Incidents List
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Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details -
1975 3 1 Wilson Kevin UK CUE 43 SCUBA British, aged 20. Southern North Sea installation 49/27B, Leman field, pulmonary oedema caused by cardiac myopathy, heart failure, natural causes (Reported by JW as the last 1974 fatality, TC) -
1982 10 27 Clark R. Kelly USA Crom Corporation SCUBA Aged 34, working in a 3 million gallon municipal water tank, looking for a leak, sucked into a pipe at the bottom of the tank, body recovered an hour later. The pipe acted as both inlet and outlest into the tank (balance pipe). "The president of the company said the divers had been in the tank 'for some time' and he had felt water coming into the tank. He said no one knows why water suddenly started flowing out". Gainsville Sun. -
1980 2 0 Rig 'Topper I' USA Crestwave Jack Up, valve failure, flooded and sank -
1975 0 0 Rig 'Topper III' Crestwave Jack Up, sank. -
2003 3 20 Moore Steven Allan Canada Courtnakyle Fisheries Limited SCUBA Canadian, aged 40, one of a three man commercial sea urchin harvesting diving team in Nova Scotia, failed to surface, body recovered 3 days later. Company charged with failing to ensure workplace safety by allowing Mr. Moore to dive without a knife, secondary air supply, standby diver, recall system, diver buoy and life-line; failing to ensure safety equipment was available; failing to follow a code of practice; and failing to ensure the propeller on the vessel Doug's Dream was adequately guarded -
2000 10 19 Reynolds David Grant Australia Cossack Pearls SCUBA Aged 31, from Queensland, was pearl diving with two other men off Onslow in October 2000 when tragedy struck. “His oxygen mask had become separated from his face and he was lying lifeless on the ocean floor�. Attempts by his co-workers to resuscitate him failed. The Perth Court of Petty Sessions found the man's employer was partly responsible for his death and imposed a $10,000 fine on the company. ABC News online -
1968 8 0 Rig 'Little Bob' USA Coral Drilling Rig Disaster Jack Up, drilling off Louisiana, fire. -
2007 8 29 Rodriguez Joaquin Castelao Angel Spain Coral Diver 28 SCUBA Aged 74, known locally as 'the angel of coral' had spent over 20 years living in Alcudiq collecting coralharvesting coral ('Red Gold') from his boat 'Nemo' in the channel between Menorc and Mallorca, 17 miles north of the port of Alcudia, diving with his son, became ill during decompression stops. An SAR helicopter dropped a medic onboard who confirmed he had died. Had spent years criticising intensive fishing methoids (like beam trawling) which damage the seabed. Reported by Diario de Mallorca -
2011 10 18 Castellano Nerio Enrique Vielma Venezuela Cooperativa Buzos Industriales Aged 33 or 34, married, three children. Lake Maracaibo, working on a gas line station repair (Flow station BA-12, Lake Bachaquero Production Unit). Seems to have been an entanglement/dropped object/ umbilical incident, but no coherent details. "Accident under investigation", body recovered 20 minutes after the initial incident and evacuated to Zulima Pier, Lagunillas. Diver had 12 years diving experience with an established diving contractor, became unemployed and joined CBI two weeks before the accident. Diario La Region/Noticia al Dia -
2015 3 20 Rikkers Hernan 'Kakara' Cook Islands Cook Islands Aquarium Fish SCUBA "Paraphrased from the Cook Island News:- ""The 30-year-old Argentinian whose body was discovered over the reef outside Avarua Harbour on Saturday was an experienced diver, says one of his employers: ""Diving alone is common in the company’s line of work, which involves gathering live tropical fish for export. The man had also dived in Hawaii and Noumea and the company had received assurances from people he had worked with previously that he was an experienced diver. Diving with at least one other person is usually considered best practice, but the company’s workers dived alone as diving with another person could scare away the fish they were attempting to capture. Police confirmed yesterday that the diver had a buoyancy compensator, but they were unsure whether he had been wearing it. The Company had made the decision to try and locate the man because of the need to get out to the search area before dusk made water visibility poor. A full scale search was conducted on Saturday and his body was found. The body was recovered from the reef outside Avarua Harbour. An unsuccessful search for him had been conducted the previous evening by the owner of the company Rikkers worked for. A spokesman said it had been about eight years since the last major diving incident in the Cook Islands, where local man Noovao Noovao had a heart attack on the surface of the water. ""There was always something that could be done to help prevent an accident, although taking a buddy when diving was common practice for recreational diving, diving alone, as Rikker had done, was not unusual in the case of commercial diving work. “You don’t pay two people for a job one person can do" -
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 -
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 -
2010 3 2 Dongwoon Kim Philippines Conclinic SCUBA Aged 34, Korean, Doosan Heavy Industries, working as the site manager at a power plant in Cebu (Not employed as a diver, expired work permit and visa). Apparently he 'insisted on fixing a a leak in the cooling water pump area himself' 'with the pump running'. Quote from colleague:- 'When we tested the pump (with the diver still in the water...) he was probably taken by the vacuum to the water pond which is really deep, he must have lost his oxygen in his tank and drowned'. After 15 minutes and he had not surfaced, the crew started to get worried and stopped the pump to carry out a search. Body recovered and taken to hospital but declared dead on arrival. ABS CBN News -
1937 10 27 Bell James Australia Commonwealth Film Pty 9 S/S Air “DEATH OF DIVER. Tragic Circumstances�. CAIRNS. October 27. “James Bell, aged 39 employed as a diver for Commonwealth Film (Pty.) died suddenly at Green Island this afternoon, while engaged on film operations (They were filming 'Typhoon Tresure"). He was in a diving suit, being filmed in about 30 feet of water. As no replies to signals were received, he was immediately pulled to the surface. On removing the helmet, he was found to be dead. The body was brought to Cairns on the Yarrabah comission launch. As far as can be ascertained, his only relative, Mrs. Fowkes, supposed to be his mother, is at Wattleglen, Victoria. Reported in the Townsville Daily Bulletin, Qld. NB 'Typhoon Treasure' is a 1938 Australian adventure film directed by Noel Monkman set in New Guinea although shot on the Great Barrier Reef and the Queensland coast. It was Monkman's first dramatic feature film after several years making documentaries. The plot involves Alan Richards as the sole survivor of a pearling lugger which has been shipwrecked on Pakema Reef during a typhoon. He sets out to recover some pearls which went missing in the wreck, crossing through the jungle and fighting headhunters. While filming underwater scenes on Green Island in October, one of the divers, James Bell, died of myocarditis. Bruce Cummings, who was in charge of underwater photography, went down in a diving cylinder, followed a few minutes later by Bell, who was his assistant. A few minutes later Cummings noticed something was wrong with Bell. When they brought him to the surface he was dead. An inquest was later held which found no negligence -
1989 8 9 Ong Swee Kheng Singapore Commercial Diving Servces Aged 33, clearing debris from a coffer dam at the Senoko Power Station, pulled out of the water when he failed to respond to tugs on his lifeline. "Might have got entangled in a net used to sift the debris". No other details. Straits Times -
2019 6 21 Wingard Steven F. Dahowa Hydro power plant, Greenwich, USA Commercial Diver Systems SS Air GREENWICH — State Police are investigating a fatal accident that occurred Friday morning at a hydropower plant on the Batten Kill that claimed the life of a commercial diver. The incident was reported at the former Dahowa Hydro power plant off county Route 53, near the hamlet of Middle Falls. The diver, Steven F. Wingard, 25, of Falls Village, Connecticut, died while underwater in a pool below the hydro plant. State Police said Wingard was working for a company identified as Commercial Diver Systems to clean an underwater drain valve at the hydro plant when some sort of accident occurred. How he came to be injured was still under investigation Friday afternoon, State Police Senior Investigator Robert Stampfli said. Stampfli said Wingard was the only diver in the water, and was connected to a crew on land via an “umbilical” cord with an oxygen line. “There was some sort of event that caused them to pull him back up” and he was unconscious, Stampfli said. Exactly what occurred remained under investigation later Friday, Stampfli said. But there was no indication of foul play. The accident was reported just after 9:30 a.m. Easton-Greenwich Rescue Squad members and Middle Falls firefighters responded, but efforts to revive the man with CPR were unsuccessful. Dahowa Hydro sold the 10.5-megawatt plant to Gravity Renewables earlier this year, according to an article on Renewable Energy World’s website. Numerous streams and rivers in the region were running very high Friday after Thursday’s rain, and the Batten Kill was running at nearly triple its median flow for June 21 as of Friday morning. Stampfli said it was unclear whether the drain issue was related to the rain or was regularly scheduled maintenance. Julie Smith-Galvin, a spokeswoman for Gravity Renewables, said the company was trying to figure out what occurred as well. “Our thoughts are with Mr. Wingard’s family, friends and loved ones,” she said in an email. “We appreciate the work of all those involved in responding to this morning’s emergency call. We are working closely and cooperatively with local authorities to investigate what caused today’s tragedy.” https://poststar.com/news/local/updated-diver-dies-at-batten-kill-hydropower-plant/article_75176eb1-cc99-53dd-9963-cbc3657242e4.html -
1983 6 21 Yeo Sgt. Soon Seng Singapore Commando Surface Swimmer Aged 22, First Commando Battalion, diver training circuit swimming exercise with 7 other trainees on 13th June. Surfaced in distress before sinking from sight, found unconcious in the sea and taken to Toa Payoh Hospital where he died 8 days later of bronchial pneumonia. Coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure. Straits Times -
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 -
1983 11 5 Cowards Edwin Arthur Norway Comex Houlder 0 Saturation British, aged 35. Drill rig "Byford Dolphin", Frigg field, explosive decompression of sat system when TUP clamp failed, 5 fatalities -
1983 11 5 Crammond William Brown Norway Comex Houlder 0 Saturation British, aged 32. Drill rig "Byford Dolphin", Frigg field, explosive decompression of sat system when TUP clamp failed, 5 fatalities -
1983 11 5 Hellevik Truls Norway Comex Houlder 0 Saturation Norwegian, aged 34. Drill rig "Byford Dolphin", Frigg field, explosive decompression of sat system when TUP clamp failed, 5 fatalities -
1983 11 5 Lucas Roy P Norway Comex Houlder 0 Saturation British, aged 38. Drill rig "Byford Dolphin", Frigg field, explosive decompression of sat system when TUP clamp failed, 5 fatalities -
1983 11 5 Saunders Martin Andrew Norway Comex Houlder 0 Saturation Drill rig "Byford Dolphin", Frigg field, explosive decompression of sat system when TUP clamp failed, 5 fatalities, one serious injury -
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 -
1989 0 0 Stena Workhorse Brazil Comex do Brasil and Marsat Saturation Petrobras PGP1 gas blow out, Four Comex sat divers from the platform rescued by Marsat team on the Stena Workhorse (bell to bell transfer), one of them, Thierry Arnold later died in a bell contamination incident (1991) -
1989 9 15 Arnold Thierry Brazil Comex do Brasil Saturation Bell contamination incident. Purging water from pipeline prior to final bolt tensioning on subsea tree spoolpiece. Using product/gas lift from platform. bell atmosphere contamination (Probably condensate), diver returned to bell, bellman already unconscious, flushed bell, bellman drifting in and out of conscious but managed to take divers helmet off before both passed out again. After more flushing, the bellman regained consciousness but the diver had passed out in moonpool and drowned. PC -
1979 11 10 Wodeco V lost bell Rescue Ghana or Ivory Coast Comex and Oceaneering 130 Saturation Rescue teams arrived on board perhaps 24 hours after the bell was lost with a team from Oceaneering and a "JIM" atmospheric suit but without their normal winch/umbilical/comms (too heavy to fly) First two dives aborted due to suit flooding and retrieval was hampered by the current, but on the third attempt, the JIM got close enough to see the bell which was not floating up from its ballast but lying on the seabed, indicating that it was flooded or partly flooded. One of the guide wires had ruptured and was no longer attached to the wellhead and there was some tension in the remaining guide wire, so every time the drill ship was lifted by the swell, the was being rolled from side to side on the seabed. The JIM could not get any closer without being hit by the rolling bell so the dive was aborted and the bell grappled (NB, the JIM rescue mission in itself is an epic tale, TC). The bell was caught first time. On deck, some 30 hours after the wire failure, it was established that the bell was 2/3 flooded, both divers were floating face down, dead. Analysis of the bell atmosphere confirmed there was no measurable CO2. Both men had suffered facial injuries, one with a broken nose, one with knee injuries. It is likely that the first shock, when the bell collided with its own ballast, had thrown them down, causing the injuries. They had managed on the way down to open the bell pressurisation valve. The dive was a bounce dive, and decompression had started while the bell was on its was up before the accident. As a result the bell would have started flooding at some point before they even reached the bottom. At some point the inner door had closed, but not before the bell was 2/3 flooded. The pressurisation valve having been open, and left open on the way down, ensured a seal. The two divers (the second diver's identity is not recorded), hurt by the initial impact, drowned. -
