Incidents List
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Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details -
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) -
2005 8 7 Priz AS-28 USSR RN 191 Minisub Russian “Priz� class submarine rescue vehicle with 7 crew trapped on seabed insubmarine hydrophone cables off Kamchatka (AS-28 was a 13 metre long submarine rescue unit designed to carry a rescue crew of 4 to transfer personnel from a sunken submarine on 6 hour missions. It was being used with a 7 man crew to carry out repairs to the submarine listening system and was carrying enough compressed air to last them 72 hours). Cut free after 4,500 mile air freight/rescue mission by UK based DSRV crew using Scorpio 45, Royal Navy Submarine Rescue Service, to cut them free, the mission was completed just as the air ran out (they were down to the last cylinder of air), all 7 crew OK. Described in a book, "72 hours", by Frank Pope -
2012 8 10 Burgan Michael USA Fireman 19 SCUBA Aged 46, Captain in the Sugarcreek Fire department (also dived for the Holmes County dive team) participating in an advanced diving class at the White Star Quarry in Gibsonburg, reported as showing signs of distress after 15 minutes into his second dive of the day, surfaced and called for help before he lost consciousness, recovered from about 61' water depth by fellow divers but pronounced dead at the scene. Firehouse.com news -
2002 0 0 IMCA SF 11 02 IMCA 19 Saturation DSV lift bag incident. 600 Kg flange to surface after diver lost control of load (No hold back or inverter line) IMCA Safety Flash SF 11/02 -
1969 2 17 Cannon Berry L USA Military 186 Saturation American Navy diver aged 33. Sealab III, CO2 poisoning, Mark IX semi closed rebreather, soda sorb cannister was empty, human error? -
1969 2 0 Sealab III USA Military 186 Saturation Sealab III diving to over 600 feet, programme aborted after the death of a diver (Barry Cannon) in February -
1956 0 0 RN, NEDU UK Military 183 Saturation RN diver reaches 600' in open sea on heliox, the same year the US Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) publish the USN Standard ecompression Tables -
2012 9 22 Collins Danny USA Fireman 18 SCUBA Captain in the Conway Fire depatment, training dive (grid search) in Hot Springs. Apparently got entangled, brought to the surface by his partner but had breathing difficulties. Flown to Shreveport hospital (Louisiana) for treatment for an embolism. Firefighterclosecalls.com -
2012 4 12 Bogs Arsinas UAE Target Engineering 18 SS/Air Reported that a Philippino diver (Not IMCA certified, alledgedly refused certification by WCCD) was brought to the surface from depth without completing decompression (dive possibly aborted by supervisor because "diver was not performing adequately in the water"). After 10 minutes on deck, collapsed. Put in a DDC and treated (Table? Depth?) but did not respond. Transferred to hospital but died the day after. No investigation, reported to his family by the contractor that he 'died in his room of a heart attack' Possibly no medical, possibly not fit to dive. Reported by The Divers Association -
2010 8 8 King Patrick Donald USA Forever Resorts 18 SCUBA Aged 30, killed in an accident while diving at Lake Nacimiento in the Bee Rock Cove area. His diving partner, aged 18, was injured and taken to U.C.L.A. Medical Center after initially being treated at the scene. The diver was pronounced dead at the lake after apparently attempting to salvage a sunken boat. According to sheriff's department officials, it appeared that a tether line that linked the divers became tangled in a separate line between the salvage boat and the sunken vessel. King ran low on air and was attempting to "buddy breathe" with Burgess when there may have been an equipment failure that caused Burgess to jettison his dive gear and began to surface from below 60 feet. Burgess was able to surface and call for help, The other diver later surfaced unconscious and was given CPR prior to paramedics declaring him dead at the scene, according to a press release. Both men worked for the resort company that runs the lake. -
2009 5 17 Osburn Steven Dale USA 18 SCUBA Aged 58, member of Santa Cruz Underwater Recovery team, routine training dive in Patagonia lake, lost contact with team, located after 8 minutes, unconscious, brought to surface, failed to respond to treatment. -
2004 4 23 Buttrey Curtis USA 18 SCUBA American, aged 41, Contract diver working for the St Paul Regional Water Services, in Vadnais lake, cleaning water plant intake filter, at end of dive he and his partner left the job site but he failed to surface, apparently got caught in some weeds and cables. His body was recovered about three hours later. Drowned. No explanation. Reported in Star Tribune (MN) -
2000 1 12 Washburn Todd USA Marion Hill Associates 18 “A New Jersey diver remained missing in the Allegheny River on Monday even after authorities reduced the flow of water over a dam to aid in the search. Officials said efforts to find the body of Todd Washburn, 33, of Trenton, would continue Tuesday, but water flow would have to be returned to normal. Washburn worked for a company, Marion Hill Associates, that was inspecting the privately owned Piney Hydroelectric Station near Reesedale, Armstrong County.� (Part of the report also states that “Last year, 90 of the nation's 2500 commercial divers were killed on the job�, also that “the diver had 18 months experience as a commercial diver�. His body was recovered 5 days later downstream of the plant. No details of the actual cause of the incident. 2 Citations/$3,000. Associated Press/NACOD/cDiver -
1997 6 19 Not Recorded USA Police 18 SCUBA Quote:- “Two Milford police divers were injured, one critically, in a diving accident during routine training drills in Long Island Sound, authorities said. The officers, ages 34 and 41, apparently became entangled in debris around noon on Wednesday, said a police spokesman. One was submerged at least eight minutes and had no pulse when fellow divers pulled him from the water. He was in critical condition at Norwalk Hospital early this morning. The other officer freed himself, and surfaced to get help, but came up too quickly and suffered from decompression sickness, commonly called the bends. He was in serious condition early this morning also at Norwalk Hospital. Both divers were among eight officers performing routine training about two miles off the mouth of Milford harbor. Police said the divers were training in murky water about 60-feet deep. Visibility was less than a foot. ``This is the first mishap the dive team has ever experienced,'' the spokesman said. The team has been in action at least 25 years. Both men have been dive team members more than five years News Times regional News -
1996 1 0 Palin Carl UAE 18 S/S Air Apparently surfaced normally but lost consciousness, into zodiac, transferred to DDC (13 minute surface interval), at 60' no response, down to 165', partially regained consciousness, behavioural issues, sedated with valium, doctor locked in, gradual decompression, mated to a sat system two days later at 60', cardiac arrest, resuscitated but no brain stem, activity then suffered another cardiac arrest. -
1994 12 11 Buckley Todd USA Puget Watermen 18 S/S Air American student at Evergreen State College aged 22, time off to earn money, harvesting sea urchins. Bubbles stopped, pulled to surface, lifeline and weight belt wrapped around airline, unconscious, respiratory arrest, hypothermia and decompression illness, died in hospital. -
1993 0 0 Not Recorded Canada 18 SCUBA 40 year old Canadian, sports diver hired to carry out a commercial dive to recover a hatch cover from a lake bed. Descended with rope/shackle, rope went slack, surface crew redeployed rope with a ne shackle in the area bubbles last seen. No response. Body found on lake bed. Drowned. -
1991 8 15 Dennison Terence South China Sea McDermott 18 Saturation British, aged 46, one of four divers in saturation who died when the McDermott DB 29 got caught in typhoon 'Fred' and sank in the South China Sea, POB 195, 22 fatalities. Diver's HRV was the bell, but the barge developed a list and the bell could not be mated to the TUP. Saturation system had been decompressed to around 60' before the barge capsized and sank. As the barge, upside down, sank, the pressure equalised with the TUP, the door was opened and three divers (Steve Hardy, John Lyons and Terry Dennison) swam for the surface but drowned (dragged down by the suction of the barge sinking?). Their bodies were recovered from the sea. Autopsy revealed no signs of decompression illness indicating that although decompression had been accelerated, the high ppO2 had been effective. Cause of death was salt water drowning. The body of Brian Shepherd was recovered from the flooded dive system (still complete, intact and attached to the upturned hull of the barge) by saturation divers some two months later. He was located still wrapped in a hammock slung in what would have been a gas bubble in the capsized system Autopsy revealed leg injuries leading to speculation that he was injured when the barge capsized, was unable to make the escape attempt with the other three divers. The barge was never salvaged and still lies upside down under the South China Sea. Telegraph and Argus plus Personal Communication. -
1991 8 15 Hardy Steve South China Sea McDermott 18 Saturation British, aged 33, one of four divers who died when the McDermott DB 29 got caught in typhoon 'Fred' in the South China Sea, POB 195, 22 fatalities. Diver's HRV was the bell, but the barge developed a list and the bell could not be mated to the TUP. Saturation system had been decompressed to around 60' before the barge capsized and sank. As the barge, upside down, sank, the pressure equalised with the TUP, the door was opened and three divers (Steve Hardy, John Lyons and Terry Dennison) swam for the surface but drowned (dragged down by the suction of the barge sinking?). Their bodies were recovered from the sea. Autopsy revealed no signs of decompression illness indicating that although decompression had been accelerated, the high ppO2 had been effective. Cause of death was salt water drowning. The body of Brian Shepherd was recovered from the flooded dive system (still complete, intact and attached to the upturned hull of the barge) by saturation divers some two months later. He was located still wrapped in a hammock slung in what would have been a gas bubble in the capsized system. Autopsy revealed leg injuries leading to speculation that he was injured when the barge capsized, was unable to make the escape attempt with the other three divers. The barge was never salvaged and still lies upside down under the South China Sea. Telegraph and Argus plus Personal Communication. -
1991 8 15 Lyons John South China Sea McDermott 18 Saturation New Zealander, one of four divers who died when the McDermott DB 29 got caught in typhoon 'Fred' in the South China Sea, POB 195, 22 fatalities. Diver's HRV was the bell, but the barge developed a list and the bell could not be mated to the TUP. Saturation system had been decompressed to around 60' before the barge capsized and sank. As the barge, upside down, sank, the pressure equalised with the TUP, the door was opened and three divers (Steve Hardy, John Lyons and Terry Dennison) swam for the surface but drowned (dragged down by the suction of the barge sinking?). Their bodies were recovered from the sea. Autopsy revealed no signs of decompression illness indicating that although decompression had been accelerated, the high ppO2 had been effective. Cause of death was salt weater drowning. The body of Brian Shepherd was recovered from the flooded dive system (still complete, intact and attached to the upturned hull of the barge) by saturation divers some two months later. He was located still wrapped in a hammock slung in what would have been a gas bubble in the capsized system. Autopsy revealed leg injuries leading to speculation that he was injured when the barge capsized, was unable to make the escape attempt with the other three divers. Cause of death was asphyxiation. The barge was never salvaged and still lies upside down under the South China Sea. A letter to his wife and children was found in John Lyon's diving under-suit (“He left a very personal love letter. It's a goodbye letter. John knew he was going to die and wrote to me and the children� His wife Sue, speaking after the event). Telegraph and Argus plus Personal Communication. -
1990 4 18 Buckley Todd USA Puget Watermen 18 S/S Air 22 year old student at Evergreen state College, taking a gap period between semesters to earn money, had been working for 2 months on a commercial operation harvesting Sea Urchins (“Geoducks�) using surface supplied gear from a 30' fishing vessel out of Olympia. Bubbles stopped, pulled to surface not breathing, weight belt and harvesting line wrapped round airline. Flown to medical centre, transferred to hospital, died. Reported as respiratory arrest, hypothermia and decompression syndrome. Spokane Chronicle -
1987 4 10 Sherman Paul USA Ocean Survey 18 SCUBA Aged 40, Working one and a half miles outside Hampton Harbour at the Seabrook nuclear power plant discharge vent, trying to re-attach a buoy, reported as surfacing quickly from 60 feet to the surface and signalling to the dive boat that he was in distress. They threw him a life ring 'but he missed it and sank from sight for more than an hour." "When he was brought to the surface, he suffered cardiac arrest". CPR was initiated and he was transferred to Wentworth Douglass Hospital in Dover where he was confirmed dead at 16:10 from hypothermic arrest and drowning. The hospital spokesperson said that "Basically he was so cold he had a heart attack". Water temperature at the time was reported as 41 degrees F. The Lewiston Daily Sun -
1959 10 25 Hayashi Sanza Australia Fujita Salvage Company 18 S/S Air Japanese salvage diver, aged 48, inquest held in Darwin on 3rd November where it was reported that he drowned in his helmet after being knocked unconscious by falling pieces of metal in Darwin harbour. May have had his air line dislodged/knocked off. Straits Times/Canberra Times -
1948 7 16 Katelino Leonard Australia W. Scott 18 S/S Air "Malay fiver dies. Drowned in diving suit". "Killed when his diving suit became flooded with water while he was diving in 10 fathoms of water off Mango point. According to other Malays onboard the vessel, the helmet was screwed onto the corselet with a crossed thread and when he was submerged water poured into the suit. He was drowned before he could be raised to the surface. Reported in the Kalgoorlie Miner. -
1934 6 15 Ota Shigara Australia 18 S/S Air Aged 25, master of the lugger 'Torenia', pearl diving in the Torres Straits. He dived for 25 minures in 10 fathoms, sent up a bag of shell, but then his air line became trapped in rocks, he ditched his gear and surfaced without helmet and corselette, complaining of feeling weary and sick. Another diver, Tomoza Conokawa from a nearby lugger, was called to help as the crew believed he was suffereing from divers's paralysis and took Ota below for two hours. When they surfaced Ota was still ill, fell asleep and died. Later, a doctor concluded he was given incorrect treatment and had actually died from heart failure. The Sydney Morning Herald. -
1928 12 12 Christophe Lambiris USA 18 S/S Air Aged 25, Sponge diver out of Tarpon springs onboard the vessel “Bessie�, 100 miles out, reported as “drowned when his airline parted�. The Evening Independent -
1901 6 14 Anderson Martin USA Rodgers Salvage 18 S/S Air American, reported as asphyxiated, heavy bleeding from eyes nose, probably nicked hose, lost air, squeeze, differential pressure. -
1889 0 0 Woods James W USA Merritt Wrecking Company 18 S/S Air American, drowned under the wreck of the "Iberia" (Sank three miles off New York, 10th November 1888, collision in fog) whilst salvaging cotton, his helmet flooded through a tear in his suit near his neck. His signal line was tied off to a stanchion some distance from the worksite. Quote from proprietor of the salvage company, Israel J Merritt, who was “of the opinion that the death was due to Wood's own carelessness�. -
2018 8 3 dos Santos Filho Athayde (Tatá) Brazil Fugro 170 Sat Petrobras announced in a note to Imprensa that another fatal accident occurred on Friday, August 3, this time in the Santos Basin. The injured was the diver Athayde dos Santos Filho, 57, affectionately named "Tatá" and considered the most experienced in oil activity, who worked for the company Fugro in operation in Campo de Mexilhão. The diver was in saturated diving operation to a depth of 170 meters, providing support in the installation of submarine pipelines when the accident happened. Source: http://www.portalmaritimo.com/2018/08/05/mergulhador-morre-em-acidente-na-bacia-de-santos/ -
