Body of Russian diver recovered from Tulum cenote - Riviera Maya News
Tulum, Q.R. -- The body of the young Russian diver was located Sunday after he failed to return from a Saturday dive.
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Body of Russian diver recovered from Tulum cenote
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The below is a copy of a post in cavediver.net forum:
Cave diving fatality at Cenote Odyssey in Sistema Ox Bel Ha on April 23rd 2022
A brief and initial report of events by CREER
We can confirm that a cave diver had an accident with fatal outcome and drowned at Cenote Odyssey in Sistema Ox Bel Ha on Saturday, April 23rd.
The victim was a male of Russian nationality 32 years old. He was a certified FULL CAVE, STAGE CAVE and DPV CAVE diver. He has been very active training, diving and surveying in the area. He was a passionate diver and was pursuing exploration. He was working remotely as a programmer and spent his spare and free time cave diving. He would be suspected to have around 300-400 cave dives and had been very active diving in the area the last 2 years. He was a visiting tourist cave diver, he was not working professionally as a diver. He knew the cave area well, having done many dives in the same cave as part of an ongoing survey project. The vicitm was normally very safe, smart and calculated and risk adverse while diving, which adds to the strangeness of the accident.
The equipment used on the day was 4 x Aluminum 80cft tanks filled with 32% nitrox and a DPV of model ?Blacktip?. He was diving in sidemount gear configuration and with two stage tanks (total of 4 tanks used).
The objective of the dive was to continue the survey project in that section of the cave. The diver was solo diving.
The diver had frequently been at Cenote Odyssey and he had become known to the neighbours, building a house on the property next to the cenote. According to their sources the diver arrived around 10am on Saturday morning, started his dive and never came back. They got increasingly worried during the afternoon and evening and contacted another local diver. The alarm was raised in the community and a first search team was assembled with divers arriving from Playa Del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras and Tulum.
First search by a team of 3 divers (Lanny Vogel, Kim Davidsson and Peter Broger) descended at 02:57 on Sunday morning (Saturday night). Surface support by Robbie Schmittner, Alessandra Figari and Hitoshi. Due to complexity of the system and amount of lines, the plan was to try to retrace the steps of the missing diver. The team had no information of the plan from the missing diver. Divers used sidemount configuration, extra stage tank and a DPV each. The diver was found after first checking out some other areas of the cave. The diver had done 2 x jumps (navigational decisions) from the entrance and was using REM?s. Everything concerning how the jumps were installed was safe cave diving practices and protocol. The diver was found approximately at 700ft penetration, 7 min ?trigger time? from the Cenote Odyssey. The site was analysed and documented, but the diver and his gear was left intact. The team exited to notify the surface support and authorities. Due to the late time in the night, the plan was made to regroup in the morning (Sunday morning).
?The call? went out into the community and there was a great response among local instructors to help out and assist.
A team was selected due to readiness, experience level and availability. The team met up at a local dive center, coordinated a plan and coordinated with the authorities. The whole operation went very smoothly. The diver and all the equipment was recovered and surfaced by around 13:30 on Sunday, April 24th. Local authorities took over in combination with funeral services.
Alex Alvarez (surface support and point of contact with the authorities)
Marissa Eckert (search and recovery)
Arthur Nguyen-Kim (search and recovery)
Gustavo Buenrostro (search and recovery)
Martin Gaspar Ramirez (search and recovery)
Kim Davidsson (search and recovery)
The recovery, team 1 (Martin and Kim), entered the water at 12:30 and exited at 12:53. They used sidemount cylinders, DPV and scootered to the victim, recovered 4 x tanks and the dpv. Once back at the surface they informed team 2 (Arthur, Gustavo and Marissa) who did a swimming dive with sidemount gear configuration, extra stage tank. They recovered the diver, all further gear and jumps installed for navigation. The recovery team surfaced successfully at around 13:30.
What happened to the victim?
This is cause for further investigation and analysis but the facts are. The diver was found with both tanks attached to his body (side mount), both tank valves were fully open and both tanks were empty. He was found at the site in a horizontal and face down position, helmet and mask on the face. He was next to the place where he had ?dropped?/attached both his stage tanks to the line. One of the stage tanks had the valve fully open, tank was empty and the hose and regulator was stowed on the tank, the tank was attached/?clipped to the line? as per standard protocol. The puzzling detail is, why was the tank valve open? Next to the tank the second stage was attached ?clipped off? to the line, valve closed, tank pressurized and still with 170 bar/2500 psi inside, the hose and regulator was stowed on the tank. The DPV was also ?clipped? to the line at the same location and was functioning. The diver was within arms length from all the tanks and the DPV. The diver had a survey slate in his pouch and a wrist slate with many sheets of information. He has most likely been working and resurveying the lines around the location of the ?dropped? stages and DPV. He was working at approximately 700 ft penetration as a base point from his stages and DPV. We have no further information of the divers plan or objective for the dive. We have no idea of what actually happened that led up to this tragic event.
On the surface, the recovery team under direct supervision from the police investigators checked the divers equipment. Three of the tanks were as stated completely empty and one still had 170bar/2500 psi of gas inside. All the regulators were connected to a full tank and checked for function, there were no signs of equipment malfunction on any of the regulators, hoses or o-rings. They are all of a very good brand and look very new and well maintained.
The family has been notified, the authorities have taken over and further and more detailed analysis will have to be made in the future.
All cave divers acknowledge the importance of accident analysis in furthering diver safety. This report has been produced in the spirit of collaboration within the cave diving community, to help others learn from a tragic series of events. Please treat this information with respect and refrain from unnecessary criticism or speculation
Cave diving fatality at Cenote Odyssey in Sistema Ox Bel Ha on April 23rd 2022
A brief and initial report of events by CREER
We can confirm that a cave diver had an accident with fatal outcome and drowned at Cenote Odyssey in Sistema Ox Bel Ha on Saturday, April 23rd.
