong currents, hoses wrapped around anchor chains, helmet off, body washed up on beach a month later, 'drowned due to accident', second diver, Bryan Gordon was rescued safely. Navy criticised vessel leadership for not taking account of fatigue, deteriorating weather conditions and poor risk management procedures. estripes.com -
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 -
1996 0 0 Not Recorded Japan Chamber e patient Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. -
1993 0 0 Not Recorded Japan Chamber Clinical chamber (Hospital) fire, first of 4 (the others were in 1967, 1989 and 1996) in Japan caused by patients taking butane or chemical hand warmers into the hyperbaric O2 rich environment. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. -
1992 3 8 Harada Kazuta Japan 22 S/S Air Aged 41, professional diver was collecting the pen shell Atrina pedinata, (Japanese name Tairagigai), at a depth of 22 m about 2.3 km offshore of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. At about 15 : 20 he was attacked by a large shark, and only a severely damaged diving suit and helmet were recovered. The right half of the trunk and right leg of the suit were torn off. A rescue rope and a rubber radio cable, both of which connected the diver to a support boat were severed, but the diver's air tube remained intact. The diver's body was not recovered, nor was a shark captured that might have perpetrated the attack, despite extensive fishing efforts by local fishermen. A small piece of a broken shark tooth was recovered from the rubber surrounding the neck of the diving suit. The tooth fragment contained two large serrations of about 0.85 mm in width. The suit's steel shoulder protector had a single hole (6 mm X 3 mm), penetrated by a shark tooth. The edge of the hole showed regular minute undulations, and the cut surfaces on the rubber and the cable had minute parallel streaks, both apparently made by the serrations of shark teeth. Tracing of the scratches and cuts on the shoulder protector and back part of the diving suit made it possible to estimate a jaw size of about 40 cm in width, suggesting a very large shark. The water temperature was low about 11.6°C, at 20 m depth at a nearby locality. These facts support the contention that the shark involved in this incident was a white shark of about 5 m in total length. Shark attacks in Japanese waters were investigated, and at least sixteen shark attacks on people and boats were recognized. Reported in the Japan. J. Ichthyol, 40(1): 35-42, 1993 by Kazuhiro Nakaya -
1989 0 0 Not Recorded Japan Chamber Clinical chamber (Hospital) fire, one of 4 (the others were in 1967, 1993 and 1996) in Japan caused by patients taking butane or chemical hand warmers into the hyperbaric O2 rich environment. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. -
1980 3 8 Uehara Tadeo Japan Aged 36, Japanese prawn diver from Naha (Okinawa) died after a one metre long needlfish stabbed him in the neck "It was attracted by his light". The same press report notes that a fisherman on nearby Ishigaki Island was killed when a needlefish stabbed him in the chest in September 1979. Reuters -
1979 0 0 Not Recorded Japan Chamber Clinical chamber (Hospital) fire, one patient killed, 6 bystanders injured when a patient lit a cigarette inside a chamber during HPBO treatment. The unconscious pateient was placed inside the chamber when the operator was persuaded to proceed quickly by anxious friends of the patient. When the patient regained consciousness he attempted to light a cigarette causing a fire and explosion that killed him and injured 6 bystanders. How the fire escaped the chamber is not reported. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. -
1974 0 0 Not Recorded Japan 10 Saturation Two Japanese divers divers died in a bell fire caused by an electrical short circuit in the internal wiring, deaths due to a combination of O2 depletion and toxic fumes. The system designer committed suicide, Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164 -
1970 0 0 Not Recorded Japan Chamber Diver died in a fire caused by a 300W elecric light lamp inside the chamber igniting matress and blanket. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. -
1967 0 0 Not Recorded Japan Chamber Clinical chamber (Hospital) fire, first of 4 (the others were in 1989, 1993 and 1996) in Japan caused by patients taking butane or chemical hand warmers into the hyperbaric O2 rich environment. The patient was 20 minutes into his third HBO2 treatment at 1,7 bara (25 fsw equivalent) with about 50% O2 in the chamber. The nurse saw a flame start at the abdomen before it engulfed the entire chamber. The fire was initiated by the patient igniting a butane hand warmer. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. -
1950 5 7 Otari Keichi Japan Topsides Hiroshima. Diver aged 48, found a Torpedo. He hit it with a hammer and it exploded killing him and 7 others. No real details. Reported in the New York Times. -
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 -
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 -
2007 4 1 Campbell Joseph Jamaica SCUBA Aged 35, found with extensive head wounds along with rope/tools. Speculation that he may have been attaching cannabis container to a cargo ship (Smuggling) . Severe head injuries compatible with propeller impact. At least three civilian commercial divers contracted by vessel operators to search hulls for contraband prior to departure have been murdered, searches now conducted by security services. Reported in the Jamaica Observer -
2000 10 31 Lubsey Carl Jamaica Police Topsides One of two specialist divers who searched for drugs under the hulls of ships killed within two weeks of each other (The other was Donovan Henry, killed 14th October), was probably slain because he turned down bribes for several million dollars, according to police sources. According to reports, several attempts had been made to bribe Carl Lubsey but that he'd refused the offers. The police reported that at about 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, October 31, Mr. Lubsey was on his way to Rocky Point to check the ship Orlent River II, which had been docked at the Rocky Point Port, Clarendon, to collect alumina. Police reports at the time said Lubsey was driving his Nissan pick-up on the Rocky Point Pier Road when a grey car drove up behind him. Occupants in the car opened fire hitting him and he lost control of his vehicle which crashed. The gunmen came out of the car and opened fire again, hitting him all over his body. He died on the spot. 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) said hat while both cases were being investigated, the lawmen were yet to effect an arrest. The Jamaica Gleaner -