2013 6 21 Sujan Singh Chauhan UAE Mutawa Marine 17 S/S Air Indian. Aged 53. SRP/zodiac dive at dive at Das Island. During dive stopped responding to communications, floated to the surface just as the stand-by was going in, given CPR but failed to respond to treatment. Initial hospital reports indicate a heart attack. -
1989 1 11 Harjula Albert O. USA 17 S/S Air Aged 29, working on the 80 foot high Wilderness Dam (Owned by Great Northern Paper), got trapped by water pressure at a leak point on the dam face. Rescue diver (Daniel Sullivan), also got trapped at the same location. Both were pulled out using winches after a second rescue diver, Brian Michaud, managed to attached pulling ropes to their harnesses 11 hours after the initial incident, but he was pronounced dead on arrival in hospital Double fatality (Daniel Sullivan). Michaud was hospitalised but OK. Spokane Chronicle -
1989 1 11 Sullivan Daniel USA 17 S/S Air Aged 30, State department of inland fisheries and wildlife. A diver working on the 80 foot high Wilderness Dam (Owned by Great Northern Paper), got trapped underwater by pressure at a leak point on the dam face. Sullivan got trapped at the same location about an hour later during a rescue attempt. Both were pulled out using winches after a second rescue diver, Brian Michaud, managed to attached pulling ropes to their harnesses 11 hours after the initial incident, but he died three hours after arriving at hospital Double fatality (Albert Harjula). Michaud was hospitalised but OK. Spokane Chronicle -
1954 5 8 Sutrick Gabriel Australia 17 S/S Air Aged 28, single, from Yam, pearl diving from the Hosking Brothers lugger 'Panton' on Warrior Reef, 86 miles from Thursday Island in the Torres straight, died after the vessel's propellor cut his airline. Adelaide Advertiser -
1975 0 0 Not Recorded New Zealand Oceaneering?? 168 ADS Observation dive (Bell at atmospheric pressure) off the semi-sub Penrod 74 off Southern New Zealand. Top ceiling port started leaking, divers tried to compensate by pressurising the bell but it flooded such that when they got it to the surface, it was too heavy to lift out of the water. Bell eventually recovered and divers put into the chamber for decompression. Diver 1 went for a shower, collapsed unconscious in the shower but was revived and pulled back into the main chamber. Diver 2 (who displayed no sypmptoms of DCI) then also went for a shower and was subsequently found dead. Dive site had no spare gas for chamber treatment and extra helium was sent overnight by high speed road convoy with police escort from Nelson to Invercargill (Bottom of South Island). That gas was only available because Ocean Systems had just come to New Zealand and had set up a base at Nelson (North end of South Island) to support diving operations off the drillship 'Glomar Tasman'. New Zealand Navy did an investigation and discovered the bell had only a single (inboard) viewport (as opposed to double ports with one external for accepting external differential pressure) and the 'O' ring had blown in. OK Dude/Longstreath -
1946 0 0 Browne Jack USA 168 Saturation DESCO Shareholder and inventor of the lightweoght full face mas, made a simulated 'wet pot' dive to 550' -
1948 0 0 RN UK 165 RN diver sets open sea record depth dive to 540' -
1950 3 10 Bollard Petty Officer W. UK Military 163 Reported as "Petty Officer Wilfred Bollard recently set up a new world record when he reached a depth of 535 feet in a rubber diving suit. Petty Officer Bollard is attached to the Research ship "Reclaim" at Loch Fyne, in Scotland. The previous record of 440 feet was held by the United States of America. This picture shows Petty Officer Bollard, on left, being congratulated after he broke the world diving record by fellow officer W Soper, who himself broke the previous record with a depth of 454 feet." in the Horshan Times, Victoria. Curious as this is a repeat report of this same record being set in August 1948 but by 'Petty Officer W Ballard". -
1948 8 28 Ballard Petty Officer W. UK Military 163 "Diver Descends 535 Feet". LONDON, August 28. "Petty Officer W. Ballard descended 535 feet from a submarine rescue ship into Loch Fyne, Argyllshire, and set up a new world record dive, which an American held at 440 feet. Ballard wore a specially adapted diving suit. His object was to enable naval technicians to perfect a diving suit in which rescuers can work at crash-dive depth of submarines". Reported in The Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton, Qld. Curiously, this record was also reported on the 10th of March 1950 in the Horsham Times (Victoria) with a photograph of Bollard being congratulated by fellow Royal Navy diver W. Soper who had also broken the previous record with a dive to a depth of 454 feet. -
1979 8 7 Guiel Victor F "Skip" UK Infabco 162 Saturation American, aged 28. DSV "Wildrake", Thistle field, parted bell wire, secondary means of recovery failed, screwed up rescue, died from hypothermia, Double fatality (Walker) -
1979 8 7 Walker Richard A UK Infabco 162 Saturation American, aged 32. DSV "Wildrake", Thistle field, parted bell wire, secondary means of recovery failed, screwed up rescue, died from hypothermia, Double fatality (Guiel) -
1945 8 7 Zetterstrom Arne Sweden Navy 160 S/S Mixed Gas SWEDISH DIVER KILLED ATTEMPTING RECORD DESCENT. London, August 8 (AAP) – “Arne Zetterstrom (27), a Swedish navy diver, holder of the deep sea record of 364 feet, was suffocated when ascending from a dive in which he attempted to set a new record of 525 feet. Zetterstrom made his record last December, breathing a mixture of air and hydrogen, largely eliminating the narotic effect of nitrogen�. Reported in the Cairns Post, Qld. Arne Zetterström (1917 – 7 August 1945), researcher into the breathing mixture hydrox for the Swedish Navy. Zetterström first described the use of hydrogen as a breathing gas in 1943. From 1943 to 1944, a total of six ocean dives were made utilizing this mixture with the deepest to 160 meters (96% hydrogen and 4% oxygen). On 7 August 1945, Zetterström experienced technical problems diving from the HMS Belos. His support divers misread his signals and this was followed by a rapid ascent that resulted in severe decompression sickness and hypoxia. -
2007 2 0 Not Recorded Australia S & W Investments 16 S/S Air Commercial crayfish dive off Forbes Island, suffered decompression illness after his air supply was cut off during the second of two consecutive dives, causing him to resurface too quickly. Contractor pleaded guilty to breaching the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to ensure the safety of workers. An investigation found there was no emergency air supply and the placement of the dive equipment allowed the air line to kink. In sentencing, the Magistrate took into consideration the company’s good record and prompt remedial action, but also the extent of the diver’s injuries and their frequency in the industry. Fined $32,000. No conviction was recorded. -
2002 5 22 Blackley Martin UK Seahorse Aquaculture 16 SCUBA British, Royal Marine commando, aged 26, Altbea Fish farm, Loch Ewe, entangled in rope, valve not fully functional, speculated that he hyperventilated, panicked, drowned. He was unqualified, 3 man dive team, no dressed in stand-by, no lifeline, no communications, no knife, no risk assessment, no dive logs, On medical leave with a leg injury, diving in exchange for a £300 drysuit -
1983 6 2 Wallace R M UK Mobell Marine 16 SCUBA British, aged 30. Diving from inflatable, body recovered with SCUBA mouthpiece out of mouth, drowned -
1976 7 14 Dupuy R UK ETPM 16 S/S Air French, aged 24. Barge "ETPM 701", mask fitting broke, common supply to main and bailout, drowned, cerebral annoxia. -
1948 10 20 Nimmock Wilfred Australia 16 S/S Air “Diver disappears� CAIRNS, Wed. ‘A Torres Strait native diver, Wilfred Nimmock, 24, dived into about nine fathoms from the pearler ‘Penguin’, He surfaced 50 yards from the boat without helmet or corselet, then sank. Some of the Penguin's crew dived but found no trace of Nimmock, his diving gear, or shell bag. Reported in The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Qld. -
1934 4 6 Nggeboe Adoe Australia V. J. Clark 16 S/S Air Aged 30, from Koepang, Pearl diver out of Darwin diving Northwest of Bathurst Island, second dive of the day, paralysed in the water, dead when recovered onboard, had been working the pearl boats for about 6 years. Reported in the Courier Mail Brisbane. -
1927 10 25 Giorgas James USA 16 S/S Air Aged 28, Greek Sponge diver working out of Tarpon Springs onboard the Porteritisa, signalled to be brought to the surface after his airline parted, hauled aboard and appeared OK, helmet off, announced he was alright then collapsed and died. St. Petertsburg Times. -
1982 0 0 Not Recorded Australia SubSea International 152 S/S Mixed Gas Possibly a bounce dive, bell port started leaking on the bottom, (investigation revealed that the wrong size 'O' ring had been used), they started flushing out with gas, may have run out of gas, so brought the bell up from 500 fsw with the door open On surface, the divers fell out and were re-compressed in sat system. One diver who was conscious and asked for valium for the other diver, but it was denied. The second diver died of heart attack, the other survived. The surviving diver was possibly named Dolan or Doolan, but we have no real details. Date? Vessel? Persons involved? Personal communication. OK guys, who has any additional detail on this 'lost' incident? (Or any others) TC -
1977 5 10 Hoffman C H UK IUC 152 Saturation American, aged 22. Venture 1, conflicting reports, had finished dive, acting as bellman, either fell unconscious in the bell and drowned in trunking or fainted and fell through hatch, recovered by diver but he then drowned in trunking, possible pO2 issue? UPDATE: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_One_diving_accident -
1974 7 5 Dimmer John UK KD Marine 150 Saturation British, aged 27. Drill rig "Sedco 135F", suffered a pneumothorax. Was distressed during decompression and after treated with a therapeutic re-compression but died in the chamber. Diving supervisor initially suspected pneumothorax but was over-ridden by the doctor who diagnosed the symptoms as pneumonia (The doctor involved was inexperienced in hyperbaric medicine). -
1949 6 4 Huerta Chief Machinist's Mate Ignacio L. USA Military 150 Chamber Aged 28, described as a veteran Navy diver with the diving experimental unit at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington DC., Blown down to a pressure equivalent to 490' in a wet pot, reported dizzy and was brought out. He recovered and returned to the chamber, but passed out. Water had got inside his breathing circuit/helmet and got into contact with his air purifier, and he had "burns about the neck". Treated at Bethesda Naval Hospital but died. "Officers said the lye burns caused death" (Sodium Hydroxide/caustic soda, burns to the throat). The Milwaukee Journal. -
2013 2 28 Kulal Bhaskar India Policeman 15 SCUBA Aged 34 or 35, from Kundapur, described as a 'commando', working with the Coastal Security Police in Malpe (Udupi District), one of 10 attendees at a 5 day SCUBA course (Anti-terrorism SCUBA diving taining event) at a training camp near Nethrani Island, Murdeshwar, Bhatkal. Details unclear but appears that it was run by a PADI company, Planet SCUBA India, with the lead trainer 'Andy' (Andrew Stonebridge, resort manager and SCUBA instructor in Murdeshwar, from Nottingham, UK) who allegedly insisted that the policeman continue his training even though he was 'ill'. Went into the water mid afternoon on the last day of the course, found underwater, unconscious, had lost his mouthpiece, 'brought to the surface by rescuers still breathing but died shortly later'. A fellow trainee said that the training was extremely arduous and that "Andy' told them they should learn SCUBA diving within 5 days and 'it's difficult for those who don't know swimming' insisting that the sea was rough, Kulal was ill and the trainer's negligence and apathy led to the fatality. As a result of complaints from the policemen on the course and Kula's brother-in-law Taghu Kulal, the trainer was arrested by Kawar police (It was also reported that the deceased diver was from a very poor family, wife a wife and two sons lived in police quarters who would now be supported by the Police department, infirm parents also supported by sole income from the policeman). Reported by Mangolorean.com/Bellevision Media etc -
2011 5 15 Palma Miguel Angel Cupul Mexico 15 SCUBA Aged 60, 25 miles offshore from Merida (Yucatan penninsula) collecting sea cucumber, rescued alive and taken ashore for treatment but died. Causes reported as cerebral anoxia/acute decompression illness. Reported by Sipse.com -
2009 11 22 Allen Steve UK RBG 15 S/S Air Aged 43, Braefoot terminal (Fife, Scotland), last dive of the day, completed his dive without comment, reported having difficulties removing his fins at the bottom of the ladder, assisted by stand-by and hoisted to jetty, unconscious, failed to respond to treatment. Update January 2013:- A Fatal Accident Inquiry has ruled that the death of a commercial diver at a Fife harbour was not the result of an accident or any kind of medical or professional malpractice. The inquiry at Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard evidence from 13 witnesses over five days. The Sheriff concluded that the death was as a result of “some kind of cardiac event or arrhythmia� resulting from existing heart and liver problems, not the result of any diving-related procedures, and that he could have died at any time. The inquiry also dismissed criticisms from a Health and Safety inspector that no rescue practice had been rehearsed on the day of the incident. He held a valid certificate of fitness to dive and was a qualified and competent diver, diving as part of a six-strong dive team, the diving operation had started on November 20 and involved an inspection to ascertain the condition of the piles supporting the jetty and, in addition, the installation of a new current-monitoring buoy on the seabed next to the jetty. During the morning he was inside dive control on board the diving vessel. At 5.02pm he entered the water to carry out the final dive of the day to undertake an “as left� survey of the cable installation for the buoy. At no time did he indicate to any of the team or any other person that he was unfit to dive. At 5.07pm he reached the seabed at a dive depth of 15 metres. He then carried out a video survey by slowly ascending the pile and demonstrated that the current-monitoring buoy cable was securely attached to the jetty pile. At 5.21pm he surfaced and swam to the bow of the diving vessel to access the deck via a vertical ladder. At 5.22pm he reported that he was having difficulty removing one of his fins. Given assistance, as he lifted his left leg for fin removal, he continued to roll backwards and started to invert in the water. He appeared to have lost consciousness and emergency recovery was initiated. He was not breathing and there was no carotid pulse, members of the diving team gave CPR. Paramedics then took over but he was pronounced dead at 6.05pm. The Sheriff noted medicine was an “inexact science� but concluded that he could have died at any time. There was no evidence of anything related to the diving operation which might have caused death. The Sheriff concluded: “There is no evidence that the failure to have a diver rescue practice on the day in question was relevant to his death. There were no other facts relevant to the circumstances of his death. The Courier -
2009 8 28 Gillies Alasdair UK Eilean Glas Salmon Ltd 15 SCUBA ver to go down with him, but he was on leave the day of the accident, and there was no-one else equipped to go to the diver’s assistance. The contractor admitted that while operating as diving contractors in the loch to clean out dead fish from cage nets, carry out maintenance work, and install a predator net, it failed to issue diving rules or lay down emergency procedures. It also admitted failing to appoint a diving supervisor; failure to provide a logbook; and failing to ensure that the divers employed had their personal logbooks signed daily by a supervisor, failing to test and examine Scuba air cylinders to ensure they were safe for diving; to control access to diving equipment in a store; and to prepare a written health and safety policy for employees. Contractor fined ₤1,000. -