2012 2 14 Delauze Henri Germain France COMEX Died aged 83, Henri DeLauze founded COMEX in 1961. He was awarded a degree in engineering from the Ecole Superieure des Arts et Metiers in Aix-en-Provence (1946/49) and a Master of Science in Marine Geology at the University of California (Berkeley) in 1960. From 1952 to 1955, he cooperated on a voluntary basis with Captain Cousteau's team as an engineer and as a diver in Marseilles (OFRS). From 1956 to 1961 with the big international contractor, Grands Travaux de Marseille, he was responsible for several major large construction sites, including the motorway tunnel under Havana's bay in Cuba (1956/57). At the end of 1961, back in France, he joined the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research) as head of the "ARCHIMEDE" Bathyscaph Submersible Laboratory in which he carried out a dive to a depth of - 9,650 metres, off the coast of Japan in 1961. He thus became the "Deepest Frenchman in the world" (the deepest human dive was sponsored by the US Navy with Ct Don WALSH and Jacques PICCARD in the Bathyscaph "TRIESTE" to 10.700 m. in 1960). He married in1953 and has three children, Michele, Marc and Beatrice. -
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. -
1992 11 20 Mavrostomos Theo France Comex Saturation The deepest trial saturation dive on record, in Toulon with the Hydra programme reaching 701 metres using Hydreliox. The deepest Hydreliox working dive is still Comex with a simulated pipeline intervention in the Mediterranean in 1988 with the Hydra 8 dives to 534 metres (The 'Atlantis' trials (Duke University, USA,) reached 686 metres in 1981, Comex ran a series of deep diving programmes (Physalie, Janus, Sagittaire, Hydra, etc) mostly in France and finally Aurora at the NHC in Aberdeen reaching 470 metres in 1993In September 2010). In September 2010, 4 Chinese divers were reported to have reached a storage depth of 480 metres with an excursion to 493 metres on Heliox. -
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 12 13 Julien Thiery France Comex Topsides Opened a regen pot that was still under pressure, massive chest injuries. An interlock would have prevented this accident. PC -
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 -
1985 9 17 Devergie Francis Congo Comex 47 S/S Mixed Gas French, diving off the barge BOS 215, KM 17 came off (No safety pin incorporated into the design at that time). no details. PC -
1985 1 23 Cavalcanti Ruben Brazil Comex Saturation Incorrect oil (selected only for oxygen compatibility, management of change process not followed) used in regeneration system coupled with a series of circumstances that allowed the oil to come into direct contact with a heater element. The oil broke down producing by-products that included phosgene and fluoridic acid gases that were released into the chamber atmoshere. Cause of death recorded as lung oedema. Double fatality (Luis Washington). PC -
1985 1 23 Washington Luis Brazil Comex Saturation Incorrect oil (selected only for oxygen compatibility, management of change process not followed) used in regeneration system coupled with a series of circumstances that allowed the oil to come into direct contact with a heater element. The oil broke down producing by-products that included phosgene and fluoridic acid gases that were released into the chamber atmoshere. Cause of death recorded as lung oedema. Double fatality (Ruben Cavalcanti). PC -
1984 5 4 Lawson George UK Comex 140 Saturation Diving off the DSV "Kingsnorth Explorer", oxy/Arc cutting, rendered unconscious by an explosion. Face plate blown in, ruptured eardrums, right side pneumothorax, rescued by bellman Neil Wiggins (died December 2003) who was awarded the Frank Dearman award for bravery and a Queen’s Commendation. (The same diver was again called upon in 1987 when he saved two hypothermic divers, Fred McNally and Kanute Monstra, from a stranded welding habitat). MCDOA website -
1981 7 11 Craig Gordon UAE Comex S/S Air Installing a welding habitat onto a pipeline in the Zakum Field. Habitat 'hung up' and the diver , wearing a band-mask, was looking for the cause when it dropped, head crushed, died instantly. -
1981 7 1 Chanfays Dominique Brazil Comex S/S Mixed Gas Gas bell bounce dive. Divers carried out their own decompression from inside the bell. Divers opened the decompression without regulating their decompression and literally decompressed themselvs to death. Possible lack of training, possible language problem (French Supervisor/Brazilian divers). A surface to bell umbilical would have allowed the supervisor to control the rate of decompression. Double fatality (Julio Espindola). PC -
1981 7 1 Espindola Julio Brazil Comex S/S Mixed Gas Gas bell bounce dive. Divers carried out their own decompression from inside the bell. Divers opened the decompression without regulating their decompression and literally decompresed themselvs to death. Possible lack of training, possible language problem (French Supervisor/Brazilian divers). A surface to bell umbilical would have allowed the supervisor to control the rate of decompression. Double fatality (Dominique Chanfays). PC -
1981 2 1 Withheld pending agreement of the diver Gabon Comex 60 S/S Mixed Gas Diver was deployed using SS HeO2 to carry out a short intervention on the subsea experimental template station at Grondin NE field. About 5 min into the dive, diver shouted; "NO AIR" then silence. The standby diver entered the water and located him at about 30 metres tangled in the ROV umbilical with his helmet off. He was unconscious. Brought up to surface and transferred to the DDC attached to the SAT system and given resuscitation and first aid. Breathing was restarted but he remained unconscious. He was blown down to -50m on air. Local Comex diving doctor was flown to the site. She entered the DDC and gave therapeutic medical treatment. The casualty recovered and came out of DDC at end of hyperbaric treatment. He went back to diving and was a member of one of the deepest experimental dive conducted by Comex. The reason for the lack of breathing media could not be ascertained even after multiple tests on the umbilical and panel. The bail out cylinder was found full of water. Reported about a year after that the diving supervisor at the panel admitted not setting up the panel regulator to cater for the water depth. -
1980 2 15 Walter Brian Qatar Comex 37 SCUBA Diving untended off Halul Island. Vomited underwater, failed to surface. PC -
1979 11 10 Andrieux Philipe Ghana or Ivory Coast Comex 130 Saturation See 'Wodeco V lost Bell' for details, the three divers in the bell, rescue stand-by diver and a nurse die in this incident. -
1979 11 10 Laubouet Philipe Ghana or Ivory Coast Comex 130 Saturation See 'Wodeco V lost Bell' for details, the three divers in the bell, rescue stand-by diver and a nurse die in this incident. -
1979 11 10 Leca Joseph 'Jo' Ghana or Ivory Coast Comex 130 Saturation See 'Wodeco V lost Bell' for details, the three divers in the bell, rescue stand-by diver and a nurse die in this incident. -
1979 11 10 Lemarchand Gilles Ghana or Ivory Coast Comex 130 Saturation See 'Wodeco V lost Bell' for details, the three divers in the bell, rescue stand-by diver and a nurse die in this incident. -
1979 11 10 Wodeco V lost bell Incident Ghana or Ivory Coast Comex 130 Saturation Entire dive team, including the supervisor, - dived in rotation, bell bounce diving. Single bell lift wire plus two guide wires tied up to the wellhead. About a month prior to the incident, the main wire had been ovalised above the socket but judged fit for purpose. On this day, during bell recovery, when the bell had reached the top of the "A" frame, the wire parted.. The bell ballast hit the water, the bell hit the ballast which had been slowed down entering the water and sank. Communications were lost with the bell. The surface team expected the divers in the bell to shed its ballast, but that did not happen. The team was without supervisor (he was in the bell) and there was no lead diver. On advice from company HQ, they mixed some 10 % Heliox and built a surface umbilical by connecting three lengths of flexible hose. The first diver started breathing the 10 % prior to entering the water and passed out. The rest of the team assumed that this was due to the fact that the components had not "mixed up properly". They equipped the next diver with a bail out cylinder filled with Air, he breathed the Air from the surface and switched to Heliox at 10 metres. On the way down, this diver pulled himself with his arms, head down along one of the bell guide wires instead of "hanging out" in the current on the way down. As a result, him and his umbilical rotated around the bell guide wire several times to the point were he could not progress any more and he exhausted himself in the process. It is possible that he had passed out underwater. The surface crew retrieved him, it needed several men to haul on the umbilical. He was suffering from pulmonary barotrauma. However, he was conscious when he reached the surface, he cleared the several turns the umbilical had made around the guide wire himself. He went in the chamber still conscious and standing with a doctor and male nurse. Short of Helium, so they only pressurized the main lock. The nurse was claustrophobic and started panicking and they had to decompress him. In order to do so, they pressurised the entrance lock with the only gas they had left, air. When the nurse left the chamber he was told that if he was not feeling well to return to the chamber to be treated. Instead he went into hiding, laid down and was found later, dead (Isobaric counter diffusion). The diver died in the chamber (Pulmonary Barotrauma),. -
1978 5 8 Godey Gerard Congo Comex Topsides Opened a regeneration tower that had not been purged, crushed chest. (No interlock mechanism). PC -
1977 10 17 Azzopardi P S UK Comex 91 Saturation British, aged 21. Semi-sub drill rig "Zephy I", ODECO, English Channel, KMD 16 helmet off (no safety pin), strong currents, bellman could not reach him, drowned -
1977 1 2 Dubois Norbert France Comex Topsides Off Brittany Coast. Caught between the bell and chamber during TUP, crushed chest. Delayed medivac as the French Navy helicopter did not fly at night. PC -
1976 12 24 Moore M R or H R UK Comex 0 SCUBA British, aged 29. Drill rig "Sedneth 701". Heavy swell, difficulty getting into basket, tried to swim to stand-by boat, presumed drowned, possibly run over by stand-by vessel, body never recovered. -
1976 12 4 Nabusset Norbert France Comex SCUBA Off Brittany coast. Dived from one moonpool to the other in high current, tide took him away, dragged back by lifeline but lost head gear, drowned. PC -
1976 8 10 Gohon Gerard North Sea Comex Topsides Caught his head between the bell and DDC during TUP, permanent paralysis. PC -
1976 5 3 Dobson Anthony (Tony) UK Comex 37 S/S Air British, aged 30. Pipelay barge "Orca", stinger checks, either umbilical snagged subsea, pulled out of basket during recovery, extended umbilical (OD), or fouling of long umbilical in tideway, lost mouthpiece (HSE), stand-by diver could not reach him, drowning -
1976 1 17 Bannister Derek A UK Comex 73 Saturation PSV "Smit Lloyd 112", buoyant bell with the bell weights suspended underneath bell, this allowed the bell to sit on the seabed minimising the action of swell. Apparently the bell was moved and in the process the bell weights were ripped off. Bell bottom door open, uncontrolled ascent, pulmonary barotrauma.. His bell partner (Clay Ellis) died. He survived, but was very severely injured. -
1976 1 17 Ellis Clay UK Comex 73 Saturation American, aged 20. PSV "Smit Lloyd 112", buoyant bell with the bell weights suspended underneath bell, this allowed the bell to sit on the seabed minimising the action of swell. Apparently the bell was moved and in the process the bell weights were ripped off. Bell bottom door open, uncontrolled ascent, pulmonary barotrauma. Died. His bell partner (Derek Bannister) survived, but was very severely injured -
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 -
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 5 24 Babin Jean Claude Dubai Comex SCUBA Oilfield Dive, extended bottom time but no provision for in-water decompression stops, zodiac outboard engine failed leading to delayed recompression/surface decompression. Doctor refused to enter DDC. PC -
1975 3 20 Cluseau Giry du Gabon Comex SCUBA Oilfield dive. Two divers, both on SCUBA, both unwell at depth and returned to the surface, one diver survived. Possible contaminated air. PC -
1974 12 17 Howard-Phillips Jeremy L UK Comex 10 S/S Air British, from Hintlesham in Norfolk, aged 30. McDermott Jet Barge 4, Scapa Flow, Valve knocked off 48" the Occidental pipeline by jet sledge, differential pressure (100' to atmosphere) sucked him into 20cm/8" valve opening, died instantly Standby diver could not release body until pressure equalised. -
1974 10 14 Clark John UK Comex 0 SCUBA British, aged 31, married, two children. Drill rig "Waage I", Acting as surface tender during attachment of a towing line. Swept under cowcatcher or cross member by swell, broken rib, vomited, drowned -
1974 4 11 Barthelemy Marc G G UK Comex 93 Saturation French, aged 24. Drill ship "Havdrill". Needed rescue, drowned in bell trunking, exhaustion. Alternative report that diver had lost/restricted gas, returned to bell with umbilical around guide wire, Swedish bellman pulled in umbilical which pulled diver away from bell, British support crew, reverted to native languages, in ensuing panic, bellman cut umbilical and shut bell door, told dive control to recover bell. Body of diver draped over bell weights. -
1973 10 10 Coelo Dominique Congo Comex 70 SCUBA Oilfield dive. Drowned. PC -
1972 10 10 Ney Jean Pierre Gabon Comex Oilfield dive. Switched to breathing pure oxygen with full face mask/comms on decompression stops, no basket, strong current. Shouted and pulled off mask, taken under barge by current. PC -
1971 3 26 Pasquier Jean Pierre Italy Comex SCUBA Oilfield dive. Breathing 50/50 during decompression stops, hyperoxia, drowned. PC -
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 -
1982 4 27 Rivera Anibal Argentina Comex S/S Air Got into difficulty while underwater, vomited and subsequently drowned. No other details. PC -
1962 11 19 Hayes Darrell USA Columbia River Divers 27 SCUBA Aged 33, Undertaking repairs to the bulkhead gate guides on the Priest Rapids dam. Surfacing after the dive with partner and apparently fell out of the dive basket when changing tanks. Recovered by partner from bed of dam at 110' after 8 minutes. Pronounced dead. It was his first commercial dive. -
2003 10 0 James Leslie UK Coflexip Stena Saturation Crushed hand, court case in October as unable to return to work, employers fined, no details -