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. -
1862 12 19 Barrett Lucas Jamaica S/S Air English, Aged 25, The first director of Geological Survey of Jamaica. He used mollusc shells for fossil dating, Started collecting living shells underwater from the Port Royal Cays, south of Kingston Harbour. On his second dive collecting shells on a reef, closed air valve and inflated suit to surface, floated to surface some distance from his boat, dead before brought ashore. J B S Haldane suggested that this rapid ascent was the cause of death due to a pulmonary air embolism ('the bends'). A shell, now in the natural history museum in London, found on his body is one of only two known specimens of a smooth shelled micromorphic brachiopod 'Argyrotheca woodardiana'. -
2000 2 3 Not Recorded Ivory Coast Kenyan Navy 47 SCUBA Kenyan Navy diver died during body recovery operations on the crash site of Kenyan Airways airbus, 310, flight KQ 431 to Lagos, that crashed into the sea 2 miles off Abijan after take off , 169 died, 10 survivors. -
2013 4 26 Tejedar Felix Italy Titan Topsides Philipino diver aged 54, one of the team working on salving the liner 'Costa Concordia' (Ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012, found dead in his shower. Apparently had not dived in the previous three days and police were not linking his death with his work. Gazzetta del Sud -
2012 4 19 Simonini Lt. Vincent Italy Italian Navy Aged 37, Italian Navy diver working at the helicopter base at Luni (La Spezia), assisting in pool based helicopter ditching/evacuation training. Unconscious in the water, treated by medics on site but failed to respond to treatment. Reported as 'cardiac arrest'. Italian Press reports. -
2012 2 23 Cappanera Daniele Italy 41 South Energy SCUBA Aged 41, doing maintenance work on an experimental tidal measurement buoy a mile offshore from Punta Righini (Castiglioncello, Livorno). Saw his colleague (Francis Vezzani) motionless on the seabed (at 'several 10s of metres deep') and went down to recover him, brought to the surface but colleague was pronounced dead when they reached port. Daniele Cappanera was taken to Pisa hyperbaric centre for treatment (suspected DCI). La Republica -
2012 2 23 Vezzani Francis Italy 40 South Energy SCUBA Aged 38, doing maintenance work on an experimental wave measurement buoy a mile offshore from Punta Righini (Castiglioncello, Livorno). Seen motionless on the seabed (at 'several 10s of metres deep') by his colleague (Daniele Cappanera) and brought to the surface but was pronounced dead when they reached port. Daniele Cappanera was taken to Pisa hyperbaric centre for treatment (suspected DCI). La Republica -
2011 4 27 Baumgartner Ottavio Italy Arte sub (La Specia) 4 S/S Air Aged 21, Edipower plant at Sermide near Mantova in Northern Italy. Cleaning water inlet grill. Scubapro full face mask, bailout, wet suit, air hose and communications line (but no strength line, video or pneumo). Reported that topsides heard his breathing rate rise, could not pull him out and put in the stand-by. After a 5 to 7 minute delay, the diver was found with his mask off. Did not respond to treatment. Three man team, IDSA qualification early 2010, water inlet from the river Po. PC and Gazzetta di Mantova -
2010 7 29 Dobrajc Ziga Italy 4 Rebreather Aged 31, Slovenian biologist working at the Piran Marine Biology centre, diving on a 'Trieste HBY' rebreather off Miramar, injured in the same incident that killed Samo Alajbegovich on the 25th July. He was recovered from the sea unconscious by rescuers 10 metres from the shore in less than 4 metres of water. On life support in hospital for 4 days, declared brain dead, life support switched off. Reported in Slowwwenia.enaa.com -
2010 7 25 Alajbegovich Samo Italy 7 Rebreather Aged 41, Slovenian biologist working at the Piran Marine Biology centre, diving on a 'Trieste HDT' rebreather off Miramar, body located in 7 metres of water 200 metres from the beach location where his diving partner, Ziga Dorajc was pulled alive, but unconscious (He subsequently died in hospital), from the water 4 hours earlier. Reported in Slowwwenia.enaa.com -
2010 6 19 Nasca Michele Italy Aged 57, 7 o'clock in the morning, snorkel diving with his brother to collect seafood near a pier near in the town of Zapponeta (Foggia, Italian East Coast north of Bari), sucked into into the 1 metre diameter inlet of a pump 2.5 metres below sea level (grill may have been faulty) supplying salt water to the 'Margherita di Savona' natural salt drying pans. Reported as 'shredded' by the impeller which was located only 30cm from the entrance. Apparently there was a sign prohibiting swimming in the area at the head of the pier, but not on the beach either side of it. A local fisherman was reported as saying that many years ago another spear fisherman had died at the same place in the same manner. Reported by Stato quotidiano -
2010 5 25 Costa Dr. Paolo Italy 107 Rebreather Aged 60, dive team of 4 people filming for Rai 3 programme "Geo and Geo" on Sardinia (Oliena, Nuoro) in an underwater spring (Su Gologone). Reported as becoming ill (Heart attack) during the ascent, failed to respond to treatment. A companion who assisted him up was treated for omitted decompression. Vip.it -
2010 1 4 Renou Simon Italy Fireman 1 Paraphrased from Italian Press Reports:- “ROME - a diver was trapped underwater while working on the maintenance at the dam Castel Jubilee to the north of the capital, where he was working to unlock one of the four sluices which had been raised to drain the high water from recent heavy rains and had not closed completely His diving partner immediately gave the alarm and have started relief operations. 