2008 5 15 Not Recorded Brazil 15 S/S Air Two divers in the water on KM Bandmasks, both lost air supply, one ditched bandmask and tried to surface, held down by umbilical, drowned. The second diver maintained bandmask and waited for air supply to be re-established and was brought to the surface in the basket. No bailouts, stand-by not immediately ready plus other factors. -
2006 8 14 Andrews David USA Rutgers Institute 15 SCUBA Aged 56, diving off the research vessel 'Arabella' to install a sensor on the LEO-15 (Longterm Ecosystem Observatory), got into difficulty, was pulled aboard given CPR and air lifted to hospital but did not regain consciousness. CDNN -
2006 1 0 Not Recorded Spain 15 Quoted in a news report on Telecino.es:- “In the three days so far this year, two divers have died. The first work on expanding the port of Castellón when he died. The second died in Cartagena when diving at 50 feet below the surface, trying to recover an anchor. Two divers in the past three days, but in the last month have killed four in total� -
2003 3 21 Elela Waleed Abo Egypt Maridive 15 S/S Air "Maridive MD 300" on the East Face of 'Ramadan 1, Gulf of Suez, Diver 2 Superlite floated off, Diver 1 unable to redress/give air, diver was tied off to platform, no stand-by diver dressed in, dive basket was on the surface, it took 8 minutes to recover the diver to surface. Bent hat Pin on yoke. IMCA Safety Flash 04 2003. Appears pin was unlocked prior to incident. This incident led to review of other lost helmet incidents No conclusion as to whether maintenance issue, poor dressing procedures or underlying design issue, but KM issued safety notice and secondary securing mechanism for all new helmets (plus retrofit to older helmets). -
2002 6 14 Jolliff Paul USA 15 SCUBA Firefighter, aged 37, died during the final dive of a 21 day open water SCUBA training course. Objective was to locate a cinder block by conducting sweep searches from a marker buoy and then bring it to surface using an inverted 5 gallon bucket as a lifting bag. Zero visibility, cold water. Underwater comms set only partially operational (he could hear, but not transmit). He and partner located block, as they were rigging it, he suddenly grabbed for his partner's face mask knocking him to one side, dropped his weight belt and disappeared. Second diver surfaced and raised the alarm. Stand-by diver entered the water immediately to commence sweep searches from the original marker buoy but after his 4th sweep was pulled to the surface by the crew pulling up the marker buoy in an attempt to see if the lost diver was still attached to the swim line. Buoy reset, but in a different location.. Search continued and the body was located over two hours later by sonar from a surface support boat. He was tied to the cinder block (They were using 5' long lanyards as the lifting rigging, he had gone into the water with his attached to his harness 'D' ring. It appears he attached it before releasing the second end from his harness). Death certificate recorded death as due to drowning. SCUBA cylinder was empty when recovered, some equipment breakages, but not concluded whether factors in the incident. The investigation made 3 recommendations:- 1: Fire departments should ensure that equipment checks are performed before each dive and defective equipment is repaired or replaced before the dive takes place. 2: Fire Departments should ensure that all participants in diver training have practiced the specific evolution in a controlled environment such as a swimming pool before attempting the evolution in open water.. 3: Fire departments should ensure that search-and-rescue operations establish and use reference points to conduct searches -
2001 5 3 Devis Craig Australia Relik Pty Ltd. 15 S/S Air Diving off Forbes Island Great Northern Barrier Reef, harvesting rock lobster. Following no response from diver for several minutes tender driver hauled diver to surface unconscious. CPR attempts unsuccessful. Oxygen equipment unsuitable for non breathing person. Air intake hose to petrol driven compressor had split. Weighted vest unable to be released in emergency. No alternate air supply . Prosecution (Above plus unsafe Hookah unit). Drowning with carbon monoxide toxicity and DCI as contributory factors). Workplace Health and Safety, Queensland. -
1992 4 17 Navarro Terry USA ProDiver, Ottawa 15 S/S Air Aged 37, Lasalle, Illinois, Commonwealth Edison nuclear Power plant, contracted in to seal a valve. To reach the repair had to descend 60', penetrate laterally 20' and then ascend 20' to reach the valve. He finished the work but then appeared to be in distress. They tried to pull him out but the line snagged. Supervisor went in and pulled him out but he died in hospital the following day. Was diving a Desco with what appears to be an inadequate air supply resulting in high CO2 and asphyxia. Three man team, supv, diver, tender. Court proceedings in 1995 concluded faulty (low) air supply/high CO2 and upheld OSHA citations. -
1985 0 0 Kirkpatrick Jock Middle East McDermott 15 Saturation Paraphrased from a personal communication (Names removed and some of the more acrimonious details moderated or removed - apologies to all, but one has to be circumspect with some of this stuff, TC ):- “Sub Sea had seconded 6 welder divers to McDermotts for a job in the Red Sea off the DB 27. At the time of the incident, the AODC was debating the issue of a minimum of 2% O2 in the base gas, McDermott disagreed with it, one reason was "It will be difficult for the LST to calculate blow down", the job was an air sat weld at around 15 - 21 msw, the industry had just started using air sat's then, air being cheaper than Heliox, base gas was pure N2. The dive panel was an “in-house� built very small dive/sat panel. One of the chambers wasn't being used, so the take off was being used to flow gas to the welding habitat to keep the water out. During the dive (Air sat, so as usual at the time, the attitude of "Oh its only an air dive, don't need to analyze the divers gas", and the analyzer was either turned off or not even installed. One of the chambers had lost a few FSW, so the dive sup reached over, turned off the air supply to the sat panel which was supplying air to the habitat, turned on the N2, which was chamber make up, made up, and put air back on. Unbeknown to all at the time, the sat panel and dive panel had no check valves installed, N2 around 200 psi, air around 150 psi, (either way, the N2 to the sat panel was higher than the air to the dive panel), N2 tracked over to the dive panel, down to the diver, and zap, diver passed out from being given pure nitrogen. Initially not knowing what had happened, they were going to jump the bell man, (who was on same gas supply). Fortunately, before he donned his mask the bellman saw the diver underneath the bell and pulled him in, but he failed to respond to treatment. After the fatality, a SSOL safety rep was mobilized to the job in to carry out an investigation, (because of the 6 SSOL divers in sat). The panel designer/builder also arrived on site with a dive tech, SSOL told the dive tech to disconnect the line connecting both panels, and the crew to mix up the N2 base gas to around 9% to give a PPO2 of around 210 mbs at the working depth, (Think it was around 50 fsw). This was done, but as the investigation team was departing they noticed that the dive tech had connected the pipe up again, when he was asked why, he said "Well it hasn't happened before, and will probably not happen again.............." There were rumours that the dive supervisors were reluctant to sign off the dive logs and reports that showed the fatality was due to pure N2. -
1982 10 29 Phillips Derek UK Wharton Williams Taylor 15 S/S Air British, aged 24. ex RN ship's diver working off the DSV "Shearwater Aquamarine". Shallow DP diving, diver was undertaking a seabed survey, DP failure (active drive off), diver was dragged off the job and then apparently ditched his helmet (KB17), body lost, recovered 9 months later� As reported by a fellow diver “He was my room mate on the Polar Queen. The story goes he was diving from a basket when the Aquamarine ran off DP. Derek thought, or so we think he thought, that his umbilical was in the prop. He removed all his equipment and drowned. In the months before the fatality we had a near miss on the Polar Queen when another diver’s umbilical was caught in the prop. This diver removed his gear and was saved. However he was in a basket with spare air and had help. The feeling is that Derek was trying the same technique however he was on the bottom, on his own, with a hot water suit and not wearing fins. The result was inevitable� -
1977 7 10 Petrecz Paul F USA Harmonville Volunteer Fire Department 15 SCUBA Aged 29, Montgomery County volunteer fire-fighter/diver, one of a team of 30 searching Muddy Run Lake for the body of a 22 year old who drowned whilst swimming. 'Tangled in a guideline and ran out of air' Reported as a veteran diver by fire officials. Beaver County Times -
1977 2 11 Joseph Pat USA Fred Devine and Salvage 15 Salvage operations on the tanker “Sansitena� in Los Angeles harbour, Berth 46 (Blew up while alongside, 9 dead, 36 injured in the initial blast 17th December 1976) , had been in the water two hours osy arc cutting operations, gas pocket, underwater explosion, reported as “diver stricken with bends when he surfaced after an underwater explosion�. Also reported that he was the second diver injured on that job in four days. Although he remained in the industry, he was never able to dive again after the accident.. Los Angeles Times, PC. -
1974 7 19 Brening Fred USA 15 SCUBA US Navy dry dock at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Civilian commercial diver entered pump well to repair pump, "a 5 minute job", trapped by differential pressure for 17 hours, body recovered the day after. Reported in the Virgin Islands Daily News. -
1949 9 26 Jorgensen Robin Claude Soren USA 15 S/S Air Aged 20, professional abalone diver, was drowned in 50 feet of water in Little Harbor on the west side of Santa Catalina Island when his air compressor failed. No other details. -
1949 8 18 Kada William Australia 15 Indonesian Pearl diver aged 37, diving off the lugger Twixteen out of Thursday Island. Signalled to be brought to the surface but as he reached the surface his helmet and corselet came detached and he was swept away. His body was recovered by divers from another lugger later. Barrier Miner, NSW, Australia Another report states:- Pearl Diver Drowns. Thursday Island.-Two Indonesians tried pluckily to rescue a fellow pearl diver when he was swept away in heavy seas while diving off Thursday Island. Sgt. H. Mumford, of the Thursday Island police, returned with the story. The diver, William Kada, 37, who was also an Indonesian, was found drowned in eight fathoms of water at 1 p.m. on Thursday. The Indonesians went out from Thursday Island on the lugger ‘Trixteen’. Kada was down pearling about eight fathoms at 11.30 a.m. when he signalled to be brought to the surface. When he reached the surface his diving helmet and corselet broke loose. He called to the men on the lugger as he was swirled away. Two other divers, Enus Euan, 22, and Markus Oben, 42, went to Kada's rescue, but were unable to reach him in the heavy seas. A Torres Strait aboriginal from another lugger which arrived later recovered Kada's body. Reported in the Barrier Miner -
1949 1 22 Noor Ahmat bin Mohamed Singapore Singapore Harbour Board 15 S/S Air Malaysian aged 25 diving off the harbour approach in Tanjong Pagar salvaging a truck. Had attached two lifting wires but then stopped giving signals. Another team member dived in (without gear) but could not reach 50' but noticed the diver's helmet floating free in mid water, dived again and put it on his head and went down. "I could not see the bottom as it was not clear. I felt something with my feet. It was the diver's body". The second diver suggested that "the diver might have collapsed from fatigue and then his diving gear came off". Returning a verdict of "Misadventure", the coroner said there was no evidence to show the diving helmet was faulty. Straits Times. -
1945 11 19 Hamilton George Norman Australia RAN 15 S/S Air Balmoral Naval Base (Now HMAS Penguin) in Sydney Harbour, Navy diver drowned diving on an anchor near the Balmoral Naval Base. "Reached the seabed and then failed to respond to line signals". A second diver was sent down and found him lying on the bottom, recovered to surface and taken to the navy base where a doctor said he had been dead for several minutes. Air hose had been severed by the anchor he was working on. Sydney Morning Herald -
1935 4 27 Kanada Hachiro Australia 15 S/S Air “JAPANESE DIVER KILLED. Air Pipe Line Broken�. CAIRNS. April 26. “Hackiro Kamada, a Japanese pearl diver, died at Alligator Passage, near Badu Island, while diving for shell. It is believed that an air pipe broke when the lugger drifted on the tide before the anchor could be dropped. Kamada was a member of the crew of the lugger ‘Drayton’, and in company with Chokichi, Murada dived into eight fathoms of water. About five minutes later Murada came to the surface and noticed Kamada on top of the water, with no helmet or corselet. A. dinghy was placed overboard, and members of the crew made towards the unconscious man, but the craft sank. They then swam to Kamada, and placed him on the deck of the lugger. He was breathing heavily. A flag was hoisted, and the lugger Sorrel, owned by the Bowden Pearling Co., responded�. “LOWERED INTO SEA�. “A helmet and corselet were placed on Kamada, and he was lowered to the bottom of the sea, and was kept under water for one and a half hours, but showed no signs of improving. He was pulled up on to the deck again, and it was noticed that his neck and face were swollen, and he was apparently dead. Then he was taken to Thursday Island. Dr. R. J. Nimmo (Government medical officer) Issued a certificate stating that death was due to (1) asphyxia by drowning, (2) myocarditis (accidental). Reported in the Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Qld. -
1934 2 27 Not Recorded Tom UK Royal Society Lecture 15 S/S Air During a lecture in London, Sir Robert Davis (Inventor of the submarine escape apparatus) described how a diver "Tom," got drunk 50' underwater. "While salvaging a ship, found himself in a air pocket, free of water. He spotted a case of whisky near by, and promptly unscrewed the mouthpiece of his diving helmet and broached a bottle. He tied his lifeline round a stanchion to avoid his enjoyment being interrupted from the surface. We became anxious as Tom sent up no cargo for two hours. When at last he reached the surface he was dead drunk. If the air pocket had filled with water, or Tom had miscalculated his capacity and failed to replace the mouth-piece of his helmet he would have been drowned." Reported in the Brisbane Courier Mail. -
1926 7 13 Williams Irving USA 15 S/S Air Described as a native of Kennebunk, working near Harpswell attempting to raise the power sloop 'Bradley A' which went ashore 10 days earlier on Bold Dick, a rocky pinnacle near Ragged Island in Casco Bay with the loss of three of the four crew. Reported as drowned at work, apparently an incident involving his air lines (being tended by his brother) which parted, but no details . Reported in the New York Times -
1908 12 14 Smith George USA 15 S/S Air Diving off the wrecking steamer W. H. Morse working on the wreck of the H. M. Whitney, the two sailors working his air pump had a fight over who was in charge ending with one unconscious with a fractured skull, the other rowing away. Other crew members turned out, found the unconscious sailor, started pumping but got no response on the diver's signal line. Pulled him to the surface, unconscious, hospitalised but survived. -