1972 0 0 Not Recorded Tunisia Cocean 57 SCUBA Ashtart field, installation of a shackle on an anchoring pipe. Diving SCUBA/Trimix from SBM Installer I. Descent along the chain - High swell, chain moving in chain direction in upper zone, vertically up and down (4 to 5 meters) below 60 m where it was almost horizontal in reduced visibility water. Chain hits Scuba tanks braking the attachment between tanks. Diver catches the chain to prevent further hit, movement of water removes mask and one fin. After releasing the chain, diver could replace mask and locate the fin and come up, the buddy diver was watching above in a zone with visibility (bubbles still coming up), both returned safely at surface..... -
2010 1 6 Bonifacio Petty Officer 3 Armand Philippines Coastguard 68 SCUBA Aged 42, 18 year veteran Coastguard diver working on recovering bodies from the wreck of the MV Catalyn B which sank off Limbones Island (Cavite Province). Volunteered to dive to about 221 feet, as another PCG colleague was unavailable. On the first of three scheduled dives for the day, Bonifacio, along with his dive buddy, retrieved a woman’s body. On their second attempt, the two reached the ship’s wreckage again. On their ascent, however, diver felt Bonifacio shake his hand at about 170 feet deep, a signal that he was not feeling well. Bonifacio reportedly increased his ascension speed, which was against basic diving safety rules. “He wanted to speed up his ascent, which would put him more in a very compromising situation. He was held back although his buddy assisted him in breathing in air)," SOG diving team head Lt. Commander said in a GMA News’ 24 Oras report. At around 140 feet, Bonifacio lost consciousness. He was resurfaced and brought to a decompression chamber for first aid. Inside the chamber, things went well as Bonifacio regained consciousness and was reportedly still able to follow orders. Two hours later, Bonifacio succumbed to cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center. In an ABS-CBN newscast, Bonifacio’s grieving wife rues the death of her husband, who had been in the service for 18 years and was already looking forward to retirement. “I wanted to stop him, as he was getting weak physically," the wife was quoted as saying. Bonifacio had been an integral member of the SOG diving team, had been trained by the Philippine Navy and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. He participated in the relief operation for the typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, which hit the country in 2009. He was also part of the rescue operation for MV Princess of Stars, which sank in Romblon in 2008, where 300 of the 800 passengers remain missing. “We checked the equipment. It’s not the equipment," but a PCG spokesperson admitted in the newscast that government divers do not have the required gas mixture for deep-sea diving. GMA News -
1975 8 29 Gates Robert USA Clarmac Marine Construction 4 SCUBA Aged 19, Halifax River at Ormand Beach, Emergency repairs to a 10� water main (Anchor damage) 200 yards to the North side of Granada Bridge, diving with a colleague doing final flange bolting of a new line, the other diver surfaced but moments later, at around 18:00 his bubbles ceased, divers went back in but were unable to locate him. About 20:00 divers on the barge suggested the use of grapples to search from a boat and found the body but it dropped back into the water, finally recovered a short time later, declared dead on site. Daytona Beach Morning Gazzette. -
1892 10 28 Not Recorded Australia Clarke S/S Air "Cooktown. HMS 'Lizard' arrived from New Guinea where all is quiet. It is reported at Samarai (Island off SE New Guines in the Chana Strait) that one of Tomlin's and one of Clarke's pearl divers have drowned through disarrangement of the gear. Reported in The Norther iner (Charters Towers Qld) -
2009 11 30 Jao Peter Philippines CJMS Diving Services Topsides Dive team working at the gas powered power plant in Limay. Paraphrased from press reports:- “A diver died while a colleague is in critical condition after they entered a nine-meter chlorination tank inside the power plant in Alangan, Limay, Bataan, last Monday. The newly designated police chief reported that Peter Jao, a diving expert of the CJMS Diving Services, did not reach the hospital alive. He suffered broken ribs and skull. The police report stated that the cause of the falling incident was due to a foul odor that the victim inhaled while climbing the ladder on his way out of the chlorination tank. As Jao fell into the cemented flooring of the chlorination tank, his companion identified as Nenito Quintana, also a diver, went down the tank and tried to rescue him. Quintana was assisted by other employees using a crane. As Quintana was climbing the ladder on his way out, he also fell. Rescuers rushed Quintana into the St. Michael Hospital in Orion town. Investigation showed that the two victims proceeded to the chlorination tank at around 9 a.m. Monday to open the water intake valve from the sea. After opening the valve, Jao climbed the ladder but fell after he allegedly inhaled a poisonous substance inside�. Reported in the Manila Bulletin. NB. The power plant uses LPG from the local refinery which reported a death and two unconscious at the sour water treatment plant in September and a vessel chief officer and two seamen injured when a loading hose parted in August (Manila Times) -
2009 11 30 Quntana Nenito Philippines CJMS Diving Services Topsides Dive team working at the gas powered power plant in Limay. Paraphrased from press reports:- “A diver died while a colleague is in critical condition after they entered a nine-meter chlorination tank inside the power plant in Alangan, Limay, Bataan, last Monday. The newly designated police chief reported that Peter Jao, a diving expert of the CJMS Diving Services, did not reach the hospital alive. He suffered broken ribs and skull. The police report stated that the cause of the falling incident was due to a foul odor that the victim inhaled while climbing the ladder on his way out of the chlorination tank. As Jao fell into the cemented flooring of the chlorination tank, his companion identified as Nenito Quintana, also a diver, went down the tank and tried to rescue him. Quintana was assisted by other employees using a crane. As Quintana was climbing the ladder on his way out, he also fell. Rescuers rushed Quintana into the St. Michael Hospital in Orion town. Investigation showed that the two victims proceeded to the chlorination tank at around 9 a.m. Monday to open the water intake valve from the sea. After opening the valve, Jao climbed the ladder but fell after he allegedly inhaled a poisonous substance inside�. Reported in the Manila Bulletin. NB. The power plant uses LPG from the local refinery which reported a death and two unconscious at the sour water treatment plant in September and a vessel chief officer and two seamen injured when a loading hose parted in August (Manila Times) -
2005 8 21 Tychansky Gerry Canada CJ Productions Rebreather Aged 43, during filming of low budget horror movie "Marina Monster" at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club. He was pulled lifeless from the water after towing a film prop shaped like a shark. Natural causes, heart attack, coroner indicated natural causes but also concerns with equipment maintenance -
2012 9 23 Al-Qethami Naif Saudi Arabia Civil Defence Corporal with 9 years diving experience in the civil defence, had been called to recover a cild who had fallen down a well in Rehat, 115 km from Al-Jamoom in the Makkah region. He climbed out of the well carrying the body of the 3 year old and was knocked backwards by a surge of some 400 onlookers, hit his head as he fell into the 25' deep well. Colleagues dived in to pull him out but he failed to respond to treatment. Saudi Gazette -
1997 9 10 Mahady John J USA City Employee SCUBA Aged 39, Two Harbors City employee, described as an experienced diver, apparently had trouble as he was working to attach a buoy to mark equipment near a municipal water intake pipe just off shore in Lake Superior. Drowned. No details -
2010 11 4 Dau Nguyen Van Vietnam Cienco No 1 32 S/S Air Paraphrased from press reports:- "A diver drowned in Da Nang Thursday while fixing a broken drill tip at a bridge construction site. The Diver, aged 33 was paid VND10 million (US$513) to bring up a drill tip from 32 meters below the surface of the Han River. His first dive was successful; and he surfaced after 15 minutes with part of the tip. He descended once again and didn't resurface. Another worker from  the Tran Thi Ly bridge construction site dived to check on Dau and found his dead body. Some of the workers said the tube supplying oxygen to Dau was narrow and might have twisted, diminishing Dau's air supply. Workers also said the cold water might have weakened him. Rescuers managed to bring his body to the surface on Thursday evening, seven hours after the event. First investigation showed that Dau had been stuck in a pipe, which is part of the bridge construction�. Thanh Nien News.com -
2010 11 2 Tejeda Miguel Angel Molina Chile Chilean Navy Aged 23, Salvage diver, Chief of staff stated that he made a very shallow dive but afterwards reported not feeling well. He was sent to the Naval hospital 'Admiral Nef' in Vina del Mar but during the transfer suffered a possible cardiac arrest. No other details. Reported by GPS Divinig -
2013 7 29 Casas-Cordero Menéndez Miguel Chile Chilean Navy Military One of three Chilean Special Forces divers killed during underwater explosive demolition exercises. The Commander in Chief of the First Naval Zone regrets to inform the public that at 12:45 pm today, Monday 29th July , while an underwater demolition with explosives practice was done at Caleta Hornillos, in Laguna Verde, Valparaiso, there was an accident resulting in death. Should be noted that this exercise is one of the planned activities in the Annual Training Plan. A result of this unfortunate situation were deceased 2nd Lt. Miguel Casas-Cordero Menéndez and 1st. Sgt. Marcos Llancavil Arce, both from the Special Forces Command of the Armada Chilena. Additionally is currently missing Cpl. José Luis Valenzuela Valderrama. Cpl. José Luis Valenzuela Valderrama was later found also deceased.<br />Source: Emol.com -
2013 7 29 Llancavil Arce Marcos Chile Chilean Navy Military One of three Chilean Special Forces divers killed during underwater explosive demolition exercises. The Commander in Chief of the First Naval Zone regrets to inform the public that at 12:45 pm today, Monday 29th July , while an underwater demolition with explosives practice was done at Caleta Hornillos, in Laguna Verde, Valparaiso, there was an accident resulting in death. Should be noted that this exercise is one of the planned activities in the Annual Training Plan. A result of this unfortunate situation were deceased 2nd Lt. Miguel Casas-Cordero Menéndez and 1st. Sgt. Marcos Llancavil Arce, both from the Special Forces Command of the Armada Chilena. Additionally is currently missing Cpl. José Luis Valenzuela Valderrama. Cpl. José Luis Valenzuela Valderrama was later found also deceased.<br />Source: Emol.com -
2013 7 29 Valenzuela Valderrama José Luis Chile Chilean Navy Military One of three Chilean Special Forces divers killed during underwater explosive demolition exercises. The Commander in Chief of the First Naval Zone regrets to inform the public that at 12:45 pm today, Monday 29th July , while an underwater demolition with explosives practice was done at Caleta Hornillos, in Laguna Verde, Valparaiso, there was an accident resulting in death. Should be noted that this exercise is one of the planned activities in the Annual Training Plan. A result of this unfortunate situation were deceased 2nd Lt. Miguel Casas-Cordero Menéndez and 1st. Sgt. Marcos Llancavil Arce, both from the Special Forces Command of the Armada Chilena. Additionally is currently missing Cpl. José Luis Valenzuela Valderrama. Cpl. José Luis Valenzuela Valderrama was later found also deceased.<br />Source: Emol.com -
2018 5 0 Bucio Juan USA Chicago Fire Department Juan Bucio, 46, was among the first responders called to a report of a person missing in the Chicago River near the 2600 block of South Ashland Avenue at around 8 p.m. Monday night, authorities said. Fire officials said Bucio was searching for a 28-year-old man who witnesses said they saw jump from a boat into the river. At one point, Bucio lost communication with his dive partner during the rescue attempt, officials said. Authorities said he was later located and CPR was administered before he was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital, where he later died. “An order was given to switch out divers to bring the second team in, give them a break,” Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said at a news conference. “At that time, they were coming towards the boat. His partner turned around and he was missing, that quick,” Santiago added. The CFD diver is 46-year-old Juan Bucio. According to the Chicago Fire Department he has two sons, ages seven and nine. He was pronounced dead at 10:02 p.m. Bucio joined the Chicago Fire Department in 2003. He became part of the dive team in 2007. He has nine siblings including a brother with the Chicago Fire Department and a sister with the Chicago Police Department. Two other divers were released from Northwestern Memorial. One of the divers was Bucio’s partner. SourceE: https://www.statter911.com/2018/05/29/chicago-firefighter-juan-bucio-dies-in-search-for-missing-boater/ -
2005 9 27 Typhoon' TLP USA Chevron After the hurricane had passed, an aerial survey found the Chevron Typhoon tension leg platform floating upside-down, around 80 miles from its location in Green Canyon Block 236. In May 2006, Chevron declared that it would be donating the damaged platform to a U.S. Dept. of Interior program which uses old oil and gas platforms in the construction of artificial offshore reefs. -
2008 3 12 Not Recorded USA Chet Morrison Topsides Injured in explosion onboard DSV "Jillian Morrison", medivac but released from hospital after treatment -
2008 3 11 Altland Matt USA Chet Morrison Topsides Diver onboard the DSV "Jillian Morisson", Explosion knocked him into the water, fractured shouder, crushed elbow, collapsed lung, scalp injuries. Medivac to hospital in Lafayette. -
2008 3 11 DSV "Jillian Morisson" USA Chet Morrison Tuesday evening, engine room explosion on board the vessel, 1 missing, 6 to hospital, 3 later released. Boat had a 12' x 20' hole in deck and sank in 30' of water, later salvaged and taken to New Orleans boatyard -
2008 3 11 Not Recorded USA Chet Morrison Topsides Injured in explosion onboard DSV "Jillian Morrison", medivac but released from hospital after treatment -