Attempts to rescue the diver were made difficult by the water pressure that passes through the slot of the lock, pinning him against t. e wall. Initial rescue attempt failed and a rescue diver from the fire brigade went in with a rescue rope which he secured to the cylinder harness and the diver was successfully pulled to the surface (Hospitalised with hypothermia, but recovered). As the working diver was recovered, the fireman disappeared from sight (the torrent was rising) in a cascade of logs/debris. He was eventually recovered by pulling on his surface line. Might have been sucked into a suction pump that was put into operation to lower the water level or simply hit by debris. “Something had ripped off the mask and his face was cyanotic and blood was pouring from his nose." working diver might have had surface supply (he had comms and a lifeline, Fireman appears to have been on a lifeline but might have been on SCUBA gear. Reported in 'La Repubblica' -
2009 6 8 Popov Andrei Vasilii Italy SCUBA Aged 28, Bulgarian, diving off a Spanish flagged commercial coral harvesting vessel 28 miles West of the Island of Marettimo (off Sicily). "Plunged into the sea and never resurfaced. The prosecutor's office of the Sicilian town of Trapani has ordered that an investigation is conducted into the disappearance". No details -
2008 12 9 Cuppini Alexander Italy SCUBA Aged 47 years died, maintenance of the Enel dam in San Pellegrino. Contractor prosecuted - diver had no medical, there was no risk assessment, there were no emergency procedures, inadequate diver training, diving equipment in poor state of repair and maintenance (using non-original parts that caused the failure of the regulator's first stage, dirt inside the first stage restricting gas flow) No back up equipment, no communications, no stand-by diver. Cause of death put down to a combination of “hypothermia and respiratory distress with accumulation of carbon dioxide." He appears to have died before anybody on the surface realised he had a problem. Reported in L'Eco di Bergamo.it -
2008 6 19 Nasca Michele Italy SCUBA Paraphrased from various press reports- “An amateur diver aged 57 diving with his brother 'died after coming into contact with the suction pump connected to a dock.' ' The body, horribly mutilated, and was recovered by police divers.' 'The judiciary is investigating the hypothesis that there is no protection grill on the turbine plant.' -
2004 7 27 Londo Luigi Italy Geomar 14 Rebreather 34 year old, off Trieste, three divers together off a small boat free swimming clearing pipeline outlet, died during the dive -
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 -
2002 6 25 Jelasi Cristiano Italy Tecnosub 80 SCUBA Aged 25, off the island of Capri (Thyrrenian Sea), diving in SCUBA to 80 metres, alone, off a small boat to cut ropes off a recently installed water pipeline prior to trenching operations. Died in the water -
2002 6 19 Leoni Helga Italy Marine Consulting 25 S/S Air 33 year old female NDT diver, daughter of the owner of the diving company. DSV "Palinuro II" diving on/near the Agostino B platform. No stand-by diver. Engine "mistakenly" started, Umbilical caught in propellor. -
2000 10 25 Benvenuto Francesco Italy Barracuda 0 SCUBA Italian aged 32. Workshop in Genoa harbour, charging SCUBA cylinders, explosion, killed by facial impact from fitting/valve. Fitting with incorrect thread screwed into cylinder -
1992 1 2 Tortorella Franco Italy Drafin Sub 55 SCUBA Italian, aged 43. Ligurian Sea (off Genoa), off a small boat with a partner inspecting (plus cleaning and fishing!) a loading facility. Died during ascent. Unisuit too small, clear signs of haemorrhage on neck and top of shoulder. -
1975 8 2 Boulay Serge Italy Comex Topsides Oilfield diving. Oxygen transfer inside a container on deck of the Glomar V, O2 leakage, possibly exacerbated by dust, flash fire. Hot weather, three crew were only wearing shorts. Died in hospital. Triple fatality (with Philipe Salvatori and Noel Shneider ). PC -
1975 8 2 Salvatori Philipe Italy Comex Topsides Oilfield diving. Oxygen transfer inside a container on deck, O2 leakage, possibly exacerbated by dust, flash fire. Hot weather, three crew were only wearing shorts. Died in hospital. Triple fatality (with Noel Shneider and Serge Boulay). PC -
1975 8 2 Schneider Noel Italy Comex Topsides Oilfield diving. Oxygen transfer inside a container on deck, O2 leakage, possibly exacerbated by dust, flash fire. Hot weather, three crew were only wearing shorts. Died in hospital. Triple fatality (with Philipe Salvatori and Serge Boulay). PC -
1971 3 26 Pasquier Jean Pierre Italy Comex SCUBA Oilfield dive. Breathing 50/50 during decompression stops, hyperoxia, drowned. PC -
1965 9 9 Rig 'Saipem Paguro' Italy Saipem Jack Up, Drilling off Ravena, blowout, destroyed by fire -
1950 7 1 del Cargo Marcisco Italy Chamber "Two deep sea divers were burned to death in a decompression chamber at Bari, Italy. The two divers had just entered the chamber when the fire broke out. By the time attendant had got the doors open, the two men were dead" The Milwaukee Journal -
1950 7 1 Palazzi Angelo Italy Chamber "Two deep sea divers were burned to death in a decompression chamber at Bari, Italy. The two divers had just entered the chamber when the fire broke out. By the time attendant had got the doors open, the two men were dead" The Milwaukee Journal -
1936 0 0 Italian Navy Italy Submarine Italian Navy testing diver controlled "Chariot" torpedo/mine systems -
1931 6 16 Not Recorded Italy S/S Air "Diver drowned locating wartime submarine" "Milan, June 16, A diver attempting to verify the reported location of an Australian submarine lost in war time at Porto Recanati (South of Ancona, Italian Adriatic Coast), he located the vessel but was suffocated on his third descent". Reported in the Townsville Daily Bulletin, Queensland. -