1908 7 12 Mogg Joseph Australia McPherson 15 S/S Air Paraphrased from a report in the Northern territory times and gazette. “Inquiry held at the Court House into the cause of death of pearl diver Joseph Mogg, The lugger 'Ada' was anchored off Shoal Bay. His only experience was acquired recently in the Arru I Island pearling fleet. Had been down 30 minutes when the first length of piping, directly connected with the pump, burst on deck. It was about four minutes from the time the pipe burst until on diver was on surface, bleeding from his mouth and eats, possibly "diver was little bit alive." One witness stated that he had complained that the length of piping which burst was not good. The owner denied this (the same length of pipe had been used on the previous tide to 19 fathoms and stated that he had 22 years practical experience of pearling, and attributed present mishap to a flaw in the piping. “The life of piping with steel wires was about 4 years, and this piping had only been in use two and a half seasons. A diver who knew his business would at once close the air escape valve in his helmet. If that were done there was, according to the maker's specifications, enough air in the dress to keep a man alive for 15 minutes). The evidence showed that the valve had never been closed, and, in his opinion, “The diver had never tried to come up. In a precisely similar accident which bad taken place at Cape Keith four years ago, the diver had been brought up alive, and practically unhurt, from 21 fathoms of water.� The Jury found "That J. Mogg's death was caused by suffocation through an air pipe breaking, and that no blame is attachable to anybody." Also added a rider to following effect: " We are of opinion that the system of half yearly tests of diving gear should be carried out at Port Darwin under some responsible Government official." (This is the earliest recommendation for 6 monthly dive equipment inspection witnessed by a third party that I have found, pity it took us 70 or 80 years to catch on! TC..........) -
1885 9 25 Gregory George RN UK Military 15 S/S Air "Fatality to a diver, George Gregory of HMS Revenge. Was drowned last evening whilst engaged in examining some moorings 8 fathoms deep". No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive -
2015 8 17 Millard Jeremy Puerto Rico Deep Solutions 14m Diving with two others on a fibre optic cable job when he touched the left side of his chest and started floating, rescued by the Pinones Maritime Unit but had no vital signs. Press report says 'died because of health complications'. Reported by Endi/elnuevodia.com -
1976 1 12 Howell RN John "Scouse" UK Subsea 146 Saturation British, aged 27. He was still in the Navy, but on EVT (Spending time with prospective employees prior to leaving the armed forces). Semi-sub drill rig "Western Pacesetter 1". He passed out shortly after leaving bell, officially reported as suspected switched off own gas by knocking ball valve, drowning/hypoxia, but other sources indicate his gas was contaminated and he passed out on the seabed. His bellman could not (or would not) get him back into the bell and tied him to the outside of the bell and removed his helmet. The body was taken to RNPL for autopsy, cause of death, drowning. -
1978 0 0 Names witheld at the request of the diver UK Wharton Williams 145 Saturation DSV 'Tender Carrier', working diver fed pure helium from a McDermott blender (sensors failed) and became unconscious. Recovered by bell partner, (ex Royal marine) and brought to surface. Brain damage meant him having to re-learn how to walk. Off work six months but then continued to dive until 1986. -
2001 0 0 Not Recorded IMCA 140 Saturation Diver injured in a negative pressure incident during diving operations on a subsea manifold to install additional 4 inch pipe spools in a well bay. The spools had been transported to the vessel with wooden blind protectors on the flange faces to prevent impact damage. These did not have pre-drilled vent holes and were to be replaced on board the vessel with standard donut protectors. However, two assemblies were apparently overlooked and were subsequently deployed subsea with the unvented wooden blinds still in place. At the time of the incident, the diver had manoeuvred the spool piece close to its final position, removed the tie wrap and then attempted to lever the wooden blind off the flange face using his knife. It appears that the blind then imploded due to the build-up of negative pressure, pulling the diver’s hand through the blind and into the spool, causing a fracture to the arm and dislocation of the thumb, bruising and swelling. IMCA Safety Flash 12/01 -
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 -
1975 3 22 Alvestad Aage Lasse UK 3X 140 Norwegian, aged 30. "Borgney Dolphin", Monsanto, heating failed, anoxia, hypothermia, exhaustion -
2011 3 10 Pendleton Vance Wayne Canada 14 SCUBA Aged 56, experienced diver and owner of a dive shop. Diving for Sea Urchins of l'Etete, New Brunswick, failed to surface, located on the seabed 'initial information is pointing towards drowning' but coroner to confirm cause of death, Worksafe and RCMP to determine whether the diver was working at the time. He was diving with 4 other commercial divers on a commercial harvesting operation. Lost sight of the group, they surfaced, at first nor concerned because he had a bigger air tank. When he failed to surface after 10 - 15 minutes, they went back in to look for him. He was found and brought to the surface but failed to respond to treatment. Reported in the Telegraph-Journal, Brunswick -
2008 12 6 Parker Jonathon Canada 14 Canadian, aged 21. One of a two man commercial diving team working with a crew to refloat a fishing boat that sank in the Northumberland Strait in September about three kilometres off the coast of Pointe-Sapin. "He was struck or squeezed under the boat� Times & Transcript -
2004 7 27 Londo Luigi Italy Geomar 14 Rebreather 34 year old, off Trieste, three divers together off a small boat free swimming clearing pipeline outlet, died during the dive -
2003 7 21 Rudorf Peter Iraq Subsurface Engineering 14 British, aged 25, clearing routes for vessels in the port of Umm Qasr, reported as "taken ill during diving", Inquest was held in the UK. No details. -
1982 6 25 McCarty Michael USA 14 SCUBA "Navy SCUBA diver died Friday afternoon 45 feet under the waters of Long Beach Harbour under the World War II Battleship 'New …. ?" Reported as a 'valve malfunction'. Los Angeles Times -
1979 0 0 Not Recorded Netherlands 14 SCUBA Dutch diver, preparing to weld, just vanished. Not confirmed, just rumour. -
1978 3 31 Fewer Douglas USA NOAA 14 SCUBA 23 years old, from Broooklyn, diving with a colleague in the New York Bight off Long Island collecting water samplers. His dive partner said that Fewer disappeared while they were working. The diver was found unconscious and picked up by a Coastguard cutter and then transferred to Air Force hekicopter and flown to Groton (Connecticut) for treatment, but declared dead on arrival there. No details. Virgin Islands Daily News. -
1975 2 6 Not Recorded Netherlands 14 Recorded on HSE database, but not in Dutch records -
2014 10 11 Graves Gary USA 13m SS/Air Aged 36, Diving from the FV 'Momo and Maddie' near Port Hubron (By Kodiak, Alaska), about 6 miles from Old Harbour, Sea Cucumber fishery, diving, initially reported as 'suffering a medical emergency', reported as alive at time of first call, airlifted to hospital, but could not be resuscitated. Reported by the Alaska Dispatch News. Later reports indicate the compressor shut off as he was diving in 40' of water. -
1967 0 0 Maclean Edward (Ted) Australia Divcon 130ft S/S Air Ashmore Reef, NW Australia, Water depth 130ft Died in Deco Chamber , Combination of Missed Deco and heat exhaustion. Incident happened late 1967. Drill Barge Investigator owned and operated by Zapata. <br />longstreath.com -
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. -
2000 11 29 Not Recorded Fiji 130 SCUBA Two Fijian divers, 'one a master diver, the other less experienced' were hired to recover an anchor lost in 130 metres off Gau island. When they failed to surface, another diver attempted to rescue them, began to lose consciousness and inflated his ABLJ, he was admitted to the CWM hospital in Suva, given therapeutic decompression in a chamber and reported as having survived. No other details. Reported in the Fiji Times Online. (NB As far as I can ascertain, the facts are correct – two divers were hired, agreed to, and then attempted to, recover an anchor in 130 metres on air in SCUBA, TC) -
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),. -
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. -
2008 2 29 Heng Hii Teck Miri Not Reported 13 SCUBA Aged 42, professional ship repair divers working under the hull of the "Bunga Kelana 6' five miles off Bintulu, entered water, failed to surface, SAR diver located bodies two days later on ship's water inlet grill, but failed to recover divers due to currents. -
2008 2 29 Jung Chew Kim Miri Not Reported 13 SCUBA Aged 37, professional ship repair divers working under the hull of the 'Bunga Kelana 6' five miles off Bintulu, entered water, failed to surface, SAR diver located bodies two days later on ship's water inlet grill, but failed to recover divers due to currents. -
2003 0 0 IMCA SF 01 03 IMCA 13 S/S Air Diving fatality during the installation of a 20� flexible hose (40m long) between a pipeline end manifold (PLEM) and a new buoy in a water depth of 35 metres. According to the original approved operational procedures a top-hat flange with a valve for flooding was to be installed. Due to the absence of the top-hat flange, a modified blind flange with a valve and pull-eye was to be provided for floating transport and installation of the under-buoy hose. Eventually the sub-sea hose was delivered on location with a blind flange at the bottom end of the hose. After complete removal of the blind flange prior to the installation, the risk of damage to the flange and O-rings during passage of the anchor legs and skirt of the buoy was recognised. As a quick solution, a solid wooden plate (10mm thick) was placed across the flange at the bottom end of the hose to protect the O-rings. The intention was to remove the wooden plate immediately after passage. The flexible hose was then pulled down to the PLEM by a cable and winch (located on the buoy body) via a snatch block (located on the PLEM). At about 13m water depth the hose stopped due to the increased buoyancy forces in the flexible hose, which had not, or only partly, flooded due to the sealing effect of the wooden plate. The diver, who had installed the snatch block and guided the wire at the PLEM, reported a lot of tension on the wire and noticed during the first in water decompression stop, that the wooden plate was still in position. The diving supervisor asked the deck-crew to make preparations for flooding of the sub-sea hose from topside. After the first diver had entered the decompression chamber, another diver, who had placed the wooden plate on the bottom end of the sub-sea hose, asked permission to inspect the bottom end of the hose. After reaching the bottom end of the hose, the diver tried to remove the plate with his knife, but due to the high suction forces involved, he broke his knife. The force holding on the wooden plate was likely to have been approximately 2 tonnes. The diving supervisor, who was aware of the danger, told the diver that preparations were being made to flood the hose from the topside and in combination with slack on the wire the differential pressure would be eliminated. The diver was warned to stay well clear of the bottom end of the hose. Meanwhile the diver took his broken knife blade and with his hammer he punched the wooden plate. At this stage there was a loss of communication with the diver and there was a fast payout of his umbilical. The umbilical was recovered to the surface along with the diver’s Kirby Morgan 18 bandmask. The bandmask was damaged but intact except for the video camera which had been smashed off. Also hooked to this equipment was the ring shaped remnant of the wooden plate. Diver rescue procedures were then launched. After a little time searching the diver was found. He had massive head injuries. Death was evident. IMCA Safety Flash 01/03. This report refers to the death of Ranier Roon in December 2002 in the Congo (TC) -
1972 5 1 Taylor Robert UK Strongwork 13 SCUBA British, aged 25. Drillship "Britannia", big meal, vomited underwater, found entangled in a rope 11 hours later, drowned. Possibly no training -
1894 8 28 Not Recorded Australia 13 S/S Air "A Thurday Island telegram states that another Japanese diver has been drowned while working in 7 fathoms of water off Bada Island". South Australian Register. "The air pipe burst, and the diver, being inexperienced, failed to come to the surface, and the tender failed to haul him up until it was too late". The Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton. "The pump and piping used were made in Japan" Reported in the Sydney Morning herald -
2014 11 14 Thiago Matheus Brazil Sistac 12m Accident happened on the Petrobras production platform P-31 (Albacore field, Campos Basin, 180 km East of Macae) . Sistac are licensed air diving contactor (not IMCA), possibly working on a conductor slot, recovered to surface but did not respond to treatment, investigation ongoing by union. Reported sindipetronf.org.br -
1937 12 0 Nohl Max USA 128 S/S Mixed Gas First deep dive using a heliox mixture and DESCO gear (Developed by Diving Equipment and Salvage Company set up in Winsconsin by divers Max Nohl and Jack Browne with hyperbaric physiologist Edgar End) in Lake Michigan -
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) -
1976 0 0 Not Recorded 121 Saturation A faulty welding device reported as causing a fire in a bell whilst at 400' resulting in the death of both divers, Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. Can anyone recall this incident, it does not appear to be reported anywhere else (TC)? -
2009 5 24 Spencer Carl Greece 120 Rebreather British, aged 37. National Geographic Expedition filming the wreck of the 'Britannic' (Sister vessel to the 'Titanic'). British Hospital ship sank by a mine in 1916 with the loss of 30 lives off the Greek island of Kea. Reported to have surfaced rapidly, unconscious, flown by military super puma to Athens Naval Hospital, but did not respond to treatment -
1985 0 0 Not Recorded Brazil Superpesa 120 Saturation Campos basin, DSV Flexservice 1, oxy/arc torch not working, taken back to the bell for checking, flash fire, two divers died of burns -
2012 4 18 Stovall Richard USA Stovall's SCUBA and Travel 12 SCUBA Aged 77, owner of PADI diving business in Midland, collecting underwater soil samples from the bed of the O H Ivie Resevoir on behalf of the Colorado River Municipal Water District prior to a dredging company removing silt from the pipe to the pumping station. Entered the water through a concrete tower on a pumping station in the resevoir, should have been a 10 minute dive, failed to surface. Body found two days later at the inshore end of a 350' long, 8' diameter pipe in a chamber below a pump station onshore. Appears to have been a solo dive, no stand-by or back up. San Angelo Standard Times -
2011 9 1 Bentabet Khaled "Ben" France Police diver 12 SCUBA Aged 44, experienced police diver with the Coastal and River Section, part of a team searching a 2.7 kilometre tunnel section of the 10 metre diameter EDF canal between the river Durance and Mees for a handgun, 20 minutes into the dive lost buddy line to partner, disappeared. Body finally located a week later. May have been sucked into a side tunnel. Married with a 7 year old son. Reported by ALPES1, Provence, etc. -
2010 10 23 Copeland Mark Eugene USA Greg's Marine 12 S/S Air American, aged 45. Paraphrased from reports "On Oct. 23 at approximately 11:34 a.m., units from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police responded to the Dominion LNG Plant Gas Dock to investigate a reported industrial accident. The victim was later pronounced deceased at Calvert Memorial Hospital. The preliminary investigation revealed he was working for Greg’s Marine as a labourer. His duties this day were to chip away old cement jackets placed over pilings at the gas dock, preparing these pilings for new jackets, approximately 1 mile off the coast of Calvert County. While conducting this task, he was equipped with a neoprene wet suit, fins, a harness, and a diver’s helmet. He slipped underwater and continued to the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay, approximately 40 feet. After several attempts, the supervisor finally rescued his unconscious body from the Bay’s floor. CPR was conducted by his co-workers as well as medical staff and members of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office. Forensic investigation revealed there were no signs of trauma to the body. This is an on-going investigation handled by the Calvert Investigative Team (CIT) and the United States Coast Guard" -
2009 5 4 Holt David C USA DIT 12 SCUBA American, aged 37, father of 2 undergoing commercial diver training. Harbour training dive at pier 66, Seattle. 4 divers in the water, diver surfaced, then sank, found on the bottom after 10 to 15 minutes, CPR, unconscious, taken to Harbor View Hospital, Seattle, critical in hospital, died several days later when taken off life support. No details. -