2008 3 11 Sievers Andy USA Chet Morrison Topsides Killed in explosion, blown into water, search called off 3 days later, body recovered offshore Ecuador -
2008 3 11 Sonia Michael USA Chet Morrison Topsides Aged 43, crewman in the engine room, seriously injured in explosion onboard DSV "Jillian Morrison", died in hospital three days later -
2008 3 11 Stevenson Robert USA Chet Morrison Topsides Aged 39, crewman in the engine room. Injured in explosion onboard DSV "Jillian Morrison", medivac seriously injured, died in hospital -
1937 1 2 Not Recorded Australia Celebes Trading Co S/S Air Two divers drowned when waterspouts swampeds pearling boat. "Two divers drowned. While the pearling fleet of the Celebes Trading Co was fishing off the SouthEast corner of the Aru Islands, four waterspouts suddenly formed close to the fleet which were trailing slowly. The boats steeered away from the danger but the waterspouts suddenly changed direction and all fout converged into one big waterspout. This giant waterspout engulfed one vessel, the Arcadia, which foundered, and two Malay divers were drowned. Another boat canted over at a dangerous angle, but a second waterspout struck her and drove her upwards again". The Cairns Post. -
2011 10 17 Safety notice (Differential Pressure) Canada CDAC CDAC (Canadian Association of Diving Contractors) issued "Guidelines for Diving Operations on Dams and Other Worksites where Delta-P Hazards may Exist". 32 pages of detailed guidance on the subject. Available from - and freely distributed electronically by - the CDAC at http://www.CADC.ca -
2012 3 17 Roussow Pierre India CCC 28 S/S Air South African, experienced sat diver working an air job off the NPCC barge HLS 2000, crane incident, found in the water with helmet off, broken neck. Longstreath -
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) -
2005 4 1 DLB Regina Crane incident India CCC 75 Saturation DLB Regina 250, (Valentine Maritime, Abu Dhabi). Main crane collapsed over sat system dive control, bell LARS and HLB during a two man bell run. Both video and photos clearly show the extent of the damage to the dive system with the crane boom draped over the HLB/sat system. Bell handling system rendered inoperable, divers through-water transfer to a second DSV. Reported that the Regina went to Gujerat for major repairs to the dive system/bell handling equipment and crane before returing to work a couple of weeks later. Sat dive sequence:- Dive 86:- 17:35 Bell Sealed. 17:45 BLS. 17:50 BOB, commence diver lock out. 17:52 Crane collapsed on dive system. 17:55 Bell sealed at 75m. 17:57 Divers report 'OK". 18:25 Main bell wire secured on surface. 18:30 standing by on DSV "Sevak" for through water transfer. 19:39 DSV "Sevak" on site. 20:13 After discussion between Supv/Supt of both vessels, decide to use "Regina" bell umbilicals/helmets for transfer. 21:44 "Sevak" diver established swimline to "Regina" Bell, 21:55 Diver 1 in water, 22:02 Diver 1 in "Sevak" bell. 22:14 Diver 1 umbilical and hat secured back onto "Regina' Bell by "Sevak" diver. 22:18 Diver 2 in water. 22:22 Diver 2 in "Sevak" bell. 22:44 "Sevak" diver secured diver 2 umbilical onto "Regina" Bell, 22:45, transfer complete. The second DSV was the 'Samudra Sevak" (built 1988, 11 man Comanex dive system) which was also on hire to ONGC at the time. PC -
2002 12 16 Arnold Christian UAE CCC Topsides Aged 29, fell from the 12th floor of the International Hotel in Abu Dhabi three days after arrriving in the Middle East. A fire gutted four rooms and set off the fire alarms at 03:00, smoke came under the door of the room he was sharing with a colleague who tried to calm him down (He had a phobia about being trapped by fire), but he jumped from the balconey. A large number of other guests, including 11 other dive team members, were treated for smoke inhalation. The Sun -
1995 0 0 Webb John India CCC Saturation Salvaging concrete coated pipe lost off a materials barge in zero visibility on Bombay High, crushed between pipes during crane operations. When the incident happened, the bellman (On his first sat) was slow into the water and did not flood the bell, could not reach the diver so had to climb back into the bell to release more umbilical, diver's umbilical trapped under pipe, the bellman initially cut the divers umbilical on the wrong side of the pipe and then had to use the divers's own knife (his own knife by then being blunt) to release the diver and take him back to bell. The diver's KMB 17 side block had been knocked off, probably by impact from a swinging pipe caused by a sling coming off, and his umbilcal trappd. Pipe sections were scattered in a loose unstable pile and recovered using modified shackles hooked into the ends of the pipe sections (This method - as opposed to burning lifting holes in each end of the pipes - was adopted because 'the client wanted to speed things up and avoid damaging the pipe'. Longstreath blog. -
1992 0 0 Palin Carl UAE CCC 0 Died in the DDC (Brain aneurysm) -
2009 7 12 Nevmatov Rafik Azerbaijan Caspian Diving and Rescue Topsides MI-8 helicopter coming in from the block 4 off Chilov island, crashed into the sea in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, wreckage located at a depth of 85-89 meters.. Three man crew survived and one passenger survived, two passengers missing, presumed dead - crane operator Viktor Mostavenko and commercial diver Rafik Neymatov. -
1935 7 7 Salaman Australia Carpenter S/S Air Reported as Malay, Pearl diver out of Darwin diving near Bathurst Island, 'attacked by paralysis and died' “When he first gave distress signals, he was hauled to the surface, and was in great pain. He was then lowered to ten fathoms to allow him to become accustomed to the change in pressure, but he was dead when he reached the surface again.� Reported in the Canberra Times. Also reported in 'The Age' as "The lugger Zena returned to port this morning with it's flag flying at half mast and the dead body of a Koepang diver, Salmon, on board. It was reported that he came up sick after diving. He was lowered again but died. It is believed that diver's paralysis caused death". -
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 12 24 Williams Rodney Dale USA Canon's Service SCUBA Aged 57, died in a retention pond. OSHA report stated "Investigation Nr: 142251.015, Event: 12/24/2021, Employee Is Killed, Drowned When Diving With Defective Equipment. At 10:20 a.m. on December 24, 2021, an employee who worked as an independent con tract diver was entering a retention pond for a second dive to place a buoy on pipe that was broken. A coworker (the employer) who was observing from the shore noticed about 15 minutes into the second dive that employee's bubble trail had made a circle and then stopped. Coworker #1 called 911 immediately as Coworker #2 entered the water and tried to rescue the employee. Local police and Fire/EMS a rrived on scene, but were unable to rescue the employee. EMS called for the Coun ty Dive Team to assist but by the time the team arrived the rescue operation had turned into a recovery. The employee was retrieved from the pond approximately two (2) hours after he was last seen. The employee was pronounced dead at the sc ene due to drowning. The employee's personal dive equipment was not functioning properly which potentially lead to hypoxia and then death. -
2009 1 31 Greenfield Sapper Sean Afghanistan Canadian soldier Topsides Aged 25, died after his armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar. He was a member of 24 Field Engineer Squadron, 2 Combat Engineer Regiment serving with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group. He was described by Padre Roy Laudenorio as a dependable combat engineer and diver. His Commander described Greenfield as an exceptionally fit soldier who recently completed a combat diver's course and aspired to join Canada's elite JTF2 special forces team. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC) Reported by CBC.ca -
2010 10 18 Tiffin CPO Andrew Afghanistan Canadian Navy Topsides Canadian, 42-year-old father of two, naval clearance diver and explosive ordnance disposal technician. (Friend and colleague of Craig Blake - killed 3rd of May - whose coffin he escorted home). He specialized in the analysis of explosive devices, based in Kandahar, working on a seemingly disabled device when it blew apart in his hands. Severely damaged left hand, also arms injuries, medivac to Germany and then onward to Canada. The Star.com. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC) -
2010 5 3 Blake Petty Officer Craig Afghanistan Canadian Navy Topsides Aged 37, father of two, Navy clearance diver with the Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic based in Nova Scotia, seconded to Afghanistan because of his mine clearance training, killed by a remote operated roadside bomb as he and colleagues were walking back to the Sperwan Ghar forward Operations Base having successfully defused another IED in Panjwai, 25 miles South west of Kandahar. Wife and two sons, had only been in Afghanistan a couple of weeks, he was the first sailor to die in Afghanistan, killed the day before the Canadian navy celebrated its centennial. He was the 143 member of the Canadian forces to be killed there since 2002. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC). Reported in the Canadian Press -
1991 2 8 Hynes Master Seaman William Portugal Canadian Navy SCUBA Aged 31, diving off the Canadian destroyer 'Margaree, visiting the Madeira Islands. It was stated that the propeller being started had nothing to do with the death of the two divers who were inspecting the hull who both drowned after being trapped in the engine room cooling water intake pipe. Double fatality (Sub Lieutenant Corey Wells). Reported in the Toronto Star -
1991 2 8 Not Recorded Portugal Canadian Navy SCUBA One of two un-named Navy divers injured and hospitalised in Madeira during the rescue of diver sub-lt Corey Wells and Master Seaman Willian Hynes who both drowned when sucked into the engine cooling intake of the Canadian destroyer "Magaree" when her engines were started whilst they wrre undertakung a hull survey. Reported in the Ottawa Citizen -
1991 2 8 Wells Sub-Lt Corey Portugal Canadian Navy SCUBA Aged 27, diving off the Canadian destroyer 'Margaree', visiting the Madeira Islands. It was stated that the propeller being started had nothing to do with the death of the two divers who were inspecting the hull who both drowned after being trapped in the engine room cooling water intake pipe. Double fatality (Master Seaman William Hynes). Reported in the Toronto Star -
1975 3 18 McDonald Norman Canada Can Dive Services 6 Chamber Described as “Working in water more than 200 feet deep off the Harmac pulp mill (owned byMacMillan Bloedel Ltd)�, required surface decompression in deck chamber, “The RCMP said a diver burned to death when a spark ignited in the pure oxygen in the decompression chamber". Victim was not named. Reported in the Windsor Star. An alternative report says that the diver was completing his surface decompression at 1.6 bara (20 fsw) following a routine mixed gas dive dive to 275'. His respirator mask was not working correctly so he switched to a second that was 'Y' connected and put it on free flow which by-passed the overboard dump and allowed the O2 inside the chamber build to an estimated 40%. The diver was wearing two sweathers for warmth. As the chamber was being vented the diver removed his wool sweater from over the synthetic one. There was a flash inside the chamber and smoke poured out of the vents and BIBS dump. It was concluded that static electrical discharge was the initiating factorThe diver died as a result of the explosion, CO poisoning and asphyxia. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164 -
2005 6 9 Cartes Pedro Vivanco Chile Cammachaca SCUBA Shellfish cultivation centre, Guaitecas, Source: Ecoceanos, based on data from the Dir. of Labor, Directemar, Mariscope and the Tenth and Eleventh Regions District Attorneys Offices. No details -
1985 11 17 Rao Mathew J USA Caldwell Diving Company 6 S/S Air Removing silt from a dockside water when his air supply was accidentally cut off, 'His air hose got sucked into the intake of the ejection pump, cutting off his air supply,'' NY Times -
2007 7 22 DSV "Eclipse" UKCS Caldive Subsea 7 Saturation DSV "Eclipse" (Ex "Stena Seaspread"). Loss of pressure from the transfer trunk when preparing for the transfer of divers (TUP), HSE issued a prohibition notice to Cal Dive International Pte., the owners of the vessel, with actions required to be implemented prior to the continued use of the Dive System for Saturation Diving. The corrective actions are both mechanical and procedural, est. 3 days. HSE to witness the completed improvement. At the time the seal was lost on the trunk the divers were in the bell. -
1997 11 11 McHazlett J. Jerry GOM CalDive International Sat Diving Jerry was aboard the Witch Queen and had completed his first 4 1/2 hour rotation of saturation diving at a depth of approximately 300 feet. Upon reentry into the diving bell Jerry fell back towards the moon pool unconscious and was brought back into the bell by diving partner. The diving partner attempted three times to close bell hatch which had a previously noted faulty pneumatic mechanism and seal. Diving partner attempted to do CPR and finally got hatch closed and bell was brought to surface. Top-side personnel did not attempt any resuscitation or medical treatment. Top-side personnel did not contact on-shore physician to get medical instructions including the use of adrenaline which was available. Witch Queen returned to dock and Jerry was transported to morgue. -
2007 9 3 Acton Steve USA Caldive Saipem 54 Saturation Katrina' salvage ops. "Using a grinder on a fallen structure deck plate, heard a weird noise and that was it". Diver was using a hydraulic underwater grinder to cut a window into 5/8 inch steel plate. There was an underwater explosion. Deck crew on the S-355 barge reported hearing a boom and some individuals stated that they felt the shock wave of the explosion. The videotape that was recording the diver’s movements was non-operational. An unspecified number of minutes elapsed before bell partner reached unresponsive diver 1. Upon reaching diver, the standby opened the free-flow valve on his diving hat. This action caused the diving helmet to become completely detached leaving the diver’s head exposed to sea water, without access to any breathing apparatus. Diver immediately attempted to replace the helmet and hold it in place. During this time a surface standby diver was sent to assist. The bell partner, with or without the assistance of the surface diver, brought the injured diver into the bell, and following assessment while in communication with the diving physician, initiated chest compressions. Injured diver was raised to surface in the bell but pronounced dead.. Investigation ongoing. An interim technical report raised issue of potential for underwater explosion when cutting into a gas pocket with a grinder (underwater grinding 'sparks' not generally raised as an issue in risk assessments -