1927 6 7 Not Recorded Italy Military S/S Air "..Diver suffocated, arrest follows tragedy of torpedo search, Rome Tuesday. An under sea tragedy is reported in a message from Fiume today...." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Bristol Mercury/The British Newspaper Archive -
1909 9 16 Not Recorded Italy S/S Air "Delayed Dynamite Explosion causes death of three daring men". Ravenna, Italy, Dynamite placed to destroy old masonry in the harbour failed to explode, divers descended to investigate. The charges then exploded, killing three of them. Warsaw Daily Times (Warsaw, Indiana) -
2014 2 1 Moreno Franco Israel Italy UCS 10m Spanish, from La Coruna, aged 41. Working on the salvage of the Costa Concordia (Sank off the island of Grigio in January 2912 with the loss of 32 people), subcontracted to Titan, the main salvors, Metal brace being cut off fell on hin crushing his chest and gashing his groin, trapping, brought to surface by fellow diver, apparently still concious but later died of blood loss. Reported in 'The Province', Associated Press and Reuters -
2009 12 7 Azoulay Sgt. Gal Israel Naval Commando 3 Rebreather Aged 19. Night training dive for Israeli Naval Commando, simulation of combat dive in enemy port. “The dive was a group exercise, carried out in pairs, simulating a combat dive at an enemy port. The divers had completed similar exercises dozens of times since the beginning of the course. The exercise was supervised by Navy commandos on boats as well as on the beach, and an ambulance and a medic were standing by. The dive was supposed to last two or three hours, and each diver was to take turns being the lead diver. Some 90 minutes after the dive began (Around 02:00), when Azoulay became lead diver, he stopped responding to the routine once-a-minute check. When his partner realized that he was not responding, he carried him to the surface and fired a flare gun to mark their location. Within seconds, a boat arrived and Azoulay was given CPR. He was pronounced dead on shore 40 minutes later.' investigation by Israeli Defence Force concluded that he died from oxygen poisoning. One press reports that this was the first fatal accident in training for the unit since 1995, another states that an 18 year old soldier from the same unit was killed during a training exercise designed to “test underwater breathing about three years ago� Jerusalem Post -
2003 3 24 Riani Avishai Israel Ardag Fish Farm SCUBA Aged 42, dive team leader at the Ardag Fish Farm in Eilat where had worked for the previous 10 years. Around 9 o'clock in the evening in a storm, 20 -25 knot winds, 3 metre seas, went with one other diver went out to repair a seawater inlet pie (supplying fresh seawater to land based fish breeding tanks). Onshore team noticed his body floating on the surface and pulled him ashore but were unable to revive him. No obvious injuries, no details. -
1998 2 18 Not Recorded Israel Israeli Navy SCUBA One of two divers roped together conducting a mine search under an Israeli cargo vessel, the Zim Adriatic, in Haifa Bay. Reported as being “sucked into one of the ship's propellers, which had been mysteriously turned on�. -
1998 0 0 Levi Sgt. Yuval Israel IDF SCUBA “12 years ago, the unit suffered personal tragedy caused by exactly this type of an incident. Sgt. Yuval Levi (dec.), who at the time was a diver in the unit, went with his partner on a routine mission to check a merchant vessel which has requested to anchor in the Haifa port. After descending into the water, the vessel activated its propellers, and Sgt. Levi was killed. His partner in the mission was saved� Quoted in an IDF article in August 2020 -
1996 12 4 Engel Yair Israel Navy SCUBA OC Navy has appointed an inquiry committee to determine the cause of the mysterious deaths in a routine training exercise of two IDF frogmen, whose bodies were found yesterday in Haifa Bay 16 hours after they went missing. The two, First-Sgt. Matan Polibuda, 20, from Mevasseret Zion and First-Sgt. Yair Engel, 19, from Kibbutz Ramat Rahel, were veterans of dozens of dives. They were approaching promotion to they were 16 months in the unit and approaching their graduation into the elite Shayetet 13 underwater commando battalion -
1996 12 4 Polibuda Matan Israel Navy SCUBA OC Navy has appointed an inquiry committee to determine the cause of the mysterious deaths in a routine training exercise of two IDF frogmen, whose bodies were found yesterday in Haifa Bay 16 hours after they went missing. The two, First-Sgt. Matan Polibuda, 20, from Mevasseret Zion and First-Sgt. Yair Engel, 19, from Kibbutz Ramat Rahel, were veterans of dozens of dives. They were approaching promotion to they were 16 months in the unit and approaching their graduation into the elite Shayetet 13 underwater commando battalion -
1995 1 0 Kimche Israel SCUBA Israeli commando training dive, lost contact with partner, body recovered the day after, reported as “human error�, Jerusalem Times -
1995 0 0 Not Recorded Israel Naval Commando Sgt Gal Azoulay, aged 19, died during a training dive for Israeli Naval Commando in December 2009 (Simulation of combat dive in enemy port) Reported at the time as the first fatal accident in training for the unit since 1995 but can find no details of the 1995 accident in the public domain, details needed, TC -
1970 5 15 Not Recorded Israel Military Elath, salvage operations on a Naval Axillary Vessel sank three months earlier in an attack 'by underwater raiders' One diver killed, three others injured in an explosion reported as being due to a mine planted by Egyptian frogman on the worksite. No other details. St. Petersburg Times -