2005 5 22 Not Recorded USA 12 P & A job. No barrier cream on. Quote from second diver: "There was a bunch of red gooey stuff coming out of the pipeline at the cut I was making. It got all over my hat but I never got any burns. Once I saw it coming out I tried to stay away from it. I do know that it burned the hell out of him, and he couldn't dive anymore (on that job). He was in pain just turning his head". -
1996 10 0 Not Recorded USA 12 S/S Air In October 1996, a 32-year-old certified recreational diver with minimal experience was harvesting sea cucumbers using surface-supplied air in approximately 40 feet of water. After approximately 1 hour, the tender *** lost sight of the diver's air bubbles. The diver did not respond to a recall signal, and the tender pulled him to the surface. His air regulator was not in his mouth, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was unsuccessful. Inspection of the dive gear indicated it to be fully operational, with no obvious defects. The cause of death was drowning, but the specific cause of the incident was unknown. NIOSH review of occupational diving fatalities in Alaska -
1989 2 16 Hand Larry USA 12 SCUBA Aged 34, novice sponge diver out of Tampa, recovered from the seabed by a diver from another sponge boat, inference is diving solo from a small boat with one none diving surface crew. Tangled in buoy line, mask flooded, dead on recovery. Third diver to die sponge diving out of Tampa in the last 5 weeks (Russell McIlrath and Scott Gassner) Petersburg Times -
1989 1 15 Gassner Scott USA 12 SCUBA Aged 20, diving from the 'Char Lo II' out of Cortez, Had joined the vessel one month earlier (Temporary job, he wanted to join the police force). Had been in the water about an hour, signalled the surface to pull up his catch, apparently stopped breathing. Pulled up unconscious, failed to respond to treatment, reported as 'accidental drowning' but no explanation. Not clear whether it was a three or four man crew, but two divers were in the water simultaneously. St Petersburg Times -
1986 6 16 Hill Billy Ray USA Valley liners and Equipment 12 S/S Air Aged 29, from Tulsa, Okla, died in an explosion during a ship salvage operation. Mississippi River, sunken corn barge, cutting plate with oxy/acetylene, Coastguard quote “possibly a pocket of methane given off by the fermenting corn�. After explosion was found inside the wreck with downline still secured to barge. Possibly drowned when mask separated from helmet. -
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. -
1976 9 6 Distier Mike USA 12 SCUBA Aged 28, diving for tropical fish of Big Pine Bay, reported as gear failure, breath held to surface, went into a coma, spent 8 hours in NOAA's Miami chamber, died in a Miami hospital. Not clear if this was a commercial dive. Reported in the St Petersberg Times. -
1945 9 8 Tate, RN PO George R Australia 12 S/S Air Aged 25, British, "Assisting the berthing of a large British aircraft carrier in Captain Cook graving dock (Elizabeth Bay, Sydney) when something went wrong with either the air pipes or his diving suit" Reported in The Advertiser, Adelaide. -
1945 2 17 Hammerberg B'suns mate 2nd class Owen Francis Patrick USA Military 12 S/S Air US Navy aged 24, post Pearl Harbour Salvage operations, awarded the medal of honour. His citation reads:- "For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a diver engaged in rescue operations at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, 17 February 1945. Aware of the danger when 2 fellow divers were hopelessly trapped in a cave-in of steel wreckage while tunneling with jet nozzles under an LST sunk in 40 feet (12 m) of water and 20 feet (6.1 m) of mud. Hammerberg unhesitatingly went overboard in a valiant attempt to effect their rescue despite the certain hazard of additional cave-ins and the risk of fouling his lifeline on jagged pieces of steel imbedded in the shifting mud. Washing a passage through the original excavation, he reached the first of the trapped men, freed him from the wreckage and, working desperately in pitch-black darkness, finally effected his release from fouled lines, thereby enabling him to reach the surface. Wearied but undaunted after several hours of arduous labor, Hammerberg resolved to continue his struggle to wash through the oozing submarine, subterranean mud in a determined effort to save the second diver. Venturing still farther under the buried hulk, he held tenaciously to his purpose, reaching a place immediately above the other man just as another cave-in occurred and a heavy piece of steel pinned him crosswise over his shipmate in a position which protected the man beneath from further injury while placing the full brunt of terrific pressure on himself. Although he succumbed in agony 18 hours after he had gone to the aid of his fellow divers, Hammerberg, by his cool judgment, unfaltering professional skill and consistent disregard of all personal danger in the face of tremendous odds, had contributed effectively to the saving of his 2 comrades. His heroic spirit of self-sacrifice throughout enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country". Navydivers.net -
1926 5 24 Devine John USA 12 S/S Air American, aged 40, New York East River, "Friend by mistake cut off his air hose" New York Times. Another report indicates "His lead soled boot was trapped in a cofferdam frame, his airline twisted and tangled, he died a divers death 30 feet under the East River this afternoon". He was recovered to the surface by fellow diver Alexander Hansen but was dead. Survived by 5 children. They were working on the installation of filter screens on the two water inlet tunnels supplying water to the new Edison Company plant being built at the end of fourteenth Street. Montreal Gazette -
1922 9 11 Not Recorded Malaysia FMS Railway Company 12 Caisson Pahang province, about 26 miles from the town of Kuala Lipis, railway construction department building a bridge over the Jelai river, a Philippino diver was working at the bottom of one of the two 40' deep coffer dams when "the whole structure was sucked down below the bed of the river. Mr. Snelling, the diving expert attached to Messrs D. G. Robertson Ltd., was telegraphed for, but although air had been pumped through the life lines for the 96 hours before his arrival, no hopes were entertained of recoverimg the body of the diver". Straits Times" -
1915 1 14 Robinson John Singapore Topham, Jones and Railton 12 S/S Air English (From Southampton) Aged 32. contracted to Singapore Harbour Board during construction of new wharf (Tanjong Pagar section G-F). During underwater lifting/lowering, the diver stopped responding to line pulls and could not be pulled up. They brought up a second diver (named Harvey who was workling 10' to 12' away) and sent him back down to find what the problem was. Harvey went down and then surfaced indicating that they were to pull the diver up but they could not. Harvey went down again and after a signal they managed to pull the diver up. On getting him to the surface they could see the air pipe was severed (Only held by a strand the spiral internal wrap) about 15' from the diver. They attempted artificial respiration which was further continued by arriving doctors, but no response. The investigation concluded that the air line had been caught and severed by the lifting gear due to the strong tide (slack air line) and that the surface crew probably did not understand the diver's signals. Cause of death was given as asphyxia due to suffocation. The coroner observed that "the deceased was dead when brought to the surface". Straits Times. -
1854 6 1 Tope, First entry, the incident John USA Wells, Gowan and Green 12 S/S Air We learn that Mr. John Tope, one of the divers employed by Messrs. Wells, Gowan & Green, in their operations on the Lake, lost his life while experimenting with a sub-marine armor, a few days since. The circumstances attending this lamentable casualty, as related to us by Mr. Green, are substantially as follows: It appears that Mr. Tope was desirous of testing a sub-marine armor preparatory to commencing operations on the wrecks which the Company design raising this Summer, and on Friday afternoon last, in company with three others, started from Cattaraugus Creek in a small vessel of about twenty tons burden, and proceeded some distance from the shore, where the water was about forty feet deep. Mr. Tope descended into the water three times. The first and second time he went down some fifteen or twenty feet, each time signalizing to those above to raise him. In both instances he remarked that the foul air did not escape fast enough to allow him to breathe freely. Previous to going down, the third time detached the spring from the valve which allows the impure air to escape from the helmet, and desired the man who held the signal line to observe carefully when he should reach the bottom, (some forty feet) and be prepared to answer his signals. He then entered the water, and had descended about thirty feet, when those above thought the armor felt unusually heavy. The signal line was immediately jerked to ascertain whether anything was wrong, but receiving no answering signal, the diver was immediately raised from the water. New York Times -
1854 6 1 Tope, Second entry, incident response John USA Wells, Gowan and Green 12 S/S Air On opening the helmet, the unfortunate occupant of the armor was found to be quite dead, presenting a horrid spectacle, blood oozing from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Detaching the spring from the escape-valve prevented the air from inflating the armor below the neck of the diver; and when it is recollected that at the depth of thirty feet the pressure of the water is equal to fifteen pounds to the square inch, and hence there must have been a pressure of at least ten tons upon the lower extremities of the diver; and this tremendous pressure forced the vital fluid to the head, bursting the blood vessels, and thus causing immediate death. Not more than a minute and a half elapsed from the time he entered the water, to the time he was hoisted upon the deck of the vessel. The pressure of the water upon the lower part of the armor, on his two previous trials, caused a slight rush of blood to the diver’s head, causing a dizziness, which he imagined was produced by foul air, and he insisted upon descending again with the spring detached from the escape-valve, which be said would allow a free current of air to pass in and out of the armor; but a moment’s reflection will convince anyone that this alone was the cause of the melancholy casualty. The apparatus he used on this occasion was in complete working order, and one of the most perfect ever manufactured. New York Times -
1854 6 1 Tope, third Entry, the investigation John USA Wells, Gowan and Green 12 S/S Air The deceased was a diver of five years’ experience on the Atlantic sea-board, and recently came here from Boston, where he leaves a wife and four children to mourn his death. Those who were with him during the day say that he appeared to have a premonition that some catastrophe would happen to him but could not be dissuaded from trying the experiment, in which he acted on his own responsibility, Mr. Green being in this city at the time. The accident at the wreck of the Erie last year, when Macdonald lost his life, was similar to this, though the victim in that case had but little experience as a diver. Too much care cannot be observed by those who follow this hazardous business. It requires cool judgment and great presence of mind on the part of the diver. Mr. Green informs us he has often experienced the same sensations while in the water, but always rose promptly to the surface until the dizziness had vanished and the armor thoroughly inflated. As long as the air circulates throughout the armor there is no danger to be apprehended. The body of the deceased below the neck appeared as if the blood had been entirely forced out of it, presenting an appearance as white and clear as a piece of sculptured marble. Since writing the above, we learn that Mr. Tope had connected a length of gutta percha hose to the helmet at the place occupied by the escape valve, one end of the hose, remaining above the surface of' the water. This was an improvement of his own which he desired to test, and before going down the last time he had taken the valve out entirely, though he was told frequently that such an experiment would prove fatal to him, and was warned by Mr. Green not to attempt it. On learning of the accident, Mr. Green had the body brought to this city, and Messrs. Wells & Gowan deposited it in a metallic burial case, and Mr. Wells proceeded with it to Boston last evening. The unfortunate man was held in high estimation by his employers, and his loss is deeply regretted. New York Times -
2021 12 12 Sawiran Herman Indonesia 11m S/S Air Palembang, South Sumatra. Family diving team of two bothers and a brother-in-law (the victim) led by father installing a PDAM pump (high volume unit weighing 3 tons). Diving on an air compressor with a 100 metre hose hookah set up to check pump status. Hose went tight then broke, stand-by dived in. Diver had gone head first into the pump, head and torso missing, hips and legs recovered to surface. Divers questioned why the pump was running whilst they were doing the inspection. Reported in Indonesian Press. -
1975 9 9 Baldwin Roger UK Oceaneering 119 Saturation British, aged 29, Ex RN CD2 ( not ex Royal Marine Corporal as reported elsewhere). Died in the same year he left the Navy. Semi-sub drill rig "Waage II", Bell Bounce diving, divers using dry-suits and known to be cold, end of bell run, TUP deliberately overheated to help compensate for potential hypothermia. After locking on, bell was isolated and decompressed. Single gauge for both bell and TUP, cross over open, Supervisor believed TUP was losing pressure and re-pressurised Excessive heat/depth, died of heat exhaustion. Double fatality (Peter Holmes) -
1975 9 9 Holmes Peter UK Oceaneering 119 Saturation British, aged 24. Semi-sub drill rig "Waage II", Bell Bounce diving, divers using dry-suits and known to be cold, end of bell run, TUP deliberately overheated to help compensate for potential hypothermia. After locking on, bell was isolated and decompressed. Single gauge for both bell and TUP, cross over open, Supervisor believed TUP was losing pressure and re-pressurised Excessive heat/depth, died of heat exhaustion. Double fatality (Roger Baldwin) -
1947 9 19 Fargues Maurice France Military 119 SCUBA From the French Naval Vessel 'Timing' off Toulon. Experimental dive “in connection with the planned Bathysphere dives to the Ocean floor by the Belgian Professor Picard� described as 'Frances leading deep sea diver'. Reported as diving with goggles and three Oxygen tanks on his back. Reached 300' (which set a world depth record)', signalled OK and went on down to 390'. Signals stopped and he was hauled up. A colleague dived down and found him at 200', goggles off, mouthpiece out, apparently unconscious. Hauled to the surface, still unconscious, died in hospital. “Experts“ quoted as saying that “either the lifeline swung against his mouthpiece ripping it from his mouth or Fargues was seized with what divers call 'deep sea drunkenness' Reported in the Sydney Morning Herald -
1999 8 6 Hill Chris UK Stolt Comex Seaway 117 Saturation British, aged 42, Buchan template, DSV "Discovery", oxy arc explosion. HSE prosecution, fined £60,000. (See IMCA SF 07/01). -
1978 11 36 Ward Mike UK Northern Divers 116 Saturation British, aged 25. Beryl Alpha, DSV "Star Canopus", DP incident inside anchor pattern, lost bell, double fatality (Prangley), hypothermia, drowning -
1978 11 26 Prangley Tony UK Northern Divers 116 Saturation British, aged 28. Beryl Alpha, DSV "Star Canopus", DP incident inside anchor pattern, lost bell, double fatality (Ward), hypothermia/drowning -
2015 8 19 Koratko Mathew USA Harkand/Swiber 110m Saturation American, married, two children diving off the Swiber Quetzal, Bay of Campeche, riser installation operation. Accident in the water at 14:30 local, body taken ashore to Cuidad del Carrmen, no other details, Reported in the El Sur de Campeche. Complete news blackout imposed by Harkand and Swiber, Two conflicting and unsubstantiated reports - one indicated the fatality was due to stored energy in a member being cut was the cause - it sprang and crushed the diver's chest. A second report indicated that the one piece riser being installed crushed the diver against the structure - ie a lifting incident. If the lawyers keep this incident gagged it is unlikely that any lessons will be learnt. Later rumours indicate riser swung due to topsides crew moving/changing hang-off without the knowledge of the dive crew but without confirmation that is still just speculation. No further information has been released by Swiber, or the defunct Harkand. -