2006 12 4 ASRV Australia Caldive 130 Atmos. ASRV "Remora" annual trials 'Black Carillon"from "Seahorse Standard", broken winch wire, 2 Caldive personnel on seabed for 15 hours, recovered to near surface, transferred to deck on SCUBA, no injuries, then the other wire broke, (Close to double or even a triple fatality?),"Remora" on seabed. Condition not reported, recovered over 4 months later (April 2007) by a USN team. -
2006 8 26 Griffeth Kevin S USA Caldive 67 S/S Mixed Gas "Cal Diver IV", Main Pass area, Freeport-McMoRan Energy Inc, platform inspection. Began his ascent, at approx. 150 fsw a large manta ray became entangled in his dive hose, pulling the diver to the surface in a rapid ascent. Into DDC but died -
2006 2 20 Love Derrick UK Caldive Topsides Aberdeen-based offshore operator Well Ops (UK) Ltd, formerly Cal Dive International Ltd fined a total of £110,000 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. Mr Derrick Love age 34, from Invergowrie, died after being struck by a 12m long well intervention tool weighing 370 kg (800lbs) on the offshore multi service vessel, MSV Seawell -
2004 8 0 Rosenbaum Anthony USA Caldive 70 "Caldiver II", 3rd degree burns, law suit, Broco BR 22 defective manufacturing plus bad technique -
2003 7 5 Begneaux Marc Damon USA Caldive 193 Saturation Ewing bank 827, DSV "Witch Queen", Wellhead burning, oxy/arc, U/W explosion 191, (see IMCA SF 10/03) -
2002 7 6 Mouritson Chris USA Caldive 32 S/S Air 34 year old with 12 years experience from the DSV 'Mr Fred' at Eugene Island 273, BP, KM 17B, helmet flooded, drowned but unclear if he ditched it, poorly maintained hat with valve issues (see IMCA SF 01/03). -
2000 6 24 Climer Michael USA Caldive Topsides American, diver/tender, topsides work removing a helideck, killed in a fall of 30', no details. cDiver -
1994 9 26 Not Recorded USA Caldive 91 Saturation High Island, Block 0376, G02754, Andarko. "A Cal Dive International diver injured his right hand when he opened a valve to flood a pipeline, and his hand was sucked to the valve due to the differential pressure. He was hung up for approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes. The nature of his injury was a cut nerve on his right index linger. To prevent a recurrence, a diffuser should be installed before operating. OCS Incidents database 1991 to 1994, page 73 -
1991 11 25 Lillard Billy Ray GOM Cal Dive SMG Age 25, Came off the downline on Waterstop. Died in Chamber on deck. 1) Young Diver First surface Gas Dive 2) Stage was not at first stop when he reached it. It was being lowered. 3) Seas Heavy, surge, and current. 4) There was a serious bend previous to this dive. Source: JC Roat post in Incidents forum -
2005 12 17 Atienza Juan Jose Spain Cadiz docks SCUBA Paraphrased from Press reports:-- “At four o'clock Sunday, the rescue services managed to recover the body of the diver who went missing on Saturday afternoon at Cadiz. The diver, aged 49 with 25 years of experience, worked at the factory in San Fernando, but participated in the work of putting ships into Cadiz dry dock (The vessel involved was the 'Rotterdam'). Companions of the diver called emergency services about eight o'clock in the evening because the diver who had checking the vessel's position in the dock failed to surface. Source: diariodecadiz.es/ -
1968 3 6 Rig 'Ocean Prince' UKCS Burmah/Odeco First Semi Submersible in the North Sea, GOM design (Ocean Queen type) built 1965 by Smiths (Middlesborough, UK), drilling in the dogger bank area resting on the seabed against the advice of the barge engineer who was concerned that high currents caused scouring at the bow and stern leaving only the centre supported. Crew had also reported cracks in the structure. Pressure to reduce rig downtime In the early hours of 06 March there were gale-force conditions with 50-foot waves and winds in excess of 80 knots. The rig was receiving an extreme battering by the elements and was being lifted up and dropped back onto the sea floor. The 45 crew on board could see cracks opening in the main deck and structural beams and notified shore personnel that the rig was in danger of breaking up. Of the various authorities contacted, only Capt. Robert Balls of Bristows, the rig's regular chopper pilot, set out immediately to rescue the crew. By 0710 hours, the portside pontoon broke in half and a main deck support split, allowing the whole port-aft area containing the drillfloor, derrick and radio room to collapse into the sea. Flying conditions were in excess of recommended helicopter limits but, shortly thereafter, the Bristow's chopper made its first landing on the rig and airlifted 18 of the crew to the neighbouring Constellation rig. Two more journeys were made to extract the remainder of the rig's crew. Less than an hour after the last pick-up, the entire rig broke up and sank into the stormy seas. Captain Balls was later made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his courage and skill as a helicopter pilot. Reported in the Times -
2021 7 15 Wood Jaxxyn Lee USA Bulldog Diving S/S Air "Aged 19, inspecting inlet pipes at the LG & E Mill Creek Power Plant (A 1972 coal fired power plant set in a 544 acre site on the Ohio river supplying power to Louisville, Kentucky). Initial press reports stated 2 man team, 'lost communications' and 'sucked into a pump'. Reported by 14 News, houston Chronicle and others. Later social media reports stated 4 man team (Including the diver's brother) which exceeds the minimum OSHA 3 man team, pump LOTO but adjacent pump running in next bay. Appear to have windows between bays that should have been blocked by power plant personnel (part of LOTO procedure). Diver was in water in zero visobility to confirm stoppers in place prior to commencing debris clearance, umbilical sucked through open window trapping diver. Unclear if he had a bailout but body not recovered for several hours. OSHA questioned contractor's umbilical management, LOTO verification, zero flow verification, clients LOTO and stop logs. Accident Report Detail. Accident: 137498.015 - Employee Is Killed On Dive After Being Pulled Into Pump. Report ID: 0452110 -- Event Date: 07/15/2021. On July 15, 2021, an employee performing underwater diving operations at a elect rical generating station inspecting pipes and clearing debris from a pump basin. Coworkers for the power company reported to the dive crew that the stoplog gates ""should be in place"" but they were unsure. The employee verified that LOTO was performed on the two pumps in the immediate work area and the employee entered the water to check for the presence of stoplogs and water flow. The employee mistakenly verified that stoplogs were down and that there was no water flow or cur rent present (which was incorrect). The employee then continued his work and returned to the water to make a last check of the area. During this final check, the employee's umbilical was caught in a current caused by a pump in an adjacent bay that was still in operation. The current pulled the umbilical into the pump, which in turn, pulled the employee into the pump, killing him." -
2000 5 28 Cronland Kyle USA Bulldod Diving American, Southern Indiana Gas and Electricity Company, Cinergy Power Plant, Indianapolis, Ohio River, zero vis, removing mud from a locked out pump. Pump cells all suck water from a common screen cell. Apparently either diver walked around dividing wall into common cell then was pulled or wandered into a live pump. Drowned when umbilical was cur (Did he have a bailout??). Cause given as incorrect lock out/rag out procedues. Offshore Diver/NAOCD/cDiver/Indianapolis Star -
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 -
1974 0 0 Trautman Richard Wayne Egypt Buck Steber American, salvage diver, injured during suez canal clearance operations. Law suit in 1982. No details -
2008 11 17 B AC Spain Broth SA or Consomar SA 28 SCUBA Aged 50, head of a diving contractor from Valencia, Broth Sa, working (Inspection and filming) on an outfall 1 kilometre off the town of Moraira-Teulada (Spanish East coast, South of Valencia), failed to surface. Supervisor dived but could not find him. The next day, after a two hour search by a combined fire/civil guard diving team, his body was discovered trapped in fishing nets. He had ditched his cylinders/buoyancy vest in a last attempt to escape the nets when his air ran out. Reported by Levante-EMV.com -
1952 0 0 Owen, RN, DSM Norman Warden UK British Rail S/S Air Holyhead, pier demolition using a hundred ton crane, sent in to unsnag wire, trapped two fingers of his right hand between pile and crane wire. "Unable to reach his exhaust valve to adjust the pressure in his suit or speak to the surface. With no chance of cutting the heavy wire, Owen reached for his diver's knife with his left hand and began to saw off his fingers, but as the blood billowed up past him he could not cut through the bone. In desperation Owen signalled to be pulled to the surface and two of his fingers "came away like pegs from a cribbage boar". He collected his tools and surfaced, where the men in the tender complained about his late arrival at the surface. Owen was rowed ashore and walked to the hospital 500 yards away: He remembered being told not to drip blood on the floor". -
2010 4 23 Salas Jonathon Michael Botello Panama Braswell Shipyard Int SA Aged 21, had been diving at the Braswell shipyard in Balboa (South East entrance to the Panama Canal) for just three months. Apparently ate a meal at noon and after a brief rest, entered the water, 'had a seizure' (Vomited) and drowned. Reported by critica.com.pa -
2005 7 10 Thunder Horse USA BP Reported as the largest offshore platform ever built, BP's Thunder Horse was constructed in South Korea before being transported to the Thunder Horse Field in the Mississippi Canyon Block in the Gulf of Mexico. It is an oil and gas production platform linked to 25 subsea wells, and is planned to be the largest producer in the Gulf. Production was initially scheduled to begin at the end of 2005, but this has been delayed due to a ballast control incident around the time of Hurricane Dennis. As the Dennis approached the Gulf of Mexico in July 2005, the rig was secured and the crew evacuated. After Dennis had passed, the rig was found listing an estimated 20-30 degrees. Subsequent inspection found that key valves had failed and allowed ballast water to move inside the platform. Salvage personnel from Bisso Marine and BP boarded the rig on 11 July 2005 and, using powerful portable pumps, removed water from the platform's 185 foot portside columns and stabilised the installation. As a result, production was delayed whilst repairs were undertaken, with the start of production operations in 2007. Oil Rig Disasters -
1965 12 27 Rig 'Sea Gem' UK BP Converted barge with 10 legs, drilling on block 48, the West Sole field. At around 1345 hours on 27 December 1965, the crew were preparing to move the rig to a new location and commenced jacking down the main deck. A short time later, the passing freighter Baltrover witnessed the main deck lurch then fall towards port. The boat radioed for assistance at 1409 hours before coming to the aid of the Sea Gem's crew. Two of the rig's ten legs had apparently failed, causing the rig to fall sideways. Survivors stated that after about thirty minutes, the rig subsequently capsized and sank with one leg remaining above the sea. Some of the crew were able to launch a liferaft, which 14 of the crew managed to board. The rest of the crew were thrown or jumped into the freezing winter sea. Fortunately, the Baltrover was on scene quickly to pick up survivors. Other men were rescued by passing boats with an RAF and a civilian helicopter assisting. Of the 32 men on board, 19 were rescued, 13 died. -
1938 8 24 Jotana Koheharu Australia Bowden Pearling Company 73 S/S Air 30 year old Japanese diver diving from the lugger Zamia for shell off Darnley Island in the Torres straits wearing only a helmet and corselet in 40 fathoms. His lifeline went limp and then he floated to the surface without helmet or corselet, recovered by dinghy, put back in his helmet and taken to 15 fathoms before being staged to the surface but failed to revive. "The opinion is expressed that Jotana may have been overcome by sickness during staging and was unable to keep a firm grasp of the lifeline which was the only secure means of remaining in the helmet and corselet. The cause of death was certified by the Government Medical Officer at Thursday Island to be diver's paralysis and asphyxia by drowning". Reported in The Western Australian, Perth. -
1937 5 20 Sakamoto Keniko or Kinicho Australia Bowden Pearling Company 37 S/S Air "A Japanese lugger brought into Darwin the body of Keniko Sakamoto, aged 25, a diver who was drowned by the bursting of the air pipe when he was working at 20 fathoms. This is the tenth fatality this season amongst divers working the pearling grounds northwest of the Liverpool river". Reported in the Worker, Brisbane. -
1934 9 13 Kongo Hisa Australia Bowden Pearling Co. 55 S/S Air "Diver Drowned When Helmet Fills With Water" Japanese diver aged 24, reported that his helmet filled with water as he rose to the surface with a bag of shells at Darnley Island. Diving off the lugger 'Sydney', came to the surfacce unconscious, the vessel master, Captain Yonekawa, thought he was suffering from diver's paralysis, fitted another helmet and took Kongo down again in an attempt to relieve the stricken diver. The Captain remained below for nearly 40 minutes but Kongo failed to respond. He was hauled to the surface dead. Reported in the Advocate, Burnie, Tasmania. -
1958 3 11 Not Recorded USA Boston Naval Base 4 A civilian diver employed by :contractor working for the Navy at the South Boston Naval Shipyard became wedged at the bottom of piling, twelve feet below the surface within inches of rescue, but drowned. No details. New York Times -
2007 9 6 Harris Robert J. USA Borries Marine S/S Air BILOXI, Mississippi, Diver critically injured Tuesday 4th while dredging under a casino barge. 22 years old, died on Thursday 6th night at Biloxi Regional Medical Center where he had been on life support since the accident at IP Casino Resort Spa. Drowned. Radioed his surface support crew that he was having trouble with his equipment. When co-workers pulled Harris up to the surface, he was unresponsive and not breathing. His S.L. 17 uncamed. He was nearly 300' under the boat. -