2018 8 28 Hamdan Mohammed Nasrallah Israel Nahshon Marine Construction SSDE Mohammed Hamdan, 33 years old Majd al-Krum, was killed today (Tuesday) in a diving accident site construction work on the new port of Haifa. Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated him to Rambam Hospital in the city, where he was pronounced dead. As far as is known, he was injured while operating underwater pumping equipment. The Hof police station reported: "At the center of 100, a report was received about a resident of the Galilee who was injured - apparently during underwater work when he operated equipment that he had in his possession. Researchers from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Transport were summoned. " Ronen Keren, CEO of Nahshon Underwater Works, said he still did not know the exact details of the incident under investigation: "What can be said at the moment is condolences to the family of the worker who was killed," he said. Mohammed Nasrallah Hamdan, 33, from Majd al-Krum in the Galilee, was survived by a wife and two young children, aged 6 and 4. Google Translate from: https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5336729,00.html and https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5338011,00.html -
2005 12 1 O'Conner Billy Ireland SCUBA Irish, aged 51, searching the wreck of the FV “Rising Sun� (Sank 29/11/2005) for the body of Skipper on behalf of his family, after dive, at 6 metre stop, disappeared. Body recovered some days later by Navy/Guarda dive team. Drowned. Reported by RTE news -
2004 7 3 Byrne Damien Ireland North East Diving Services Irish, aged 24 died after he became entangled in lines during a salvage operation on a sailing yacht that sank over the weekend in Dublin Bay. Sunday, three man salvage crew, only one experienced in salvage operations. On arrival at site, they did not anchor over the yacht as the owners were afraid that it could damage the yacht. This meant the dive boat was not firmly anchored and drifted some distance from the dive site. Straps and lifting bags were attached to the yacht in preparation for raising it. After discovering one of the lifting bags would not inflate, it was decided to abandon the operation for the night. However, after consultation with the owners, it was decided to deflate the bags in case the yacht would drift and damage its hull. Mr Byrne dived again at 8.05pm and sometime later it was noticed that no bubbles from his air tank were visible on the surface. Diver 3 dived at 8.15 pm. He was low on air so he had to come up before freeing Mr Byrne from the lines. After he was rescued, first aid was administered to Mr Byrne on the dive boat before he was transferred to hospital where he died later that day. €25k fine imposed on the diving company and €20k on the company's director (Who was out of country at the time of the accident) who pleaded guilty to not having adequate safety equipment during the dive. Diving Company closed down. -
1979 0 0 Not Recorded Ireland Smit Paraphrased from Wikipedia. The Betelgeuse incident, also known as the Betelgeuse or Whiddy Island disaster, occurred on 8 January 1979, at around 1:00 am., when the oil tanker 'Betelgeuse' exploded in West Cork at the offshore jetty of the Whiddy Island Oil Terminal, due to the failure of the ship's structure during an operation to discharge its cargo of oil. The explosion and resulting fire claimed the lives of 50 people (42 French nationals, 7 Irish nationals and 1 United Kingdom national). Only 27 bodies were recovered. A further fatality occurred during the salvage operation with the loss of a Dutch diver. The salvage firm raised the Betelgeuse in four sections. The first section (the bow) was towed out to open water, 100 miles offshore, and scuttled. This measure attracted protests from the fishing community, so two further sections were sealed up and towed to breaking yards in Spain for disposal. A fourth section was broken up locally. During the salvage operation, the life of a diver was lost. The last section was not removed until July 1980. Local fishing grounds were badly contaminated and a clean-up was not finally complete until 1983. -
1974 12 2 Keane David Ireland 81 British, aged 17. Umbilical severed by bell movement, did not use his bale out, asphyxia/drowning -
1881 9 1 Duggan Walter? Ireland S/S Air Reported Tuesday 30th August and Thursday 1st September, but death probably occurred Saturday previously. Diver was 'engaged in examining the mooring tackle of the lightship off Daunts rock south of Queenstown.....". "Diver died from exhaustion in a harbour , made three descents from the Trinity steamer 'Alert' and on coming up the last time…." "Died in most distressing circumstances" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Portsmouth Evening News/Aberdeen Evening Express/Cornishman/The British Newspaper Archive -
2011 11 1 Not Recorded Iraq Leighton S/S Air Diver off the 'Leighton Eclipse' recovered to deck after suffering a leg injury (required knee surgery) from a crushing incident with a DMA whilst working in black water, transferred to hospital ashore for treatment. In a separate incident, dive team DMTs were called in to assist with a deck hand on a tug who suffered a near full leg amputation working wires in rough weather (Reported that the DMT reached into the wound, pulled out the artery and tied a knot in it, an action the Kuwait hospital confirmed as having saved his life). Longstreath. -
2007 4 6 Billiter, USN Gregory J Iraq US Navy Topsides Aged 36, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, based at Whidbey Island, Washington. Killed in the same incident were two other divers, Petty Officer Joseph McSween, 26, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho, the Defense Department said. The three were specialists in identifying explosive materials and disarming them. Military Times -