2011 5 23 Strakele Sean USA 11 SCUBA Aged 37, Diving for lobsters out of Provincetown off the commercial fishing vessel "Chase" in the vicinity of Race Point Lighthouse. Entered the water at 06:30, failed to surface an hour later. Diving solo on single SCUBA cylinder. Coastguard searches called off after two days. Body located the day after in 56' of water by another lobster diver from the fishing vessel 'Mad Dog' in the same area he had dived in, half a mile south of the lighthouse. Reported as 'drowned'. Cape Cod Times -
2008 9 9 Jamal Mohammed Borhan Singapore Underwater Contractors pty 11 SCUBA Paraphased from press reports at te time;- “Aged 26, East Petroleum "A" anchorage off Bedok Jetty, Oil tanker "Oliva" hull maintenance and inspection work, the diver went in to undertake an inspection but failed to surface, possibly swept away by strong currents. Married 1 year, 1 month old daughter. Body washed up 30 km away on an Indonesian island beach 12 days after he disappeared. Recreational SCUBA training only. Paraphrased from the later official Company report:- “A contract diver disappeared while completing an underwater inspection of a vessel that was anchored. All of the divers were using SCUBA equipment. Two other divers were replacing starboard ballast sea chest gratings for which the contract diver was completing the inspection. The depth of diving operation was 11 meters and the seabed depth was between 50 and 60 meters. Underwater visibility was fair on the day of the incident. The contract diver was last seen about 25 -30 meters off the starboard aft quarter of the vessel when he disappeared from the view of the other two divers. Despite extensive searches, the diver’s body was not recovered until 21 September, approx. 30 kilometres from the initial location. Contributing factors and insufficient controls related to the incident:- Actual Dive Operation did not comply with Dive Contractor’s risk assessment (diver not attached to a tender line), Diving Supervisor was actually diving, which contravenes local and Group standards. Dive operation undertaken using SCUBA (self contained underwater breathing apparatus) in breach of Company and OGP standards, which require surface supplied air. The required diver communications system, tender lines and flotation devices were not provided. One of the divers only had a recreational diving qualification. The Maritime & Port Authority Dive Permit was not complied with� -
2006 2 24 Guarascio Anthony USA Drake associates 11 S/S Air American, aged 24, Delaware River, Camden, NJ, jackhammer concrete, lost air supply, clawed his way to the surface, without air 5+ minutes, coma, 9 + months paralysis, prognosis not reported -
2004 0 0 Not Recorded 11 S/S Air Diver bruising plus damaged helmet during concrete mattress installation (See IMCA SF 04/04) -
2003 10 28 Anderson Michael R USA 11 S/S Air 33 year old, commercial fishing (sea cucumber harvesting), but though experienced SCUBA diver, inexperienced with surface supply, mask off, no fins, heavy weight belt, recovered to surface but no response, drowned. Reported to have gone without air for 5 to 10 minutes Alaska Digest -
1992 0 0 Rogers Greg USA 11 S/S Air American, jetting off a lift barge, flooded band mask, recovered to DDC but did not respond to treatment -
1972 8 10 Holland Robert USA Healy Tibbitts 11 Described as a “professional hard hat diver�, was one of a three man team working off a barge in Hilo Harbour. On Hawaii at the time of his death in a diving accident. Subject of a court case Holland v. Healy Tibbitts Const. Co., 379 F.Supp. 192 (D. Hawaii, Jul 24, 1974). No details. Loislaw.com -
1970 4 19 Not Recorded UK 11 S/S Air "..diver died the other day whilst six fathoms deep in the water at Southampton where some new apparatus taken from the womb...No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph/The British Newspaper Archive -
1946 4 16 Donovan Fred USA 11 S/S Air American, aged 48, veteran of the first world war, diver for 18 years, trapped underwater for three hours, 'hauled up dead' from Lake Moraine State Reservoir. Although not feeling well, descended to repair a dam (Valve in a large pipe) , stopped responding to signals but then could not be pulled up. Eventually pulled out by surface crew. Survived by wife and 11 year old son. Schenectady Gazette. -
1935 7 4 Sistakis Georgios USA 11 S/S Air Greek, aged about 63, ex-Mediterranean sponge diver, had been working the sponge beds off Tarpon Springs for 30 years, diving off the sponge diving boat 'Azaimis'. Break in air hose, lost air (Squeeze), recovered to surface but died. St. Petersburg Times -
1935 1 5 Fujimatsu Australia 11 S/S Air Japanese pearl diver aged 27, working from the lugger 'Felton' 10 miles west of Badu (one of the Torres Strait Islands), had been in the water 45 minutes when he ditched his helmet/corslet and surfaced 4 yards from the lifeline. The diver acting as tender jumped in with a line and both divers swam to the ladder. The diver sat on deck for 5 minutes, and, after aking a deep breath, lay back on the deck. He was found to be dead. A post mortem indicated he died of beri beri and heart failure. His diving gear was found to be in order and had not been fouled. Reported in the Sydney Morning Herald -
1921 12 2 Not Recorded Australia Morley Pearling 11 S/S Air Pearl Diver Killed. Further information has been received by the Inspector of Police, Cairns, regarding the recent death of a Japanese diver, aged 20 years, off Thursday Island. The deceased was engaged by the Morley Pearling Co. of Thursday Island, and was diver and captain of a ketch named "Dart." He was at work in six fathoms of water when the spring of the pump burst, and he was immediately hauled to the surface. When his head-gear was removed he was found to be dead. The scene of the fatality was at the fishing grounds, 60 miles from Thursday Island, known as Badu. Deceased was-taken to Thursday Island, where death was declared to be due to suffocation while diving in apparatus. Reported in the Cairns post, Qld. -
2014 2 1 Moreno Franco Israel Italy UCS 10m Spanish, from La Coruna, aged 41. Working on the salvage of the Costa Concordia (Sank off the island of Grigio in January 2912 with the loss of 32 people), subcontracted to Titan, the main salvors, Metal brace being cut off fell on hin crushing his chest and gashing his groin, trapping, brought to surface by fellow diver, apparently still concious but later died of blood loss. Reported in 'The Province', Associated Press and Reuters -
2010 5 25 Costa Dr. Paolo Italy 107 Rebreather Aged 60, dive team of 4 people filming for Rai 3 programme "Geo and Geo" on Sardinia (Oliena, Nuoro) in an underwater spring (Su Gologone). Reported as becoming ill (Heart attack) during the ascent, failed to respond to treatment. A companion who assisted him up was treated for omitted decompression. Vip.it -
1973 6 18 Link Clayton USA Johnson-Sea Link 107 Submarine Aged 31, son of the mini submarine's inventor, Edwin Link. Trapped on the wreck of a sunken destroyer, the two men in the rear compartment (Link and Stover) died (asphyxiation), two in the forward compartment survived -
1973 6 18 Stover Albert USA Johnson-Sea Link 107 Submarine Aged 51, mini sub pilot. Trapped on the wreck of a sunken destroyer, the two men in the rear compartment (Link and Stover) died (asphyxiation), two in the forward compartment survived -
1987 5 30 Carr William Norway Stolt Nielson 104 Saturation British, DSV "Seaway Condor", Oseberg Norsk Hydro, Bell partner was M. Sullivan, Kirby Morgan 17 came off -
2006 10 8 Not Recorded Azerbaijan 100 Saturation 2 T work basket lowered onto diver, immediately lifted off, dive recovered to system, lower back injuries (IMCA member, lifting incident report circulated) -
1996 8 10 Carey Gary A UK Subsea Offshore 100 Saturation British, aged 38. DSV "Discovery", Ness subsea manifold. Crushed by wellhead blown off base by locked in pressure Mobil/Cooper Cameron were fined £175,000 and £45,000 respectively. -
2007 11 11 Not Recorded France La Schaphandre 10 SCUBA Aged 39, French commercial diver, died during completion of work on the lock downstream of the slew bridge in Rochefort Harbour, no details -
2003 7 3 A Raphael Poland Fire Brigade 10 Aged 34, firefighter/diver, breath hold exercise during training at the postgraduate fire school in Poznan, got entangled in the ropes of his marker buoy, could not cut the rope, pulled to the surface unconscious and died in hospital of cerebral hypoxia two days after a training accident. Reported in Virtual Poland/Wirtualnapolska -
2003 1 14 Regnolio Simone Italy Fireman and Adriatica Subsea Services 10 SCUBA Italian, 33 years old. River Tiber near Rome, Castel Giubileo, power plant water intake partially blocked, S/S Air diver trapped by differential pressure, No appointed supervisor or stand-by, Fire brigade attended, rescue diver in SCUBA on lifeline, he drowned, trapped diver managed to free himself. Fire brigade supv on site, Fire brigade diving team leader (not on site) and director of diving contractor (not on site) prosecuted. La Republica.it -
2002 4 30 Buckland Paul William Australia 10 SCUBA Australian, aged 23, professional scallop diver, Shark attack. Was wearing a "shark pod" (Electric shark repellor), may not have been switched on at depth but was on at time of attack on the surface. May have been incorrectly fitted (electrode position). Recommendation from coroner that at all commercial and recreational divers working in waters where the presence of sharks is a risk should wear at shark repellent device. -
2000 2 16 Williams Marcus Australia Endeavour Shipping Pty 10 SCUBA Australian, Diving in Investigator Roads, Gulf of Carpenteria. Diving operation to dismantle moorings in poor underwater visibility (<600mm) with surface swell and high current. Failed to surface, body never recovered. Contractor prosecuted (Inappropriate use of SCUBA for construction diving work. Cylinders not in current test. Lifeline disconnected by diver at surface and descended with lifeline over arm. Air purity not tested after previous oil contamination incident of HP compressor. No current medical certification. No standby diver fully equipped to act in standby diver role. No dive supervisor appointed. 30 minute delay to obtain appropriate equipment before search commenced) Workplace Health and Safety, Queensland. -
1997 11 20 Carriere, RCMP Constable Joseph Francois "Frank" Canada RCMP 10 SCUBA Aged 41, Cape Breton, part of a police team carrying out a drugs search on the hull of a Danish registered bulk carrier (The "Donia Portland", beam 80', length 450') at little narrows on the Bras d'Or akes (Cape Bretn). 5 man diving eam, zodiac and spotter, on AGA masks with micom comms. Ran out of air, tried buddy sharing, got separated, lost in bad visibility, body recovered the day after. Drowned. Leaking mask, gauge 'over-reading, possible contaminated air. RCMP prosecuted and fined. Now they use S/S equipment. Halifax Chronicle. Canadian Coastguard vessel ("CCGS Constable Carriere"), launched 2013 is to be one of nine vessels named after fallen Canadian heroes. -
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. -
1989 1 30 Dykstra Andrew Canada St. Lawrence Seaway Authority 10 Aged 47, Lock 1 on the Welland Canal.. Diver was checking a valve on the lock but became trapped against logs, Steven Murphy, the stand-by diver went in the assist and also became trapped. Both were eventually brought to the surface, Steven Murphy pronounced dead on site, Andrew Dykstra died later in hospital. No other details. Reported in the Toronto Star. -
1989 1 30 Murphy Steven Canada St. Lawrence Seaway Authority 10 Aged 29, Lock 1 on the Welland Canal.. Another diver, Andrew Dykstra was checking a valve on the lock but became trapped against logs, Steven Murphy, the stand-by diver went in the assist and also became trapped. Both were eventually brought to the surface, Steven Murphy pronounced dead on site, Andrew Dykstra died later in hospital. No other details. Reported in the Toronto Star. -
1979 0 0 Not Recorded France 10 S/S Air French, inspecting a valve in a nuclear power station plant water system, sucked in. The valve had been key locked by client , but unfortunately 'in open position'. -
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 0 0 Not Recorded Japan 10 Saturation Two Japanese divers divers died in a bell fire caused by an electrical short circuit in the internal wiring, deaths due to a combination of O2 depletion and toxic fumes. The system designer committed suicide, Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164 -
1961 2 27 Smith Leading Seaman Allan Leslie Australia Military 10 SCUBA Aged 24, Diving 'fairly shallow routine dive' alongside HMAS anti-submarine frigate 'Quiberon' berthed off Rushcutter Bay at Garden island. 'Had been underwater about 15 minutes when he floated to the surface unconscious' Reported as “air embolism� but no details. At the preliminary inquest his father asked if the Navy were aware that another Navy diver had died under very similar conditions a day later in New Guinea They were, but no details were given. Reported in the Sydney Morning Herald. -
1915 2 4 Horry Sydney Australia 10 S/S Air Paraphrased from newspaper report:- “BAIRNSDALE, Thursday. A fatal accident happened on the railway bridge construction site to-day to a diver who was working in the Mitchell River. The air pipe attached to the diver's outfit became disconnected, and an attendant named Reid immediately drew him up. On reaching the surface the diver was dead. There was no water in his dress, but the pressure of water at the great depth had killed him. He recently came .from England and had not much experiences of diving, he had no relatives in Australia.� Reported in the Melbourne Argus -
2013 3 13 Sumaylo Alger Philippines Omega Steel & Marine Services 1 SCUBA Aged 27, Double fatality (with Glenn Pahit, also aged 27). Salvage operation on the vessel 'B and E Uno' (en route from Iligan City to Pier 4 in Cebu city carrying 23,000 bags of cement) which ran aground before capsising on July 1st 2012 less than a mile from the coast off Canjulao (Lapu-Lapu city). After 5 months of salvage operations the vessel was refloated in early December but then sank again two days later. The owner of the salvage company said that they had suspended ongoing salvage operations the previous week (waiting on a salvage vessel to lift some components prior to bringing the vessel ashore) and left the two divers guarding the wreck. They were reported missing on Wednesday the 13th, his body was located inside the wreck at low tide (partially submerged but trapped under the hull) by other salvage contractor divers on the morning of the 14th, they called the coastguard who sent a team who recovered both bodies later that day. Initial reports said that when recovered, both divers "were in complete diving gear" and it was reported that the bodies were already decomposing. The owner surmised that the two divers "had decided to dive to retrieve scrap meta whilst everybody was away". Foul play was ruled out as the divers belongings were intact. Later reports said that the coastguard had asked Soco (Scene Of Crime Operations) to check where the bodies were located as they were not discounting foul play. It was then alleged that the divers did not have permission to dive and might not have been in diving gear, though it appears that both bodies showed significantly decomposition and it is not clear when they died. Reported in the Sun Star -
2011 10 15 Eger Wolgang Austria Police and Fireman 1 SCUBA Aged 43, based in Orth (Lower Austria, on the Danube), experienced diver and diving instructor, two divers in a boat tending the free swimming diver just below the surface during a routine 'flow swimming' exercise. Went motionless in the water, was immediately pulled out and given CPR but did not respond. No water in the lungs, posible heart attack (Waiting on autopsy results) DiePresse.com -
2010 1 4 Renou Simon Italy Fireman 1 Paraphrased from Italian Press Reports:- “ROME - a diver was trapped underwater while working on the maintenance at the dam Castel Jubilee to the north of the capital, where he was working to unlock one of the four sluices which had been raised to drain the high water from recent heavy rains and had not closed completely His diving partner immediately gave the alarm and have started relief operations. 