2008 0 0 Bartee Daniel USA Bo Mac Maritime law blog, working as a diver, injured whilst working on the Mississippi, 6th March (2008??), injuries to heart, lung and others organs. Law suit under Jones act, no details -
2003 3 22 Whelan Peter UK BNFL 3 S/S Air Umbilical sucked into support vessel jet propulsion intake, took 25 minutes to cut him free, on bail out, HSE prosecution, £30,000 fine. -
2011 8 2 Marzouk Ismail Egypt Blue O2 60 Rebreather Aged 33, IANTD technical diving instructor working out of Hurgada died on a deep wreck dive (90 metres?) dive off Marsa Alam with three British tourists, apparently stopped breathing at 60 metres (suspected oxygen toxicity) and dropped into the depths, the three tourists surfaced without incident, instructor's body not recovered. Family raising questions about about lack of any SCUBA/Sports/Tourist/Technical diving standards or enforcement in Egypt. Wife and baby daughter. A second fatality - that of a Russian diving instructor - was reported on the same day but no detailed reports located to date. NB, Tourist diving instructors - esppecially technical diving - appear to have a very high fatality rate but are not generally reported. Reported by ahramonline -
1999 7 21 Juse Bill USA Black Dog Divers Died 9 miles inside a tunnel dry diving operation in New Deer sewage outfall, Boston, double fatality (Juse). Both divers died as a result of bad air quality that resulted from extremely poor equipment and equipment not made to be used in a tunnel environment. Over $200,000 in fines for wilful violations. Boston Globe and others -
1999 12 28 Mahoney Michael C USA Bisso Marine American, Mississippi river barge salvage job, oxy arc explosion, stand-by diver not dressed in. Diver was killed in an underwater explosion while performing "hot work" on the sunken barge. Early court documents from a civil action brought by Bisso Marine against OSHA when the investigation was transferred from USCG to OSHA shows that Mr. Mahoney's "autopsy revealed high levels of cocaine and TCH.....that Mahoney likely smoked crack cocaine on the barge shortly before making the dive." OSHA investigation complete. Citations on Appeal. Fine to be Paid, 4 Citations/$8250 NAOCD/cDiver -
2007 9 0 Skulan Jeff USA Bisso American, DLB "Big Chief". DCI incident, in hospital -
2006 8 29 McGrath Chandon Lee USA Bisso 67 S/S Mixed Gas East Area block 346, Rowan Drilling, Removal of the MODU "Rowan Halifax" (Sank on the lease during Hurricane Rita) Mixed gas surface diving from the DP II DSV "Global Explorer" run by International Subsea Inc., Houston. No real details, no audio record recovered by CG investigators, "audio malfunctioned" -
2008 7 27 Spencer William USA BIDCO 20 American, aged 42, working off the construction barge "Lone Star Horizon" (a 314' ong construction barge) on the Neptune LNG project (terminal and pipeline) 12 miles offshore Massachusetts. BIDCO (Buffalo Industrial Diving Company) were subcontractors to Caldive. Diver replacing air hose on stinger, reported difficulty breathing, stand-by divers brought him to the surface, CPR, medivac to hospital, later declared dead, heart attack. -
2008 3 8 Gallardo Obando Victor Chile Bibisier diving Died performing work on a fish farm in Aysen when no diving should have been taking place (Closed by authotities due to bad weather) Reported by Ecoceane -
2012 9 18 Lemons Chris UK Bibby 91 Saturation DPII DSV Bibby Topaz, built 2008, Kongsberg DP system, diving on the Huntington Field template, at 22:09 RBUS DP alarm activated, 22:11 loss of DP control, divers relocated to top of template, vessel starts to drift off, 22:12 Diver 1 pulled off template by tight umbilical, diver 2 umbilical snagged and parted, 22:17 vessel 240 metres East of template, manual control established, diver 2 beacon at template, 22:34, vessel back on auto DP, 22:40 vessel back at template, diver 1 left stage, bell 18 metres from template, 22:46 diver 2 recovered to bell, unconscious, 23:04 diver 2 conscious, 22:13, BLB, 23:39 BLO. Diver 2 on bailout with planned duration of 10 minutes for between 28 and 34 minutes. Survival believed to have been due to rebreather type bailout, high ppO2 in bailout mix, probably rapid onset of hypothermia/reduced breathing rate. Diver made a full recovery. DP fault not identified/publicised, investigation ongoing. Reported in the Press and Journal, Times etc -
2013 8 6 Quiroga Sergio Daniel Uruguay Belfi-Techint or Stora Enso 7m Unknown Tuesday August 6th 2013 - Uruguay. Quiroga, Sergio Daniel, 2nd Corporal, aged 40, married, three children, Uruguayan Navy Diver with 21 years in the military, 16 as a diver, subcontracted to work for Belfi-Techint (working for main contractor Montes del Plata or for a Swedish company Stora Enso - conflicting reports or maybe just one of those multi-national organisations), on construction of a new dock in Puerto de Conchilllas (region of Colonia, 240 kilometres NW of Montevideo) , depth 7 metres, lifting/shackle operation, lines entangled, trapped underwater, drowned (not clear if S/S air or SCUBA plus communication line). -
1994 3 23 Sirry Tarek USA Bay Diving Company SCUBA Aged 35, owner/operator of his own diving company, salvage dive off Poole Island in the mouth of the Sassafras River, Chesapeake bay. 20-25 minute dive, reported as drowned 'when he accidentally let his SCUBA tank run low on air and passed out' according to the USCG investigation. Reported by HometownAnnapolis.com -
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 -
1898 0 0 Campbell George USA Baltimore Wrecking Company Chamber Salvage operation recovering the cargo of the sunken steamer 'Pewabic' in Thunder Bay off Milwaukee. Working from a bell with partner Peter Olsen. Both men drowned when one of the glass ports failed -
1897 2 25 Olsen Albert M USA Baltimore Wrecking Company S/S Air “A driver in the employ of the Baltimore Wrecking Company, died suddenly yesterday while he was under water in a diving suit in the channel of the Patapsco river, off Sparrow's Point. "Heart disease is supposed to have caused his death� (Quote from his employer......) -
1897 0 0 Olson Peter USA Baltimore Wrecking Company Chamber Salvage operation recovering the cargo of the sunken steamer 'Pewabic' in Thunder Bay off Milwaukee. Working from a bell with partner George Campbell. Both men drowned when one of the glass ports failed -
2017 1 25 Ortega Agustin Spain Balizamientos y Obras Hidraulicas de Mazarron. Sociedad Limitada Rebreather Aged 37, married, two children diving off Mazarron, working on the underwater pipelines associated with the Valdelentisco desalination plant near El Mojon diving from the vessel 'Ten de Todo'. Taken out of the water unconscious, brought ashore and taken to hospital in Mazarron where he was in cardiac arrest, did not respond to treatment. Reported in la Voz de Almeria. No other details. RB Faral Accident Database reported this as a commercial dive on a recreational rebreather. -
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 -
2009 2 11 de Gelder Paul Australia Australian Navy 0 SCUBA Australian Navy clearance diver, aged 31, in-water exercise testing sonar defence equipment off HMAS Darwin in Garden Bay, near Sydney, whilst swimming on the surface was attacked by a shark, lost a hand, severe leg injuries led to loss of leg, intensive care but stable, survived. -
1996 10 8 Richards Jessica Anna Australia Australian Institute of Marine Sciences 10 SCUBA British, aged 19. Volunteer scientific diver, check out dive on Davies Reef, 55 miles NE Townsville. Separated from group near end of dive, low on air, surfaced and screamed for help, some delay in rescue due to fouled anchor on tender. Cerebral arterial gas embolism (CAGE). Investigation concluded inadequate system of competence and experience assessment. Workplace Health and Safety, Queensland. -
2002 12 9 Not Recorded Australia Australian Army Special Forces Topsides Paraphrased from press reports:- "Oil Rig Raid Death a 'Freak Accident'. The Australian Army Special Air Services was running a mock raid on a oil rig in Bass Straight with four inflatable boats, each carrying six divers were traveling about 3 meters apart in a staggered formation. The coxswain of one boat lost control when a diver caught his flipper strap on the tiller when he was entered the water. The driver slipped and fell onto his knees. He looked and saw a man being dragged by his leg, the boat then veered to the left and struck another diver. He saw a diver about 10 meters away with a face that "looked like it was mangled". The supervising officer said in hindsight, "propeller guards should have been used", however the boat was harder to control with guards. The soldier killed by the propeller was a 33 year old sergeant from Perth� Reported by Polson Enterprises list of propeller incidents/Herald Sun (Australia) -
2017 6 14 Sango Mervin UAE Atlantis Marine SCUBA Ex-Navy diver, hull cleaning the vessel 'Oil Runner' (Panama flagged crude oil tanker, 270m x 46 m) off Fujairah, evening dive (20:00 - 21:00), heavy swell, current running, apparently had a problem and disappeared from colleagues view. Later found floating on the surface, 'lips exploded and tongue bitten'. PC -
2004 8 17 Fleming Adrian Canada Atlantic Fisheries SCUBA Canadian, aged 45, working on moorings in Bay Bulls harbour, Newfoundland, Drowned. The boat tour company was prosecuted for employing an unqualified diver. “He was inspecting moorings for a boat-tour company when he died and his death has once again brought to the fore the concerns surrounding diving work — work that provincial legislation says should be done by fully-equipped commercial divers, and the work that is actually done on an almost daily basis by divers who are neither fully equipped nor trained to the standard required by that legislation.� “All the regulations in the world won't save a life if they aren't enforced. That's a point that has already been made too many times in this province. In fact, if it is clear to all that no one is responsible for enforcing them, the toughest regulations in the world really aren't worth the paper they are printed on.� “Atlantic Fisheries Ltd. was charged with seven counts of violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The charges followed an investigation of the occupational health and safety branch of the government services department. A government statement said the charges "relate generally to its failure as an employer to ensure that its workers were made familiar with the hazards that may be met by them at the workplace, and to ensure the diving operation was conducted in accordance with the requirements of the related Canadian Standards Association code." The diver was not registered with the Diver Certification Board of Canada, the body that recognizes commercial divers. Reported by press and CDNN -
2016 11 10 Rathore Dipakbhai Shivkumar India Atlanta Diving and Engineering Services PVT Ltd SS/Air Airlifting at Sutrapada, Gujarat State for Client Gujrat Heavy Chef Ltd. Details unclear and no official report available. Facebook and email. -
2007 8 7 Primeau Christopher N USA Associated Underwater Services, Spokane 40 S/S Air American aged 35. Cherry Point Refinery, Bellingham (North of Puget sound). Sheriff's report "Primeau was checking for rocks/underwater cables, his job was to signal when 24-foot-tall steel pilings weighing up to nine tons could be lowered into the water, when crews could start driving the pilings and when they should stop once they'd been driven in to the appropriate depth. Depth about 140 feet, he signalled for crews to begin driving a piling, within 13 seconds, Primeau screamed, "All stop! All stop!" Camera and light on his helmet went dead, no comms. Hammer may have disconnected causing the piling to fall over. OSHA fines of $21,650. -
2007 9 0 Alvarado Pedro Pablo Chile Asserma Died while fixing underwater netting on a Chiloé-area salmon farm owned by Norwegian aquaculture company Marine Harvest. Reported that that the diver was in the water approximately 10 minutes when colleagues on the surface detected a problem. A fellow diver then entered the water and found him unconscious at a depth of approximately 20 meters, dragged him to the surface. Taken to, where doctors pronounced him dead. An autopsy determined the cause of death as Acute Decompression Illness, also known as the “bends. (Report incomplete but no other details available). -
2011 9 7 Juarez Luis Alberto Peru Asociacion La Bocana Aged 48, working at a scallop hatchery, Pichayo, Parachique, found trapped underwater, no other details. This report also referred to a second fatality in the area on the same day, that of 39 year old Eli Perez Becerra "who died of decompression illness, apparently as a result of mechanical failure of his diving equipment". No other details so cannot confirm if the second death was a commercial fatality. Reported by RPP Noticias. -
2007 8 22 Antinanco Pedro Alvarado Chile Aserma, Marine Harvest SCUBA Diver, Cultivation Center of Puchilco, located in Lemuy Island, Central Chiloé, Source: Ecoceanos, based on data from the Dir. of Labor, Directemar, Mariscope and the Tenth and Eleventh Regions District Attorneys Offices. No details -
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 -
2002 8 9 Ramsey Gary USA Army Corps of Engineers S/S Air Apparent DP, Dam 52 on the Ohio river, . Died after being trapped inside a temporary dam for nearly 50 minutes while caulking cracks near a water intake valve, (may have been surfaced rapidly and suffered embolism) Recovered with no pulse. Lexington Herald Leader -
2005 6 15 Ong Sgt. Jia Hui Singapore Army Aged 24, Army specialist, training exercise in marine counter terrorism off Changi Naval Base, discovered at around 17:40, stand-by diver sent in and 'found the diver in about 5 minutes'. He was given treatment at the medical centre before being evacuated to Changi General Hospital within half an hour of the incident but was pronounced dead around 19:00. No other details. Straits Times -
2004 2 16 McLellan Sgt William Germany Army SCUBA REME Officer based at Osnabruck, routine exercise in the river weser with two colleagues, drowned, faulty SABA gear (SABA was condemned as unsafe by a 2002 MOD inquiry into two previous deaths by drowning) -
1987 11 18 Batuecas Sgt. Francisco Javier Arroyo Spain Army Army engineer died during a training dive at the Navy diving centre in Cartagena whilst on a diving course. Reported as 'death may be due to natural causes and not an accident' by the forces spokesman, but no details. Reported in 'El Pais' -