2007 4 6 Hall, USN Curtis R Iraq US Navy Topsides Aged 22, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, based at Whidbey Island, Washington. Killed in the same incident were two other divers, Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky., and Petty Officer Joseph McSween, 26, the Defense Department said. The three were specialists in identifying explosive materials and disarming them. Military Times -
2007 4 6 McSween,USN Joseph Adam Iraq US Navy Topsides Aged 26, He was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, based at Whidbey Island, Washington. Survived by wife and two daughters aged 5 and 2. Also killed in the same incident were two other divers, Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky., and Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho, the Defense Department said. The three were specialists in identifying explosive materials and disarming them. Military Times -
2006 12 3 English Captain Shawn Iraq US Army Topsides Aged 35, killed by a roadside bomb. Bbased in Panama City Beach, Florida, where he lived with his wife and three sons. An Army diver who had been stationed in Iraq helping to train Iraqi Army officers -
2003 7 21 Rudorf Peter Iraq Subsurface Engineering 14 British, aged 25, clearing routes for vessels in the port of Umm Qasr, reported as "taken ill during diving", Inquest was held in the UK. No details. -
1983 0 0 Not Recorded Iraq 90 S/S Mixed Gas Inland dam diving operation, at altitude, using semi closed, surface supplied mixed gas (trimix) with comms line (No video). Client rep wanted to inspect work carried our by divers, he was only qualified to 60 metres (max air range under French regs), he was not familiar with equipment or depth. Lost control of breathing equipment during descent, was rescued and put in on-site DDC but failed to respond to treatment. PC -
2013 1 28 South Pars, Phase 13 Iran SADRA 80 40 million USD platform wieghing 1,850 tons being installed in the South Pars field (Phase 13) sank on site in 80 metres water depth leaving people in the water (video clip), no reported casualties. Reuters -
2011 10 20 Chandra Iran Adsun Offshore Diving Contractors 70 Saturation Dive team ET onboard the DSV Koosha that sank during sat diving operations in the South Pars gas field, killed during the evacuation -
2011 10 20 Dabbas Rajesh Iran Adsun Offshore Diving Contractors 70 Saturation DSV Koosha I, built 1982 in Australia (By Carrington Slipays as the 'Lady Sonia') owned by Darya Koosh, Iranian marine contractor, POB 73, 60 survivors, 6 divers in sat plus 7 others lost when ship sank off Lavan Island in the South Pars field 15 miles off the Iranian coast during pipeline installation operations around 17:30 hours on Thursday 20th October in bad weather. Rumoured to be a 4 man portable sat system with additional chamber to make it 6 man but only a 4 man HRC. Ship was loaded with two cement silos for grouting operations. One silo broke loose in rough weather and slid across deck causing list, this caused a gas rack to follow, increasing list. Sat control van broke off and fell overboard followed by second silo, holds flooded (hatches open) including all below decks compartments. Sank in mnutes. Believed storage depth was 64 metres, sank in 70 metres water depth. DSV 'Providence' on site the morning after, they recovered the bodies from the wreck three days after the sinking. Sat system flooded. Details to be added following investigation. UK Telegraph, Iranian press, PC -
2011 10 20 DSV Koosha I Iran Adsun Offshore Diving Contractors 70 DSV Koosha I, built 1982 in Australia (By Carrington Slipways as the 'Lady Sonia') owned by Darya Koosh, Iranian marine contractor, POB 73, 60 survivors, 6 divers in sat died plus 7 others lost when ship sank off Lavan Island in the South Pars field 15 miles off the Iranian coast during pipeline installation operations around 17:30 hours on Thursday 20th October in bad weather. Rumoured to be a 4 man portable sat system with additional chamber to make it 6 man but only a 4 man HRC. Ship was loaded with two cement silos for grouting operations. One silo broke loose in rough weather and slid across deck causing list, this caused a gas rack to follow, increasing list. Sat control van broke off and fell overboard followed by second silo breaking loose, holds flooded (hatches open) including all below decks compartments. Sank in mnutes. Believed storage depth was 64 metres, sank in 70 metres water depth. DSV 'Providence' on site the morning after, they recovered the bodies from the wreck three days after the sinking. Sat system flooded. Dive Supt., 2 supervisors, two LSTs and two ALSTs survived when the vesse sank. There were four brothers on board, the two brothers working as LSTs survived, the two brothers in saturation died with the other four divers in sat and the ET killed during the evacuation. Details to be added following investigation. UK Telegraph, Times, Iranian press, PC -
2011 10 20 Gaur Ajesh Iran Adsun Offshore Diving Contractors 70 Saturation DSV Koosha I, built 1982 in Australia (By Carrington Slipays as the 'Lady Sonia') owned by Darya Koosh, Iranian marine contractor, POB 73, 60 survivors, 6 divers in sat plus 7 others lost when ship sank off Lavan Island in the South Pars field 15 miles off the Iranian coast during pipeline installation operations around 17:30 hours on Thursday 20th October in bad weather. Rumoured to be a 4 man portable sat system with additional chamber to make it 6 man but only a 4 man HRC. Ship was loaded with two cement silos for grouting operations. One silo broke loose in rough weather and slid across deck causing list, this caused a gas rack to follow, increasing list. Sat control van broke off and fell overboard followed by second silo, holds flooded (hatches open) including all below decks compartments. Sank in mnutes. Believed storage depth was 64 metres, sank in 70 metres water depth. DSV 'Providence' on site the morning after, they recovered the bodies from the wreck three days after the sinking. Sat system flooded. Details to be added following investigation. UK Telegraph, Iranian press, PC -