Attempts to rescue the diver were made difficult by the water pressure that passes through the slot of the lock, pinning him against t. e wall. Initial rescue attempt failed and a rescue diver from the fire brigade went in with a rescue rope which he secured to the cylinder harness and the diver was successfully pulled to the surface (Hospitalised with hypothermia, but recovered). As the working diver was recovered, the fireman disappeared from sight (the torrent was rising) in a cascade of logs/debris. He was eventually recovered by pulling on his surface line. Might have been sucked into a suction pump that was put into operation to lower the water level or simply hit by debris. “Something had ripped off the mask and his face was cyanotic and blood was pouring from his nose." working diver might have had surface supply (he had comms and a lifeline, Fireman appears to have been on a lifeline but might have been on SCUBA gear. Reported in 'La Repubblica' -
2009 3 0 Not Recorded Australia 1 SCUBA Aged 56, ex-professional diver called out by yacht owner after moorings failed and boat drifted into another. Diver went in to clear ropes from the propeller, failed to surface. Emergency service divers found him entangled in the ropes, unconscious, did not respond to treatment and pronounced dead. (Not strictly a commercial dive, but fulfils the criteria of 'a diver at work' and certainly ticks all the 'lessons learnt' in terms of solo SCUBA dive, TC) Reported in 'Diver' -
2009 2 5 Barnes Ted USA Freedom Diving Corporation 1 S/S Air American, aged 48, working under the fishing vessel “Ocean pride III� in Gloucester Harbour loop, sustained head and other injuries when his air hose and tending lines entangled in moving propeller when engine was started by crew member unaware of diving operation while he was under the boat. Ended up unconscious and wrapped into propeller, cut free and recovered by coastguard. No stand-by, lifeline ot person in charge. Quote:- "The best thing about this accident is you get to appreciate everything you have more. I now look at my wife, children and grandchildren and my life and appreciate them all the more," Barnes said. "This was just a fluke accident." -
1996 7 0 Not Recorded USA 1 SCUBA In July 1996, a 24-year-old commercial fisherman with no diving certification used scuba gear while attempting to clear a fishing net wrapped around the propeller of a fishing vessel. He became entangled in the net and was unable to free himself. Other crew members were unable to assist because they had no diving gear. He was retrieved approximately 3 hours later, and no attempt was made to resuscitate him. The scuba tank still contained an adequate amount of air. The cause of death was drowning. NIOSH review of occupational diving fatalities in Alaska -
1959 12 22 Mielke Donald USA 1 SCUBA Aged 17, diving under ice on the Wolf River at New London with Steven Austen, aged 15, as part of an ongoing search for the body of a three year old boy who apparrently fell into the river a month earlier. Suffocated under the ice when his regulator apparently froze. He was shared regulators with his dive partner, who also nearly sufficated but was rescued by other divers. The Milwaukee Sentinel -
1929 7 9 Johnstone J E Australia 1 “DIVER'S BRAVERY. When a party of men was blasting in the Yarra at Burnley, a lighted fuse attached to 10 lbs of gelignite caught on the bottom of the boat. The fuse could not be detached, and the diver, Mr. J. E Johnstone, risked his life to go below to cut the fuse. His action probably saved the lives of the men in the boat. One photograph shows the diver entering the water with the charge, and the other is of the "powder monkey� lighting the fuse which caused the trouble These photographs were taken just before the mishap�. Reported in The Argus, Melbourne, Vic. -
2013 2 17 McQuade Michael R USA Hydro Marine Construction 0 Topsides Aged 34, former marine corporal, wife and two sons, working as a diver but killed on deck in a crush accident on a barge on the Sayreville side of the morgan Bridge north of Laurence Harbour. Appears to have been a back hoe, "The Operator of the equipment could not see Mike. Mike was brushed once and not hurt. When the Operator was informed, he reacted and moved the wrong way and crushed Mike to death" Press reports in legacy.com, nj.com etc -
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 -
2009 9 16 McCloskey Sgt Ist Class Shawn Afghanistan US Special Forces 0 Topsides Aged 33-year-old , killed by a roadside IED, Special Operations Diver Supervisor (amongst many qualifications) serving in Helmand province. Enlisted into the U.S. Army in January of 2002 as a Special Forces candidate. He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in May 2004. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC). Reported by Fayette County News. -
2009 3 18 Not Recorded Thailand Navy 0 Royal Thai Navy SEAL, oil installation security exercise, Arthit field, Gulf of Thailand, officer was climbing ladder from sea up to installation at the end of the exercise in the field , apparently slipped and fell off into the sea, swept away, reported as missing, presumed dead. -
2009 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. -
2008 2 9 Not Recorded Denmark DOF 0 Topsides ROVSV "Geosund" in dock, fatal accident involving ROV TMS/winch, release of locked in hydraulic pressure led to uncontrolled lifting of TMS. Safety bulletin DSN-HSEQ-S99-08-0001, IMCA SF 07/08 -
2008 0 0 IMCA SF 07/08 Denmark DOF 0 Topsides ROV related fatality in port (See 09/02/2008) -
2008 0 0 IMCA SF 18/08 Spain Saipem 0 Topsides J-lay incident, 4 fatalities (See 17/09/2008) -
2007 7 0 Not Recorded Qatar McDermott 0 Surface Swimmer Lay barge KP1, Qatargas SPM Project, 42" pipeline lay. The accident occurred while the diver swimmer was doing work on the stinger in the water. A swell swept him into the barge where he suffered a fractured pelvis and several fractured ribs. He was medivac’d to Hamad hospital, Doha. Reported as out of intensive care, no indication of any internal organ damage. -
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" -
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 -
2000 6 2 Not Recorded USA Police 0 Police officer, injured on the same dive during which Sgt Alane Soffregen died -
2000 6 2 Soffregen Sgt Alane USA Police 0 Female American police marine unit diver, aged 50, drowned during a training exercise 1 mile off Chicago waterfront. -
1996 0 0 Noordhof Ellard Netherlands GB Diving 0 S/S Air Working off a jack up, umbilical caught on wellhead, asphyxiated on the surface -
1992 0 0 Palin Carl UAE CCC 0 Died in the DDC (Brain aneurysm) -
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 -
1980 0 0 Not Recorded Bahrain Taylor Diving 0 S/S Air American, Taylor Diving (Bahrain) jumping from the deck of a barge into the water, wearing a Swindel, umbilical connection between helmet and harness caught on a projection, ripped off from both helmet and harness, body later recovered from seabed, possibly broken neck -
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 11 4 Meeham C V UK KD Marine 0 SCUBA American, aged 24. Semi-sub drilling rig "Ocean Voyager", night dive to connect anchor pennants, surface tending, rough weather (Outside KD policy, being pushed by Company man on rig), lines entangled in pontoon anodes, knocked unconscious? Double fatality (Spensley) -
1976 11 4 Spensley H W UK KD Marine 0 SCUBA British, aged 24. Semi-sub drilling rig "Ocean Voyager", night dive to connect anchor pennants, surface tending, rough weather (Outside KD Policy, pushed by Company man on rig), lines entangled in pontoon anodes, knocked unconscious? Double fatality (Meecham), drowned -
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 -
1987 2 0 Not Recorded UK . SCUBA BSAC diver died while working to clear debris fouling the propulsion units of a new ferry. "Water conditions atrocious in terms of visibility and cleanliness. Deceased's air supply had been turned off accidently underwater, it is thought by blow(s) against underside of hull of ship but he was also trapped by a surface rope and a flxed rope around the hull of the vessel. Deceased had been using normal sports diving equipment. No other details, not sure whether this was investigated by the HSE as a commercial fatality. Reported by Dave Shaw in BSAC incidents report fot 1987 -
2013 6 19 Dotzler Robert N USA Military Surface Swimmer Navy Diver 3rd Class, aged 22, assigned to the submarine tender "Frank Cable" (AS-40, Launched 1978, designed to support Los Angeles class submarines, based in Guam from 1997 as 7th fleets mobile repair and support pltform). Initial report stated "undertaking pier side diving training at the Alpha Pier of Guam Naval Base" (Most likely actually at 'Apra' pier - the vessel's home port is Apra Harbour, Guam, TC). Described as "not diving, but observing other divers from the surface in snorkeling like role", not clear if he had diving gear on. "When the other divers surfaced, they noticed Dotzler was missing and located him at the bottom of the harbor, he was pulled from the water unconscious and later pronounced dead at Guam's Naval hospital. Reported in the Military 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 26 Jacson 4 AHT Nigeria West African Ventures (Subsidiary of Sea Trucks) Topsides Tug, sank in heavy weather while towing a Chevron tanker off Escravos, Nigeria with the loss of 11 lives. One man, Okene Harrison, the cook, was found alive in an air pocket inside the hull 82 hours later and was rescued by divers. Longstreath -
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 4 26 Tejedar Felix Italy Titan Topsides Philipino diver aged 54, one of the team working on salving the liner 'Costa Concordia' (Ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012, found dead in his shower. Apparently had not dived in the previous three days and police were not linking his death with his work. Gazzetta del Sud -
2013 4 3 IMCA SF 5/13 UK IMCA On Deck Safety Flash regarding danger of explosion due to build up of internal Hydrogen/Oxygen atmosphere inside battery operated metocean buoys (Relates to death of Stig Erik Lyng in Malaysia in October 2012) -
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 -
2013 3 13 Pahit Glenn Philippines Omega Steel & Marine Services SCUBA Aged 27, Double fatality (with Glenn Pahit, also aged 27). Salvage operation on the vessel 'B and E Uno' (en route from Iligan City to Pier 4 in Cebu city carrying 23,000 bags of cement) which ran aground before capsising on July 1st 2012 less than a mile from the coast off Canjulao (Lapu-Lapu city). After 5 months of salvage operations the vessel was refloated in early December but then sank again two days later. The owner of the salvage company said that they had suspended ongoing salvage operations the previous week (waiting on a salvage vessel to lift some components prior to bringing the vessel ashore) and left the two divers guarding the wreck. They were reported missing on Wednesday the 13th, Alger Sumaylo's body was located inside the wreck at low rtide (partially submerged but trapped under the hull) by other salvage contractor divers on the morning of the 14th, they called the coastguard who sent a team who recovered both bodies later that day. Initial reports said that when recovered, both divers "were in complete diving gear" and it was reported that the bodies were already decomposing. The owner surmised that the two divers "had decided to dive to retrieve scrap meta whilst everybody was away". Foul play was ruled out as the divers belongings were intact. Later reports said that the coastguard had asked Soco (Scene Of Crime Operations) to check where the bodies were located as they were not discounting foul play. It was then alleged that the divers did not have permission to dive and might not have been in diving gear, though it appears that both bodies showed significantly decomposition and it is not clear when they died. Reported in the Sun Star -
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 -
2013 2 26 Harris, USN Navy Diver Second Class Ryan USA USN From Gladstone, Missouri,Married, two daughters aged 3 and 1 year old, assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 at the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Died in a double fatality incident (with James Reyher) at at the US Army UNDEX Test Facility (UTF) 'super pond' at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The UTF is 1070 feet long, 150 feet deep. One of the divers was pronounced dead at the scene while the second was taken to an area hospital where he was also pronounced dead. A spokesman for the Aberdeen Proving Ground said Tuesday's deaths are not believed to be connected to the earlier incident (George Lazaro killed 30th January 2013 during maitenance activities). But officials said that the test facility has been closed for all diving operations until investigations into the recent deaths are done. No details but autopsy results confirmed 'drowning'. Reported as the only deaths since the facility opened in 1995. Associated Press -
2013 2 26 Reyher, USN Navt Diver First Class James USA USN Aged 28 from Caldwell, Ohio, assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 at the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Died in a double fatality incident (with Ryan Harris) at at the US Army UNDEX Test Facility (UTF) 'super pond' at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The UTF is 1070 feet long, 150 feet deep. One of the divers was pronounced dead at the scene while the second was taken to an area hospital where he was also pronounced dead. A spokesman for the Aberdeen Proving Ground said Tuesday's deaths are not believed to be connected to the earlier incident (George Lazaro killed 30th January 2013 during maitenance activities). But officials said that the test facility has been closed for all diving operations until investigations into the recent deaths are done. No details but autopsy results confirmed 'drowning'. Reported as the only deaths since the facility opened in 1995. Associated Press -
2013 1 30 Lazzaro George H USA Aged 41, married with four children, described as an engineering technician, killed in an incident around 14:30 while conducting 'routine underwater test infrastructure maintenance' at the US Army UNDEX Test Facility (UTF) 'super pond' at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The UTF is 1070 feet long, 150 feet deep. First death since the facilty ewas opened in 1995. NB, this fatality was followed by a double fatality less than a month later (James Reyher/Ryan Harris, 26th February 2013). No details. www.exploreharford.com -
2013 1 23 HSE Safety Alert UK HSE Saturation Paraphrased and adapted from HSE safety alert: “A serious incident occurred where a diving support vessel's dynamic positioning (DP) system, designated as IMO class 2, failed resulting in the vessel drifting off position while divers were deployed subsea (Refers to Bibby Topaz incident on 18th September 2012 which left saturation diver Chris Lemons isolated on the seabed for 40+ minutes). Investigations have shown that a probable cause of the DP failure was a single fault which caused blocking of the DP system's internal data communications. Many DP systems rely on bus-oriented communications networks. Investigation of the incident referenced above found that communications dependent on a dual bus network can be totally lost because of a single fault. IMO MSC Circular 645 includes the requirement:- "For equipment class 2, the DP-control system should consist of at least two independent computer systems. Common facilities such as self-checking routines, data transfer arrangements, and plant interfaces should not be capable of causing the failure of both / all systems". If the dynamic positioning functions are dependent on a shared communication medium such as a dual data bus network, then the duty holder should ensure that appropriate measures are in place to prevent a single fault causing failure of the DP system. Manufacturers and suppliers of dynamic positioning systems who claim their products satisfy IMO Class 2 or better should investigate the communications architecture for the relevant dynamic positioning systems. If the dynamic positioning functions are dependent on a shared communication medium such as a dual data bus network, then the manufacturer / supplier should check that appropriate measures are in place to prevent a single fault causing failure of the DP system. If such measures are not in place, then the relevant manufacturer or supplier should ensure that the users of the dynamic positioning system are provided with adequate information regarding the vulnerability of the dynamic positioning system to single faults.� Essentially the HSE, regardless of the published data, are warning the industry that there is the potential for a single point failure in any dual bus system utilising any unit connected to both buses (In the case of the Bibby Topaz that referred to each of the three DP consoles on the bridge). In other words, unless addressed, the DP system is actually not DP II but DP I because it has apotential single point failure. -
2013 1 18 DSV "Hallin Penrith" Myanmar The DSV “Hallin Penrith� sank on the 18th of January after being holed on the evening of the 17th. Hallin stated that they were convening an internal enquiry with the assistance of 3rd party experts to establish exactly what happened. Notwithstanding the fact that the inquiry is still in progress to determine the full facts, it initially appears that Penrith hit an unchartered rock while going at 10Kts offshore Myanmar. At the time of the incident Penrith was contracted to support survey work connected with pipelay work offshore Myanmar. All 42 crew and client personnel abandoned ship to the life rafts initially, and were evacuated thereafter to the clients pipelay barge. There were no injuries to personnel other than 2 minor first aid cases suffered in the initial impact. The crew are in the process of being repatriated. Penrith is fully insured and whilst extremely regrettable, this incident will not unduly impact the company financially or put anyone’s job at risk. Longstreath<br />Update: It is understood that Hallin received a full insurance settlement after the incident. -
2013 1 0 IMCA Safety Flash 02/13 UK Saturation Safety Flash regarding a "Serious DP Diving Incident" (Refers to the Bibby Topaz incident on 18th September 2012 that left Chris Lemons isolated on the seabed for 40+ minutes), describes incident, actions taken, ivestigation and reccommendations. One result not mentioned elsewhere was that the DP system manufacturer had developed a CD/software update that would prevent a further or similar incident on a DP similar system. -
2012 12 7 Kolo Samiu Tonga S/S Air Aged 30, fishing (illegally using hookah gear) for sea cucumber in Ha'afeva (Ha'apai island) from decompression illness. Noted as the third fatality using illegal diving equipment in the last year (The other fatalities ocuured on the 30th October 2012 and 9th December 2010) but the victims were not named). Reported by Matangi, Tonga online -
2012 11 13 Lucyk Corpoal Lionel France Fireman SCUBA Aged 38, professional diver/firefighter, diving with a partner as part of a 4 man team from the St Nazaire fire and rescue centre in heavy seas to cut nets off the propellor of a disabled trawler in the bay between Le Pouliguen and Pornichet, details unclear, but failed to surface, found unconscious near the fishing boat but failed to respond to treatment. Married with a daughter. Reported by Letelegramme.com -
2012 11 3 Montozzi Maximilian Argentina Police Aged 37, Buenos Aries Province police diver, one of a team searching the Roggero Dam in Moreno on Monday for the bodies of two young men who disappeared the previous Saurday 3rd (presumed drowned, both bodies were subsequently recovered). Went missing during the morning, his lifeless body was recovered from a few metres away from where he disappeared in the afternoon. Reported swept away by strong current and trapped on a grill, drowned. His brother Marcos, also a policeman, had also died in the line of duty. Noticas Argentinas -