2000 11 8 Miller Gary A UK Arkal Ltd British, aged 36, experienced commercial diver, ex-Navy, bridge construction at Canary Wharf, indications of poor equipment (one missing crutch strap, the other taped on) and band mask may have been incorrectly assembled such that the band holding the hood on parted and the pieces separated. Recorded verdict “diver was unlawfully killed�. -
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 -
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. -
1988 9 22 Rig 'Ocean Odyssey' UK Arco Semi Submersible, drilling block 22 (Central Graben, Shearwater), HPHT well, blow out and fire, 1 fatality (Radio operator sent back from lifeboat to continue communications), 58 evacuated by TEMPSC, 8 jumped into the sea and were picked up by the stand-by vessel. Rig was subsequently converted into a satellite launch pad (Sea Launch) based at Long Beach, California -
1983 10 25 Drillship 'Glomar Java Sea' South China Sea Arco Capsised in tropical storm 'Lex'off Hainan Island (China), 81 fatalities. Rumours of survivors held in vietnam camps never substantiated. Was there a dive team onboard? -
2009 12 8 Kelly Stephen Australia Arafura Pearls Arafura Pearls pearling (farm) operation at Elizabeth Bay, about 50km northwest of Gove in Arnhem Land, 3.15pm on Tuesday. Aged 36, "He had come up from Victoria� (reported as new to the job, had started less than 12 months previously) and “was performing routine farm maintenance work, the water wasn't exceptionally deep but he went down, came up six minutes later, went down again and then when they pulled him back up he wasn't breathing." Transported 48 km to Gove Hospital failed. Doctors declared him dead on arrival in the emergency ward. Awaiting incident report. Reported by NT News.com.au -
2007 1 12 Verma SK UAE Arab Tanker Services 31 S/S Air Switching gases at first stop, no gas (valve closed on HP bottle but with an 'open' tag) -
2009 5 5 Smith Dewey USA Aquarius Underwater Laboratory Rebreather American, aged 36, Scientist working at the Aquarius underwater laboratory (Florida Keys), operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, (part of NOAA) at the laboratory (a teaching facility), 'assisting military divers with a saturation mission', found unconscious on the seabed, did not respond to treatment, autopsy reported as inconclusive. -
2012 2 19 Diaz Arturo Alejandro Rivas Chile Aquachile SA Aged 33, Beticoi salmon farm, diving accident on site, medivac to Puerta Melinka where it was reported that he died of cardiac arrest due to crush injuries sustained from a large cage of fish. Reported by rin.cl/noticas -
2017 12 17 Gubhela Nhlakanipho South Africa Aqua-tech SCUBA Aged 23, Pier 104, Durban Harbour, Vessel maintenance of the Chinese vessel Rui-Ning 2. "At 18h05, Sunday, 17th December, NSRI Durban duty crew were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) following a request for assistance from Aquatech reporting a diver missing in the Port of Durban. We believe that the diver reportedly went into the water on a dive to relieve another diver who was already under a ship during dive maintenance operations under a ship berthed in Port. At 17h00, reportedly after it appeared that the diver had not arrived to relieve the diver who was already under water (under the ship), Aquatech divers initiated a search and at 17h15 raised the alarm calling TNPA Port Control. 'The diver went missing while working on the hull of a vessel on Sunday. He was not wearing a lifeline at the time‚ a device that could easily have identified his position in the murky water, his body was recovered on Thursday morning.“He was found in the area where he went missing‚ strong winds blew his partially decomposed body back to the wharf where he was found this morning. “The official cause of death still needs to be investigated‚ but the diver is believed to have died from drowning. “He was dressed in diving gear with his cylinders attached‚ but he was not wearing a mask at the time of recovery.” The police diver said many questions needed to be asked about why proper safety precautions hadn’t been followed. Reported in the Daily News -
2014 11 11 Harris Kevin USA Aqua Vac Inc 3m SCUBA Aged 23, from Jenison, Michigan, dredging a retention pond in New Albany (Opposite the Discovery Financial services complex) "His co-worker called 911 at 15:47 after he failed to surface, "We're dredging the pond," he told the dispatcher. "I had a SCUBA diver in the water and I noticed his bubbles stopped coming up. I went into the water to find him and he's not anywhere where his equipment was. ... He's still underwater. I don't know where he is...." Body recovered at 16:47 some 50 feet from shore in 12' of water, air cylinder empty. (Aqua Vac were fined $4,500 after the death of Michael Johnson in November 2009). Reported in the Columbus Dispatch. -
1976 9 3 Critchfield Scott USA Aqua Hut 4 SCUBA Aged 22, Bowling Green Country Club Golf course, working on a submerged pump supplying a sprinkler system, colleague "Turned on the pump at a pre-arranged signal", about 30 seconds later the diver 'came struggling to the surface'. He went to get a rope but when he returned, the diver had disappeared. The diver's body was recovered about 20 feet from the shore. Possible electrocution, but no details. Toledo Blade. -
2009 8 11 Holbrook Rob (Stan) Vietnam Aqua Diving Services 57 S/S Mixed Gas Aged 56, Ex RN and very experienced diver. Working from the Swiber barge 'Glorious' 70 miles off Vung Tau. Wet bell, surface supplied mixed gas bounce dive, night shift. 160' excursion from the wet bell to attach a surface line to previously installed webbing strops around a pipeline. Initial reports indicate they moved the barge to follow him way past the intended location (webbing strops had actually been removed by the day shift which is why he did not locate them) and that as he returned to the bell his umbilical became snagged on a seabed obstruction behind him at the same time as the barge was moving back. Lost gas, went onto bailout, reported he could see the wet bell then lost comms. Surface deployed standby found diver back a wet bell (unconscious?), bell recovered to surface but on the way up the diver was ripped out of the bell at 80' and fell back to the seabed (Not secured in bell, umbilical still snagged on seabed), bell sent back down and diver recovered, diver clipped in, bell recovered to surface but on the way up the diver was ripped out of the bell at 80' and again fell back to the seabed (umbilical still snagged on seabed, ripped 'D' ring off his stab jacket). Eventually brought to the surface on the third attempt by which time the diver had been in the water 60 minutes, the standby diver 40 minutes. Apparently both diver and standby were put into the DDC (No in-water decompression stops). The diver was pronounced dead by barge medic (it is likely that the diver had died before being brought to the surface) The above comes from personal communications, official reports to follow, TC. His Funeral was reported publicly in the Bournemouth Daily Echo. Inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death in 2010 -
2005 0 0 Not Recorded France Aplomb 4 Commercial diver recovering car from inland lake. -
2003 7 13 Not Recorded USA Apache Topsides Overboard fatality during mooring operations, South Timbalier, crew fell overboard while taking a line off the platform, 30 minutes to recover him, deceased on recovery, crushed to death -
1996 11 16 Rig 'Maersk Victory' Australia Apache Jack Up, built 1981 by Mitsui, Japan. Suffered fire and expolsion and damage to the aft legs from an air attack during the Iran/Iraq war (October 1986). Transferred from Australian Northwest shelf to South Australia by the Mighty Servant II in November 1996. No site survey. During pre-load with 2 metre air gap the rig listed, punch through, after attempts to jack level it was found that the legs were severely damaged. Divers were used to cut the legs free and the hull was towed to Port Adelaide. The legs were salvaged by the Dock Express 10 and delivered, along with the hull, to the Far east Levingston ship yard in Singapore for repairs. The South Australia Department of Mines and Energy Resources (MESA) undertook the investigation and determined that the immediate cause of damage was the failure of the sub-sea sediments beneath the rig. There was no evidence of structural failure contributing to the incident. The report concluded that there was a failure to fully evaluate the risks of a new drilling location, a failure to fully evaluate the geotechnical data of the sub-sea sediments with particular reference to the load bearing capacity of the sub-sea sediments, and a failure in management systems and procedures for locating the rig -
1993 2 12 Herpin Jude USA AOD 42 South Timbalier, Block 0152, 00464, Structure E, Chevron, "Cutting a window in the 10 ¾ inch casing. The surface personnel heard an explosion on the diver’s monitor. A standby diver went into the water immediately and when he reached the other diver he found him unconscious and his helmet off. The injured diver later died in the decompression chamber of cardiac arrest" OCS Incident database 1991-1994m page 65 -
1991 3 24 Sugrue Jim USA AOD 76 DSV 'American Eagle' U/W explosion, face plate blown in, drowned. “Chasing Hangers after doing an inside burn-off. Paraphrased from reports:- “Chasing hangers after doing an inside burn off below the mud line, almost at the end of his bottom time (gas dive), Said 'One more burn and then I'm getting off bottom'. Topside heard a loud bang, then incoherent speech. His standby diver reached him very quickly (overshot his gas because he wouldn't stop for the switch in order to get to the diver faster) but when he reached him, the faceplate was gone and the diver was unresponsive. He was recovered to the chamber and treated but never regained consciousness. The incident led to a brief and informal moratorium on inside burn offs at AOD but they quickly resumed them when they started to lose work to other companies who did not follow suit. The final verdict the divers all heard was 'improper equipment usage' (as opposed to equipment failure) since Jim's hat (SL 17B) was old and beat up. This incident was a major factor in the introduction of the 'T' type faceplate screw anchors�. -
2005 7 26 Kringle Alan USA Anchor Marine Environmental Services S/S Air Aged 16, Reported as recreationally SCUBA qualified 8 months earlier, had been working as a diver for the contractor for 6 months. Four man team working on a lake restoration project. Conflicting press/sheriff reports. One version is that 'he surfaced but then sank', another that the compressor 'just ran out of gas', another that the compressor stopped but had a reserve tank but that for some reason he ditched his helmet, another that only his hands broke surface though there seems to be agreement that as the incident progressed, the surface crew pulled on this hose but only succeeded in pulling up his helmet and discovered he was entangled in another rope, eventually brought to the surface not breathing, no pulse. On site CPR, taken to Orlando Regional Medical Centre, reported as in a critical condition. No further details. -
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 -
2012 10 8 Duran Hector "Chapin" Belize Amigos Del Mar Dive Shop SCUBA Dive tour guide working in the dive shop in San Pedro town on Ambergris Caye where he had been employed for 20 years, filling SCUBA Cylinders, fatally injured when a tank he was filling ruptured, the explosion "caused injuries to his midsection resulting in instant death". At the time of his death, his wife was pregnant with their sixth child. Sanpedrosun.com -
2011 1 25 Castro Policcarpio UAE Amasco, Dubai SCUBA Personal Communication “A diver was killed carrying out a hullscrub on the offshore anchorage Fujairah – date of incident 25th Jan 2011. Filipino diver, one of four using brush carts, crushed on surfacing between dive boat and tanker 'Najm' (Maltese flag, Iranian National Oil Company) in rough seas� PC. Waiting on further details -
1896 3 30 Not Recorded Australia Almond Surface Swimmer On board a cutter owned by Mr. Almond, 11 o'clock at night: "Fearing they would be murdered, the diver gave a signal to the Japanese trader and they both jumped overboard. They swam near each other and when the dinghy approached, the men therein knocked the diver with a paddle so that he drowned. As the dinghy approached the trader he dived, and being an expert swimmer he eluded his pursuers and eventually swam to a small island near West Island after about 11 hours swimming". He lived on shellfish for four days until rescued by a Manilla cutter that took him to Thursday Island. "It is quite possible that he and the diver fancied that they were in trouble, but without any foundation for the belief, for it seems clear that the trader avoided the dighy from false fear. An inquiry is being held". Reported in the Argus, Melbourne. -
2011 6 13 Herrera Victorio Argentina Almiron Y Cia SRL Aged 32, Wife and 6 year old daughter. Pipeline (sewer) blockage work for Aguas Argentinsa (Argentinian public water utility), caught in strong current which pulled him 25 metres up a 50 cm diameter pipe, current prevented rescue. Pulled out alive but died some hours later, no real details but most likely was not in full gear, no life line. Reported by Diario Cronica -
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 -
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. -
2010 12 9 Perez David Venezuela Alianza Servicios Marinos del Lago 7 S/S Air Diving Contractor working for Petrolos de Venezuela. Reported as “Died whilst inspecting oil pipelines in Lake Maracaibo at 12:05 hours�. Reported by La Verdad. Another report indicates that neither the diver nor supervisor had no training certifcates and that the diver got entangled in a downline to the pipeline, lost his helmet and drowned (Longstreath) -
1970 0 0 Mumford Paul Saudi Arabia Algosaibi Drowned in shallow water when his suit over-inflated leaving him 'feet up, head down' in the water. PC -
2008 6 1 Le Sauteur Peter UK Alderney Marine Trust SCUBA Aged 55, Surveying the wreck of an Elizabethan gunship that sank in 1592 with a view to recovering two cannon. Fell ill after finishing a dive, unconscious, taken to hospital but pronounced dead. -
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. -
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 -
2010 12 20 Bartolome 01 Juan Spain Albaladejo Fishfarm 0 SCUBA 34 Year old diver employed by a fish farm in San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia, initially reported that he died after accidentally shooting himself in the chest with his own harpoon. It happened shortly before 9.30 on Monday morning when an emergency call came through that the diver was seriously injured when in the water and was being transferred by boat to the local port. All attempts to revive the man, both on board the boat and after reaching port, were however unsuccessful�. 'Accident in the worplace'. Reported by Typicallyspanish.com. See second report (Bartolome 02, below) -