2011 10 20 Kadian Dhirendra Iran Adsun Offshore Diving Contractors 70 Saturation One brother (Parminder) also died in this accident, two other brothers (LSTs onboard) survived.DSV Koosha I, built 1982 in Australia (By Carrington Slipays as the 'Lady Sonia') owned by Darya Koosh, Iranian marine contractor, POB 73, 60 survivors, 6 divers in sat plus 7 others lost when ship sank off Lavan Island in the South Pars field 15 miles off the Iranian coast during pipeline installation operations around 17:30 hours on Thursday 20th October in bad weather. Rumoured to be a 4 man portable sat system with additional chamber to make it 6 man but only a 4 man HRC. Ship was loaded with two cement silos for grouting operations. One silo broke loose in rough weather and slid across deck causing list, this caused a gas rack to follow, increasing list. Sat control van broke off and fell overboard followed by second silo, holds flooded (hatches open) including all below decks compartments. Sank in mnutes. Believed storage depth was 64 metres, sank in 70 metres water depth. Dulam DSV 'Providence' on site the morning after, they recovered the bodies from the wreck three days after the sinking. Sat system flooded. Details to be added following investigation. UK Telegraph, Iranian press, PC -
2011 10 20 Kadian Parminder Iran Adsun Offshore Diving Contractors 70 Saturation One brother (Dhirendra) also died in this accident, two other brothers (LSTs onboard) survived. DSV Koosha I, built 1982 in Australia (By Carrington Slipays as the 'Lady Sonia') owned by Darya Koosh, Iranian marine contractor, POB 73, 60 survivors, 6 divers in sat plus 7 others lost when ship sank off Lavan Island in the South Pars field 15 miles off the Iranian coast during pipeline installation operations around 17:30 hours on Thursday 20th October in bad weather. Rumoured to be a 4 man portable sat system with additional chamber to make it 6 man but only a 4 man HRC. Ship was loaded with two cement silos for grouting operations. One silo broke loose in rough weather and slid across deck causing list, this caused a gas rack to follow, increasing list. Sat control van broke off and fell overboard followed by second silo, holds flooded (hatches open) including all below decks compartments. Sank in mnutes. Believed storage depth was 64 metres, sank in 70 metres water depth. Dulam DSV 'Providence' on site the morning after, they recovered the bodies from the wreck three days after the sinking. Sat system flooded. Details to be added following investigation. UK Telegraph, Iranian press, PC -
2011 10 20 Padda JS Iran Adsun Offshore Diving Contractors 70 Saturation DSV Koosha I, built 1982 in Australia (By Carrington Slipays as the 'Lady Sonia') owned by Darya Koosh, Iranian marine contractor, POB 73, 60 survivors, 6 divers in sat plus 7 others lost when ship sank off Lavan Island in the South Pars field 15 miles off the Iranian coast during pipeline installation operations around 17:30 hours on Thursday 20th October in bad weather. Rumoured to be a 4 man portable sat system with additional chamber to make it 6 man but only a 4 man HRC. Ship was loaded with two cement silos for grouting operations. One silo broke loose in rough weather and slid across deck causing list, this caused a gas rack to follow, increasing list. Sat control van broke off and fell overboard followed by second silo, holds flooded (hatches open) including all below decks compartments. Sank in mnutes. Believed storage depth was 64 metres, sank in 70 metres water depth. DSV 'Providence' on site the morning after, they recovered the bodies from the wreck three days after the sinking. Sat system flooded. Details to be added following investigation. UK Telegraph, Iranian press, PC -
2011 10 20 Sharma NK Iran Adsun Offshore Diving Contractors 70 Saturation DSV Koosha I, built 1982 in Australia (By Carrington Slipays as the 'Lady Sonia') owned by Darya Koosh, Iranian marine contractor, POB 73, 60 survivors, 6 divers in sat plus 7 others lost when ship sank off Lavan Island in the South Pars field 15 miles off the Iranian coast during pipeline installation operations around 17:30 hours on Thursday 20th October in bad weather. Rumoured to be a 4 man portable sat system with additional chamber to make it 6 man but only a 4 man HRC. Ship was loaded with two cement silos for grouting operations. One silo broke loose in rough weather and slid across deck causing list, this caused a gas rack to follow, increasing list. Sat control van broke off and fell overboard followed by second silo, holds flooded (hatches open) including all below decks compartments. Sank in mnutes. Believed storage depth was 64 metres, sank in 70 metres water depth. DSV 'Providence' on site the morning after, they recovered the bodies from the wreck three days after the sinking. Sat system flooded. Details to be added following investigation. UK Telegraph, Iranian press, PC -
1986 1 20 Spicer Wayne Iran Smit Topsides Australian, DSV 'Smit Maassluis' off Kharg Island, set on fire after Exocet missile attack from Iraqi war-planes. 10 crewmen also injured out of the 34 man crew (Two other Australian and two New Zealand divers injured). No details. Reported in The Age -
1986 0 0 Fitzerald Russell Iran 2W One year out of diving school (Fort Bovisand), air diving off a supply vessel at Kharg island. No details . Personal Communication. -
2011 6 21 Surasin Indonesia S/S Air Aged 54, Port of Tanjung Perak, Surabaya, scrap metal diving off Jamrud pier from a small boat with two of his children, compressor may have failed, body floated to the surface, recovered and brought ashore by the children. Surabaya News -