2012 10 30 Not Recorded Tonga SCUBA Diving illegally for sea cucumber on Tungua in the outlying Ha'apai islands, 'symptoms were consistent with decompression sickness'. SCUBA diving for sea cucumbers is illegal under the Tonga Fisheries Act. Two other free-diving sea cucumber fishrermen died in the previous seven days, one off the Northern coast of 'Atata island - leg caught in nylon line - the other from Patangata was found dead on the reef by other fishermen returning from Pangaimotu island. Reported by Matangi Tonga Online -
2012 10 29 de Waal Paul A Curacao Miami Divers S/S Air Aged 27, Accident at the Mega Pier at Baden Powellwegin the Port of Willemstad (Capital of Curacao, Dutch Caribbean island) Dutch diver working with three others divers on repairs to the 92,000 tonne cruise liner 'Norwegian Star' (Damaged her bow in port in Bermuda in September when she broke mooring lines in strong winds and collided with the RCCL 'Explorer of the Seas'). Reported as 'gave signal to his colleagues and was found unconscious on the harbour bed'. CPR was unsuccessful. No other details. Reported by Scheepvaartnieuws.The following details have been paraphrased from OGP safety Alert 248. “Routine surface supplied diving operation to clean marine growth from a vessel hull using a hull cleaning device with rotating brushes (a brush cart that required a diver to guide and operate it). The brush cart contained diver operated tooling actuated by an air driven piston. Standard company practice was to use the suit inflation take off from the diving mask for this purpose. Prior to this dive the diving mask was changed to a model that did not have a suit inflation take off capability. A decision was made to connect the diver's emergency gas supply line (Bailout) directly to the brush cart tooling. This resulted in the diver having no personal emergency gas supply. During the dive the diver's umbilical was caught in the wheels of the brush cart and the diver experienced a reduction in breathing gas. The diver, having no emergency gas supply, removed his mask, immediately losing communication to the surface team and was observed in distress at the surface. The surface team was composed of a radio operator (a diver) and a tender for the diver (a non diver) and a diving supervisor - who was not on the site at this time. An attempt was made to pull the diver back using the diver's umbilical, this was ineffective. The radio operator, who was also the standby diver, jumped into the water without diving equipment and attempted to rescue the diver. The brush cart was negatively buoyant and the rescue diver was unable to prevent it sinking with the diver attached. The standby diver returned to the vessel and dressed into the standby diver's equipment (SCUBA) and recovered the body of the diver from the seabed. What Went Wrong? i) Risks with the work equipment were not identified and addressed, ii) Critical Safety equipment was misused to achieve the work task, iii) Personnel levels were inadequate, iv) No onsite supervision, v) Inadequate Emergency recovery equipment. Corrective Actions and Recommendations: i) Utilise the OGP RP 411, Diving Recommended Practice as the baseline standard for diving, ii) Verify contractors are in compliance, iii) Establish that adequate risk assessments have been carried out, iv) Ensure minimum personnel levels for diving are 5 (One supervisor who cannot leave the dive site, a diver, a diver's tender, a standby diver and standby diver's tender), all personnel should be diver qualified and competent, v) Verify emergency breathing supply equipment is of suitable volume and immediately available, vi) Confirm that any use of the divers breathing gas supply for tooling power is unacceptable, vii) Ensure the standby diver's equipment is the same as the divers, viii) Verify that while any diver is in the water, the standby diver is dressed and in immediate readiness to carry out a rescue, ix) Ensure emergency recovery equipment and procedures are adequate to achieve recovery, x) Verify emergency drills have been carried out to test the emergency recovery procedures with the diving team. Later reported as having qualified from diving school in September, one month earlier. -
2012 10 23 HSE Alert UK Divers and supervisors are being warned that they could be putting lives at risk if they forge documents, and could also face criminal charges. It comes after a diving supervisor received a Police Caution under the Fraud Act 2006 for signing blank pages of a diver's log book. The diver had subsequently falsified details of dives to make it look like he had the necessary experience needed for a Closed Bell course in Scotland. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) alerted the police when initial checks by course leaders indicated that some of the dives were not possible without a very high risk of decompression illness. Chris Sherman, HSE's chief inspector of diving said: "Divers and supervisors need to be reminded that log books are legal documents which must be completed accurately. Had the man succeeded in completing the course, which is for experienced divers only, he could have led dives which he was not properly qualified for, putting others at risk. HSE diving teams will investigate all cases where divers are found to hold forged documents or qualifications and will work with police where necessary." -
2012 10 20 Antifave Robert Wayne Canada SCUBA Aged 51, from Lantzville on Vancouver Island, harvesting Geoducks in Rendell Sound (Off the West coast of Haida Gwaii) Emergency services called between 11:00 and 12:00 with reports of a diver in medical distress, helicopter (en route from Comox to Smithers) diverted and coastguard vessel "Sandspit" responded, crews recovered the diver from the water, administered CPR, taken to hospital in Queen Charlotte, pronounced dead. 'Coroner investigating'. Reported in the Vancouver Sun -
2012 10 18 Lyng Stig Erik Malaysia Fugro Topsides Norwegian, aged 53, servicing a tsunami warning metocean (Fugro Oceanor Wavescan) buoy off Sipadan from the MV Pendamar. Buoy lifted onto deck for maintenance after two years in the water. The last of 16 bolts holding an access lid was rusted so IP used an angle grinder. The internal atmoshere had been contaminated by gases from the batteries, resulting in an explosion which caused the lid to hit him causing fatal injuries. Reported by the Sun (Malaysia). IMCA SF 5/13 issued April 4th 2013. with detailed eport. NB Buoy manuals did highlight danger and required purging prior to access (Not done on this occassion). Procedures modified and explosion potential warning signs now used on the buoys (Similar to those already used by NOAA on their buoys) -
2012 10 15 Krishnan Chief Articifer Harish India Navy Topsides Aged 32, from Alappuzha, Indian Navy diver onboard a four seater Chetak helicopter on a routine transit flight from Mumbai to Bangalore, landing to refuel at Dabolim airport (INS 'Hansa' naval air base) in Goa. Witnesses said a rotor came off as it was landing at 09:51, the helicopter crashed bursting into flames killing all three (Navy pilot, co-pilot and diver). "The wreckage was cleared before 1 pm avoiding inconvenience to flights" OneIndia News -
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 -
2012 10 2 Selvamani M India Topsides Aged 45, resident in Anna Nagar area of Kasimedu, described as a diver cum assistant crane operator, Fishing department project at the Kasimedu fishing harbour, recovering a beam with projecting iron rods out of the harbour (It was preventing boats coming alongside the wharf). He ran under the crane to move the divers compressor (mounted on a tricycle) but was crushed under the crane when it overturned, report not clear) due to the weight of the beam. Another worker was taken to the Government Stanley hospital with minor injuries, the crane driver fled the site as relatives and other fisher folk rushed to the harbour demanding action be taken against the contractor. Survived by wife (Arasi) and daughter. Reported by About Chennai. -
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 -
2012 9 21 Bridger Michael USA Walt Disney / Silver Bullet Productions SCUBA Aged 48, cleaning inside a tank on a ranch near Palmdale in the desert north of Los Angeles prior to filming on the set of the new "Lone Ranger" movie, reported that co-workers realised something was wrong and pulled him from the water at which stage he went into cardiac arrest. Initially being treated as natural causes (Heart attack). Reuters UK. Update March 2013:- Silver Bullet Productions was fined $61,445 after the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) determined that the company allowed a hazardous situation that resulted in the drowning death of a diver who was cleaning a water tank. According to Cal/OSHA's records, the 48-year-old diver was using SCUBA equipment to enhance water clarity for filming while cleaning the 100-foot-by-80-foot-by-25-foot tank with a vacuum. The regulatory agency states that the diver's "dive buddy" was absent for 10 minutes and, when he returned, he noticed that no bubbles were coming to the surface of the water. OSHA determined the accident was primarily caused by the diver working alone and not being given a prior medical examination to determine his fitness to dive. For not having a designated "person in charge" at the dive location, failing to ensure that all divers were properly trained in CPR and other life-saving measures, not keeping up with the divers' required regular medical examinations and violating basic operational procedures—all deemed "serious" violations, Silver Bullet was fined $45,000. The company was fined another $16,445 for six general violations: not providing documentation of safety and health training for all employees, not keeping records of each dive in the tank, not keeping proper records of all equipment maintenance, not maintaining a required Illness Prevention Program for hazard training, not developing a manual for diver safety and not properly maintaining the compressor for supplying air. Cause of death recorded as drowned after having a heart attack underwater. LA Times -
2012 9 12 Not Recorded USA Ocean Corps, Houston Two trainees, one aged 18 or 28, the other 34, reported as 'hospitalised in a critical condition'. The accident occurred at around 10:00 or 11:00 hours, commercial diver training (Inspection/NDT training) in a tank, recovered from the tank, one unconscious, the other conscious, transferred by 'LifeFlight' helicopter to hospital. Apparently "Diving in the indoor tank on SCUBA on their first day of unsupervised diving. The instructor was helping another student when other students noticed something was wrong". No other details. KHOU news -
2012 8 23 Echevarria Pardo Columbia Aged 48, married with three chidren, ex-navy diver, working with 7 other divers on the Luxembourg flagged Jan de Nul dredger "Charles Darwin" (Launched 2010, 180 metres long, 40 metre beam, twin trailer suction dredges each with 3,400 KW of power) off the Port of Santa Marta. Described as 'human error' - they started the turbines with divers in the water. Two divers caught, Echavarria recovered to the surface 20 minutes later, apparently still alive but died, his dive partner Duva Hernandez suffered broken legs, taken to hospital. No other details. Reported by El Informador -
2012 8 23 Hernandez Duva Columbia Working with 7 other divers on the Luxembourg flagged Jan de Nul dredger "Charles Darwin" (Launched 2010, 180 metres long, 40 metre beam, twin trailer suction dredges each with 3,400 KW of power) off the Port of Santa Marta. Described as 'human error' - they started the turbines with divers in the water. Two divers caught, his partner, Pardo Echavarria recovered to the surface 20 minutes later, apparently still alive but died, Duva Hernandez suffered broken legs, taken to hospital. No other details. Reported by El Informador -
2012 8 18 Olurunwa Nigeria Storm surge hit shanty cabins at the Kuramo Beach, Victoria Island early hours of Saturday morning, "So far, only the body of the local diver earlier found on Saturday has been identified. The local diver identified simply as Olurunwa lost his life in his attempt to save the drowning victims. Reported in the Vanguard -
2012 8 10 Martin Christopher USA SCUBA Aged 24, hired by Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando to retrieve golf balls. Two divers, but working solo in different locations. The other diver saw the diving tank floating on the surface but neither he or the Orange County Dive Team could locate the body. Body recovered late evening the day after. Presumbed drowned but no other details. Orlando Sentinel -
2012 8 5 Reardon Jim USA Fireman SCUBA Aged 51 from Pierz, videoptaping in Lake Seven near Frazee undertaking a pre-drill survey for a future dive exercise for firefighters who were due to train there. Reported as having separated from his dive partner, he was found near the dock 20 minutes later but could not be revived. "No drugs or alcohol was involved, all his diving gear was intact and operational". Autopsy concluded that he "Died of natural causes". Bismark Tribune -
2012 8 1 Yusuke Miura Russia EMAS Saturation Japanese diver working in saturation onboard the "Lewek Crusader" at the Arkutun Dagi platform Gravity Base off Sakhalin. Reported as heart attack whilst in the water installing a flange catcher. NB IMCA member, therefore should see a report in due course. Longstreath/PDA -
2012 7 31 Van D Truong Vietnam Pearl or clam diver Aged 25, diver at a fish farm (pearls or clams) in Phu Yen Province. Resident in Ho Chi Minh City, returned to his home povince in July and went diving for clams. Developed high fever and headache on July 29th, the following day was hospitalised at the Nhan Dan Gia Dinh hospital in Ho Chi Minh city then transferred to the Tropical diseases hospital, treatment ineffectual as infection had spread from his nasal passages to the brain leading to Meningitis, fell into a coma, suffered three cardiac and respiratory arrests, was asked to be released on the 31st by his family, died in transit to his home. Subsequent tests confirmed he was infected with Naegleria fowleri. Amoeba was known to be endemic in Vietnam since in 1965, known as the 'brain eating amoeba', typically found in warm fresh water. Can invade humans and attackthe nervous sytem (rare) but when it occurs, typically has a 98% fatality rate. Of 121 cases reported in the USA since 1937, only one survivor. Reported in VietNamNet Bridge -
2012 7 24 Sheinost 1 David D USA Dept. of Natural Resources SCUBA Aged 24, from Puyallup, two man dive working with a four man diving tean for the Department of Natural Resources conducting geoduck surveys (sampling for paralytic shellfish poisoning) near Restoration Point on Bainbridge island. Reported as 'went missing during the dive' (surfaced in distress, called out he could not breath, slipped below the surface before the other divers reaced him), body recovered three days later. Death certificate indicates cause of death as 'salt water drowning' with a contributing factor 'acute cocaine intoxication'. Apparently did not hold a commercial diving license. Bainbridge Island Review. In January 2013, Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L & I) cited the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for 15 worker-safety violations including two “willful� violations (committed with intentional disregard or plain indifference to worker safety and health regulations). (1) 370 occurrences over a 6-month period in which divers were deployed without carrying a reserve breathing-gas supply (2) DNR did not ensure a designated person was in charge at the dive location to supervise all aspects of the diving operation affecting the health and safety of the divers and proposed penalties of $172,900.
In addition to the two willful violations, L&I cited DNR for eight serious and five general violations for not complying with standard safe-diving practices and procedures, including failure to:- have an effective safety and health accident prevention program and training program; ensure that divers maintained continual visual contact with each other; inspect and maintain equipment; have a stand-by diver available while divers are in the water. DNR says it will appeal the fines saying that the department has corrected most of the violations that were found during the investigation by the state Department of Labor & Industries. Bainbridge Island Review -
2012 7 24 Sheinost 2 David D USA Dept. of Natural Resources SCUBA In January 2013, Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L & I) cited the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for 15 worker-safety violations including two “willful� violations (committed with intentional disregard or plain indifference to worker safety and health regulations). (1) 370 occurrences over a 6-month period in which divers were deployed without carrying a reserve breathing-gas supply (2) DNR did not ensure a designated person was in charge at the dive location to supervise all aspects of the diving operation affecting the health and safety of the divers and proposed penalties of $172,900.
In addition to the two willful violations, L&I cited DNR for eight serious and five general violations for not complying with standard safe-diving practices and procedures, including failure to:- have an effective safety and health accident prevention program and training program; ensure that divers maintained continual visual contact with each other; inspect and maintain equipment; have a stand-by diver available while divers are in the water. DNR says it will appeal the fines saying that the department has corrected most of the violations that were found during the investigation by the state Department of Labor & Industries -
2012 7 13 Knight Michael Louis USA Seaward Marine Aged 49, civilian diver with 24 years experience working on the USS Wasp (Amphibious Assault Ship) at Pier 10 at the Norfolk Navy Base. Pronounced dead at the scene, cause of death not yet determined, no other details. Daily Press. -
2012 7 3 Antonov Rosen Bulgaria SCUBA Training to dive (Described as a professional SCUBA duver) with the institute of oceanology of the Bulgarian Academy of Science near Varna on the Black Sea Coast (Programme specifically for the Kozloduy nuclear power plant). Second fatality in two months associated with this power plant (Radoslav Stoyanov or Dimitrov, 5th May 2012). No details. Reported by Publics.bg -
2012 6 26 Not Recorded Nigeria S/S Air Diver from Ijar described as 'senior' with 25 years of experience working for a contractor out of Port Harcourt (Rivers State). Disappeared during salvage of a sunken dredger on the Ughelli River (Delta State). Reported as having reached the position of the sunken dredger then disappeared. Appears from photos to have been a surface supplied mobile/portable set up, but no details. The dredger was run by a contractor (Owned by the Hon Friday Onodjai, former chairman of of the Ughelli North Local Government council and one time member representinf Ughelli North in the Delta State house of Assembly) working for NDDC (Niger Delta Development Company) and sank on Monday 25th near the Amekpa junction 'while executing a project to open up the river'. Search for the diver continued Thursday 28th admist confrontation with the local Otor-iwhreko community trying to stop the search operation until after ceremonies to appease their Gods for defilement of the river by the dead diver. Riot controlled by the military. It was alleged that prior to the commencement of the dredging, some employees of the owner of the dredger had made some spiritual consultations and disclosed to Hon. Onodjai that there is the need to appease the gods of the river before the commencement of the project, a suggestion Onodjai allegedly refused with a wave of the hand saying that he is a Christian and that such insinuations are mere superstitious beliefs. However, a week after the commencement of the project, the dredger sank and in an attempt to recover it, divers were brought in from Port Harcourt. It was during the rescue of the dredger that one of the divers was discovered missing after he had gone into the water but failed to come out. Another report commented that prior to this incident, there have been a series of profitable excavating activities due to the high demand of white sand for construction activities in the area (So was this a publicly funded river widening operation or commercial sand extraction?) Reported by Urhobo Times/Vanguard.