2010 12 20 Bartolome 02 Juan Spain Albaladejo Fishfarm 0 SCUBA 34 Year old diver employed by a fish farm in San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia, initially reported that he died after accidentally shooting himself in the chest with his own harpoon. See first report (Bartolome 01, above). 15 months after his death, following investigation "Jaula 23", two co-workers were detained in connection with firing the harpoon that killed Juan Bartolome. They were subsequently charged with negligent homicide, despite initially claiming that the accident was caused by the victim himself and reported as an accident in the workplace. The two witnesses said at first that he had died by accident when putting on his diving equipment prior to entering the water, but their statements contained contradictions and contrasted with evidence found in the boat and the diving equipment and investigators soon began to suspect the two of homicide by negligence. Forensic and reconstructive investigation concluded that the harpoon had been fired from a distance and under the surface of the sea, presumably by accident, by one of the diver's companions. The case against IHV, aged 58 from San Pedro del Pinatar and JFMN, aged 37, from Murcia is being held at the Magistrates' court in San Javier. Case ongoing (April 2012). Murciatoday.com -
1948 7 18 Do Pang Australia Ah Dep 20 S/S Air “FATALITY AT DARWIN� Darwin, July 18. “With its flag at half mast, the pearling lugger ‘Zephyr’ berthed at Darwin to-day carrying the body of a Koepang pearl diver, Do Pang (45), who died aboard the vessel, after having been brought to the surface in a state of collapse. It was the first post-war diving tragedy in these waters. The Zephyr, which is owned by an Australian born Chinese, Ah Dep, was opeating to-day in 11 fathoms in the Darwin harbour. The pump attendants became anxious when Do Pang, who was being tried out in a headpiece only, did not respond to signals�. Reported in the Kalgoorlie Miner, WA -
1976 1 0 Rig 'Gatto Selvatico' AGIP Jack Up, sank -
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 -
1998 10 12 Not Recorded Tunisia Adriatica Subsea Services 75 S/S Mixed Gas Spanish, aged 33, Bounce diving, Galeazzi type bell, (no DDC, decompression done in the bell). The day before had passed out in the water, recovered by the bellman. Passed out during locking out, recovered dead. Ill fitting unisuit reported as a contributory factor -
2008 2 11 Not Recorded ADCI DDC ADCI safety alert relating to failed viewport due to heat from fluorescent lightbulb -
2013 3 0 Adams Challenger USA Adams/Epic Divers Saturation Vessel reported (industry rumour in March 2013) to have had two DP run offs, one with bell down and diver deployed (diver recovered to bell and bell to surface safely), one with bell on surface. Initially reported by DPO as computer problem, later confirmed as operator error/cover up. Waiting on official reports. PC -
2003 5 0 Harley Stephen Saudi Arabia ADAMS One of three divers (With Andrew Iles and Michael Hopley) allegedly exposed to toxic chemicals chemicals discharged from a vessel owned by Saudi Aramco, in May 2003. All three were admitted to hospital with rashes and nausea and were then readmitted for a further ten days after they experienced difficulties in breathing and became lethargic. None have been able to return to diving as an occupation. They are bringing a negligence action in the UK against the diving contractor and diving supervisor (March 2009). Details sub judice -
2003 5 0 Hopley Michael Saudi Arabia ADAMS One of three divers (With Andrew Iles and Stephen) allegedly exposed to toxic chemicals chemicals discharged from a vessel owned by Saudi Aramco, in May 2003. All three were admitted to hospital with rashes and nausea and were then readmitted for a further ten days after they experienced difficulties in breathing and became lethargic. None have been able to return to diving as an occupation. They are bringing a negligence action in the UK against the diving contractor and diving supervisor (March 2009). Details sub judice -
2003 5 0 Iles Andrew Saudi Arabia ADAMS One of three divers (With Stephen Harley and Michael Hopley) allegedly exposed to toxic chemicals chemicals discharged from a vessel owned by Saudi Aramco, in May 2003. All three were admitted to hospital with rashes and nausea and were then readmitted for a further ten days after they experienced difficulties in breathing and became lethargic. None have been able to return to diving as an occupation. They are bringing a negligence action in the UK against the diving contractor and diving supervisor (March 2009). Details sub judice -
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) -
2011 2 23 Garvizo Roberto Rojas Chile Acuinova A shellfish diver, net/cage inspection dive, failed to suface, body recovered by dive team. The incident occurred on the Wednesday evening at Quitralco 7, reported as 'dying after swallowing water underwater' and listed as 'drowning'. No other details. Reported by Radio Santa Maria -
2011 9 5 Acergy Discovery Canada Acergy Saturation 05:45, DSV on DP with saturation divers deployed, collided with the Deep Panuke gas platform hitting a leg and the riser caisson -
2011 4 10 Mitchell David UKCS Acergy Saturation Aged 49, bell run from the Acergy Osprey, returned to the bell, fell ill and died. Initial reports indicate a heart attack -
2007 2 0 Not Recorded Singapore Acergy Saturation Seaway Hawk, Singapore, Medlock door failed during pressure test, one technician seriously injured IMCA SF 08/07 -
1997 5 21 Little Jim USA Acadiana Divers Chamber American, died during surface decompression, smoking inside the DDC, chamber fire. Reported in the press simply as:- “On Sunday, a professional diver undergoing decompression on the dive boat 'White Dove' was killed when the chamber caught fire, the Coast Guard said� Reported in the Orlando Chronicle -
2000 4 15 Rig 'Al Mariyah' UAE Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co. Jack up. Located over wellhead platform 94 (Umm Shaif field), skidding derrick, collapsed (failed jacking system). POB 68, 4 fatalities. After lay up was rebuilt by Arab Contractors Bahrain (2006) for NDC -
1901 9 24 Chomatza Australia A. E, Jolly and Co 24 S/S Air Paraphrased from newspaper report at the time in the Northern Territory Times and Gazette “Early this week the pearling lugger "Beryl" returned to port with a sick diver and was dispatched out to the grounds again with a try diver named Chomatza in charge. Strangely enough the same boat again made her appearance in the harbour on Wednesday morning, and the dead body of the try diver, was brought ashore by the crew, and carried to the Japanese lodging house. ~ The 'matter was reported to the police, but it was not considered necessary to hold any inquest. The diving gear was found to be sound and apparently in good working order. According to the crew, the boat was at work off Shoal Bay and the diver, had been down several times in 11 to 14' fathoms of water. He usually stayed down about 15 minutes, but about 2 pm, he gave the signal to be hauled up after being down only about five minutes. He was hauled up very quickly and instructed the tender to take off his dress and after to heave up anchor and go into Shoal Bay. A few minutes later the tender discovered him sitting in his bunk in the cabin, with teeth tightly, clenched, unable M speak. He had not complained of feeling ill and uttered no cry. The tender administered some medicine taken by divers in such cases, but after a comparatively brief interval the unfortunate fellow was found to be dead. There is not the slightest doubt that, many of these diving fatalities are the outcome, of carelessness or ignorance on the part of the men engaged, the implicit instructions given by the best authorities being notoriously neglected in one important particular, i.e., regarding the time to be taken in ascending and descending. As a rule, when divers give the signal to be drawn up, they are rushed to the surface as quickly as two men hauling upon the life line can bring them, and it is this practice, resulting in a rapid change from heavy water to atmospheric pressure, which has caused more attacks of divers paralysis on the local grounds than the depth, which, as a rule, is shallow compared with other places. -
1929 5 6 Sabe Kikozo Australia A. C. Gregory 36 S/S Air Reported that a pearling lugger D58 of Captain Gregory's fleet sailed into Darwin port this afternoon with the flag at half mast. The captain reported that while diving for pearl off Shoal Bay a Japanese diver was working in 20 fathoms of water, the air pipe split, and the diver was dead when hauled up. The Sydney Morning Herald/Northern Standard, Darwin, NT -
1985 9 18 Gurley Mike USA A subcontractor to the Georgia Power Company American, aged 34, fire-fighter, 10 years experience as a fire department diver, was also a diving instructor. Incident happened at the Morgan Falls dam where he was training another fire-fighter whilst undertaking sub-contract commercial diving work at the dam. The team had been hired by the power company to repair an underwater valve and recover constuction equipment lost previously. Whilst working on a valve, his left leg got sucked into a 14 inch drain pipe trapping him. He was conscious and calling for help for 45 minutes. "Rescuers delayed using a crane to pull him free for fear of tearing or breaking his leg".The last thing he was reported as saying was "Get my wife here, right now", then he went silent. Fifteen minutes later they pulled him free using the crane - which broke his legs. Flown by helicopter to Northside Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Cause of death was not recorded as drowning but 'hyperventilation'. The fire department battalon chief was quoted as saying "Gurley was a master diver, I don't know anybody who was more qualified". Survived by his Wife and three young daughters. Atlanta Herald. -
1934 9 20 Currie or Curry William Wallace Canada A M Maclean & Sons S/S Air Employed to plant dynamite underwater in the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. On a stormy day, he decided it was better to dive and get paid than wait for the weather to clear. Lightning struck his equipment on the surface, travelled down his line and ignited the 6 pounds of dynamite and blasting caps he carried. His 21 year old son, Laughlin, acting as his diving assistant, witnessed the accident. Missaiiauga.net, Montreal Gazette -
1987 0 0 Not Recorded USA 650 Law suit against General Dynamics reported in the Los Angeles Times “Thirteen professional divers filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the San Diego Unified Port “Two of the plaintiffs-one of whom died of his affliction April� Headlined as “Divers' Suit Claims PCBs in bay made them ill�, PCBs can be found, however, in old transformers, capacitors and other equipment still in use at Teledyne Ryan's plant on Harbor Drive near Lindbergh Field. A General Dynamics spokesman said PCBs are no longer used at the company's bayside facility. Officials with General Dynamics and the Port District declined to comment on the divers' charges because they had not yet seen a copy of the lawsuit. But Conward Williams, general counsel for Teledyne Ryan, said his company "is not aware of any scientific evidence that establishes that the very low levels of PCBs detected in Convair Lagoon would cause any form of human cancer." Lower levels of PCBs were found in a storm drain sump used by General Dynamics. The board staff is now conducting inspections at General Dynamics and a half-dozen other companies near Convair Lagoon in order to further pinpoint the source of the chemicals, said the supervising engineer for the agency. (No other details and the fatality is not included in the fatality count as we do not know the outcome of the case TC) -
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 -
1975 3 22 Alvestad Aage Lasse UK 3X 140 Norwegian, aged 30. "Borgney Dolphin", Monsanto, heating failed, anoxia, hypothermia, exhaustion -
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. -
2007 1 0 Horgan Nad USA ? 0 Topsides Working as a tender, "Broke his hip and femur working on a lift boat a couple of months ago, two ops, told by doctors that he will never work again" -
1984 2 0 McKerlich Sarge UK ? 12 SCUBA (Elder brother of Jock McKerlich who died in the late 70s). Scallop diving? Ex sat diver, MFV "Boy John", Plock of Kyle. First dive after misunderstanding with diving doctor, he should never have returned to diving after a major deck accident offshore. -
1935 11 6 Mukai Chukuro Australia V. R. Kepert (Darwin) S/S Air Japanese pearl diver, aged 39, became paralysed underwater and died later. No details, but reported as the 7th diver that season to have died, the majority of paralysis, one from a bite from a coral snake. Aged about 39, diving from the lugger 'Winifred', on the Bathurst Island pearl beds, "Died, it is supposed, from paralysis caused by pressure'. 'Complained of pain in his left arm. For more than 14 hours he was brought to the surface by stages, but he died in the evening"Reported in the Canberra. Times et al -
2013 7 10 Millecan Joel USA 20 S/S Air Aged 56, diving solo on hookah about a mile off Loma Point for sea urchin. Deck hand on the 35 foot boat called 911 when he failed to surface, lifeguards brought him to the surfaceunconscious and not breathing and performed CPR before he was transported to a local hospital where he later died. Reported in the San Diego Times -
2013 6 16 Hass Doctor Hans Austria Topsides Legendery early undersea explorer and filmaker with his wife Lotte, died at the age of 94 at home in Vienna. -
2013 5 13 Houston Andrew Australia SCUBA Aged 51, alleged to have received infringement notices for poaching abalone in 1989 and 1992, went missing on Sunday afternoon, his body was found by police divers the day after 50 metres from the beach attached to a 30kg bag of abalone. He had no abalone licence, the daily limit for abalone was 5kg and it was out of season. Abalone poaching in Victoria carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years and a $150,000 fine. Herald Sun -
2013 3 31 MacLeod Iain UK SCUBA Aged 44, diving on the anchor of a creel boat in Bosta Beach, Great Bernera (Isle of Lewis), not a sports dive, but unclear if it was a paid/working dive. No other details. BBC