2008 8 5 Nalin Indonesia Fisherman S/S Air Aged 60, Tidung Island, suffered leg paralysis fom decompression incident and died a week later. Reported as being a 'compressor' diver (Used a tyre compressor for diving), survived by his wife, four sons and three daughters. Reported by www.pulauseribu.net -
2007 7 17 Nahar Indonesia Paraphrased from press reports:- Pier Ipi, Nusa Damai, Ende, Flores Island. Wreck of a vessel sunk in September 2004, needed to be removed as it was obstructing ferry access to the pier. Diver killed in an explosion cutting into the hull during salvage operations. No details. Metrotvnews.com -
2005 3 15 Picallo Sgt. Justo Jesus Indonesia Spanish Navy SCUBA 36 year old Naval officer, part of tsunami relief force, conducting a routine hull cleaning and inspection dive on the MS “Galicia� off Band Aceh. No details -
2004 4 25 DSV 'Ocean Winsertor' Indonesia Topsides In transit from East Timor to Singapore, off Lingga Island, 12 armed pirates boarded the DSV and robbed the crew at gun point. No deaths, minor injuries. Reported in the Sydney Morning Herald. -
1996 7 0 Not Recorded Indonesia Comex/PT Komaritim 20 SCUBA Indonesian diver, vessel sent out to confirm location of a pipeline leak, passed leak and dropped a marker buoy. As the vessel made a second pass, two divers in SCUBA jumped in with a marker buoy on a line to attach to the pipeline near the leak. (Possibly a 10"or 12" pipeline, hole was in the 6 o/c position.). While they were underwater attaching the rope, the leak stopped. It is reported – not confirmed – that the client representative was for some reason not happy that he could no longer see bubbles and radio'd the platform asking them to inject more gas. Whether true or not, the leak did restart, violently. The product was gas plus condensate. One diver was found dead tangled in the marker rope, his face virtually stripped of flesh from where the high pressure gas/condensate had blown off his SCUBA mask, the other diver did not surface, missing, his body was not located at the time (Not reported whether it was found later). PC -
1993 0 0 Not Recorded Indonesia Comex SCUBA Indonesian, securing a down line to a leaking gas pipeline, not isolated, caught in the venting gas, double fatality. No details. -
1991 0 0 Bennett Marc or Mark Indonesia Pelita Mustika Mandiri 6 S/S Air New Zealander, “Died in an accident on an Indonesian oil rig�, no details However we have now received the following information:- “Diving off the DLB Shillelagh' (360' x 100') during a pipeline shore pull. He became entangled in fishing net debris near shore in shallow water and lost umbilical supply (umbilical believed to have become wrapped/kinked in fishing lines). Unclear if he exhausted his bailout. Managed to surface briefly but was still entangled, at one stage was clinging to a buoy for flotation. Stand-by diver was deployed and found the diver still entangled mid-water with his hat off. Recovered to barge but did not respond to treatment�. A further correspondent has added, "the vessel was carrying out a beach pull, Mark was on the end of his hose (can't remember the umbilical length on this barge, normally they were 400-600ft on the barges in these days). His helmet (KMB17) detached from the neck-dam, but he could still breath and had communications, he informed the supervisor who instructed him to make his way back to the barge slowly along the seabed while the standby was jumped. Instead he decided to climb a buoy-line to the surface, (I think about 6-7mt water depth).... while doing this his hat came fully off due to him climbing and the standby pulling himself along his hose. One thing to point out is that Mark was fairly new to the game and the standby was on his first job. On the surface while holding onto the Norwegian buoy, he tried to dump his gear, but was being pulled under by the standby traveling along his hose.... there was a pelican clip attaching the umbilical to his harness; when he pulled it to release the umbilical, the rope broke on the ring attached to the clip and he couldn't release himself, then he tried to cut himself free, this failed and he was dragged under and drowned. Mark was pulled back to the barge and CPR was preformed to no avail. This all happened in the early hours of the morning, the big rig operator at the time could see what was happening as he had his spot light focused out the stern of the barge. He could see but didn't know the big picture. PC/Longstreath. -
1985 0 0 Rig 'Zapata Enterprise' Indonesia Jack Up, drilling off Java, blow out and fire -
1983 2 7 Drillship 'Glomar Grand Isle' Indonesia Blow out and fire -
1982 5 28 Bin Henry Lim Kim Indonesia Oceaneering Topsides Singaporean, aged 26, one of 7 passengers who died when a Perlita Air Services 'Puma' crashed into the sea en route to Natuna Island from a Gulf Oil installation. At least three of the passengers (Henry lim Kim Bin, Leong way Hok and Allan Ming) were divers working for Oceaneering Singapore. He was coming ashore to be married two days later, his fiancee was 22. Straits Times -
1982 5 28 Hok Leong Way Indonesia Oceaneering Topsides Singaporean, one of 7 passengers who died when a Perlita Air Services 'Puma' crashed into the sea en route to Natuna Island from a Gulf Oil installation. At least three of the passengers (Henry lim Kim Bin, Leong way Hok and Allan Ming) were divers working for Oceaneering Singapore. Straits Times -
1982 5 28 Ming Allan Indonesia Oceaneering Topsides Singaporean, one of 7 passengers who died when a Perlita Air Services 'Puma' crashed into the sea en route to Natuna Island from a Gulf Oil installation. At least three of the passengers (Henry lim Kim Bin, Leong way Hok and Allan Ming) were divers working for Oceaneering Singapore. Straits Times