The victim was a male of Russian nationality 32 years old. He was a certified FULL CAVE, STAGE CAVE and DPV CAVE diver. He has been very active training, diving and surveying in the area. He was a passionate diver and was pursuing exploration. He was working remotely as a programmer and spent his spare and free time cave diving. He would be suspected to have around 300-400 cave dives and had been very active diving in the area the last 2 years. He was a visiting tourist cave diver, he was not working professionally as a diver. He knew the cave area well, having done many dives in the same cave as part of an ongoing survey project. The vicitm was normally very safe, smart and calculated and risk adverse while diving, which adds to the strangeness of the accident.
The equipment used on the day was 4 x Aluminum 80cft tanks filled with 32% nitrox and a DPV of model ?Blacktip?. He was diving in sidemount gear configuration and with two stage tanks (total of 4 tanks used).
The objective of the dive was to continue the survey project in that section of the cave. The diver was solo diving.
The diver had frequently been at Cenote Odyssey and he had become known to the neighbours, building a house on the property next to the cenote. According to their sources the diver arrived around 10am on Saturday morning, started his dive and never came back. They got increasingly worried during the afternoon and evening and contacted another local diver. The alarm was raised in the community and a first search team was assembled with divers arriving from Playa Del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras and Tulum.
First search by a team of 3 divers (Lanny Vogel, Kim Davidsson and Peter Broger) descended at 02:57 on Sunday morning (Saturday night). Surface support by Robbie Schmittner, Alessandra Figari and Hitoshi. Due to complexity of the system and amount of lines, the plan was to try to retrace the steps of the missing diver. The team had no information of the plan from the missing diver. Divers used sidemount configuration, extra stage tank and a DPV each. The diver was found after first checking out some other areas of the cave. The diver had done 2 x jumps (navigational decisions) from the entrance and was using REM?s. Everything concerning how the jumps were installed was safe cave diving practices and protocol. The diver was found approximately at 700ft penetration, 7 min ?trigger time? from the Cenote Odyssey. The site was analysed and documented, but the diver and his gear was left intact. The team exited to notify the surface support and authorities. Due to the late time in the night, the plan was made to regroup in the morning (Sunday morning).
?The call? went out into the community and there was a great response among local instructors to help out and assist.
A team was selected due to readiness, experience level and availability. The team met up at a local dive center, coordinated a plan and coordinated with the authorities. The whole operation went very smoothly. The diver and all the equipment was recovered and surfaced by around 13:30 on Sunday, April 24th. Local authorities took over in combination with funeral services.
Alex Alvarez (surface support and point of contact with the authorities)
Marissa Eckert (search and recovery)
Arthur Nguyen-Kim (search and recovery)
Gustavo Buenrostro (search and recovery)
Martin Gaspar Ramirez (search and recovery)
Kim Davidsson (search and recovery)
The recovery, team 1 (Martin and Kim), entered the water at 12:30 and exited at 12:53. They used sidemount cylinders, DPV and scootered to the victim, recovered 4 x tanks and the dpv. Once back at the surface they informed team 2 (Arthur, Gustavo and Marissa) who did a swimming dive with sidemount gear configuration, extra stage tank. They recovered the diver, all further gear and jumps installed for navigation. The recovery team surfaced successfully at around 13:30.
What happened to the victim?
This is cause for further investigation and analysis but the facts are. The diver was found with both tanks attached to his body (side mount), both tank valves were fully open and both tanks were empty. He was found at the site in a horizontal and face down position, helmet and mask on the face. He was next to the place where he had ?dropped?/attached both his stage tanks to the line. One of the stage tanks had the valve fully open, tank was empty and the hose and regulator was stowed on the tank, the tank was attached/?clipped to the line? as per standard protocol. The puzzling detail is, why was the tank valve open? Next to the tank the second stage was attached ?clipped off? to the line, valve closed, tank pressurized and still with 170 bar/2500 psi inside, the hose and regulator was stowed on the tank. The DPV was also ?clipped? to the line at the same location and was functioning. The diver was within arms length from all the tanks and the DPV. The diver had a survey slate in his pouch and a wrist slate with many sheets of information. He has most likely been working and resurveying the lines around the location of the ?dropped? stages and DPV. He was working at approximately 700 ft penetration as a base point from his stages and DPV. We have no further information of the divers plan or objective for the dive. We have no idea of what actually happened that led up to this tragic event.
On the surface, the recovery team under direct supervision from the police investigators checked the divers equipment. Three of the tanks were as stated completely empty and one still had 170bar/2500 psi of gas inside. All the regulators were connected to a full tank and checked for function, there were no signs of equipment malfunction on any of the regulators, hoses or o-rings. They are all of a very good brand and look very new and well maintained.
The family has been notified, the authorities have taken over and further and more detailed analysis will have to be made in the future.
All cave divers acknowledge the importance of accident analysis in furthering diver safety. This report has been produced in the spirit of collaboration within the cave diving community, to help others learn from a tragic series of events. Please treat this information with respect and refrain from unnecessary criticism or speculation
Robert H. Diver
Contributor
RIP
lermontov
Contributor
gut wrenching- are the clipped stages used for entry and exit and his 2 sidemount for further exploration?
Efka76
Contributor
Igor, was my good friend. We did TDI AN/DP training in Thailand together. He was good and experienced diver. I was shocked to hear such news 
I'm not a cave diver, but from my reading on the subject, many of them consider it acceptable.
Here's some threads on it from the cave forum. You can always ask in the cave or technical forums if you want more info:
Search results for query: solo
wgw04024
Contributor
I would assume some caves even with a buddy are like solo diving due to the structure of the cave.
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