Dive director struck, lost on Togo wreck - French Mediterranean

[DandyDon]

The translation is pretty rough on this one. I think it mentions him being hit on the surface, then vanishing. Two different articles here give different views.

Var: un plongeur professionnel disparait lors d'une sortie
Google translation...

Var: a professional diver disappears during an outing
A dive director disappeared at the time of the launch at Cavalaire on the Togo wreck area. The team present on board immediately launched the search, for the moment without success.

Posted on 05/15/2021 at 1:14 p.m. • Updated on 05/15/2021 at 2:24 p.m.

Cavalaire-sur-Mer, in the Var. • © France 3 Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur
Var
The resources engaged this Saturday morning 15 by the Var firefighters are: 5 divers, 2 ambulances (support for shocked people) and 1 command vehicle. A SNSM star and a French Navy helicopter complete the system.

The diver would have struck the hull of the boat during the launching, he would then have sank. The rest of the crew tried to find him but so far without success. His wife, present on board, was transported in shock to the Gassin health center.

Help is now trying to locate the body with no serious hope of finding it alive.

A popular site for divers
The Togo is a cargo ship that sank on May 12, 1918, loaded with 1,800 tons of coal. He would have been the victim of a German submarine or would have hit a mine. It is one of the most beautiful diving spots in the Mediterranean, which is 60 meters deep.

The diving director is the supervisor of a dive group (group of divers), he has a level 4 and for this kind of diving at 60 meters the divers must have a level 3.

IMPORTANT DISPOSITIF DE RECHERCHES SOUS COORDINATION DU CROSSMED POUR UN PLONGEUR DISPARU EN BAIE DE CAVALAIRE (83) - Préfecture maritime de la Méditerranée
Google translation...

Today, Saturday May 15, around 10 am, the Cross Med (regional operational surveillance and rescue center in the Mediterranean) is contacted by a diving support then at sea in the bay of Cavalaire. In circumstances which remain to be determined, the boat struck one of its divers while on the surface. The latter, a 60-year-old man, who was diving with a rebreather on the wreck of the "Togo", disappeared in an area comprising depths of between 40 and 50 meters.

Immediately, the Cross Med engages several means:

Divers from the SDIS 83 firefighters projected onto the area by the road and aboard a Panther helicopter of the French Navy
SNS 260 motorboat "Cap vigie" from the SNSM station in Cavalaire
Coastal patrol vessel "Jonquille" of the Maritime Gendarmerie
Contest of another diving support present in the area
The various dives carried out by the other divers present in the area, then by the firefighters on board the SNS 260, as well as the searches on the surface and from the helicopter of the National Navy, did not make it possible to find the missing diver.

Around 2:30 p.m., on a proposal from the Cross Med, the Maritime Prefect ordered the stopping of the search system.

An investigation by the maritime gendarmerie will determine the circumstances in which this tragedy occurred.

Without presuming the circumstances in which this event took place, the Maritime Prefecture of the Mediterranean recalls that diving, in all its forms, is a risky sport.

Even if you are experienced and in good physical condition, it is important to remember that you must:

• Prepare your dive, know the environment

• Do not dive alone

• Know your equipment and not overestimate your physical condition

• Know how to alert when an unforeseen event occurs

At sea, the single number to reach help is 196 from any telephone, or VHF channel 16.

 

[ginti]

The translation is pretty rough on this one. I think it mentions him being hit on the surface, then vanishing. Two different articles here give different views.

When I first read your comment, I understood that "hit" was something like "hit by DCI, got bent" - actually, it is hit by the boat!

 

[DandyDon]

When I first read your comment, I understood that "hit" was something like "hit by DCI, got bent" - actually, it is hit by the boat!

I think so. How's your French? Can you make anything else out of the articles?

 

[ginti]

I think so. How's your French? Can you make anything else out of the articles?

My French is not high-level; it's just good enough to understand and speak. The article doesn't say much. Although a bit rough (google?), the translation you made gives all the important details of the accident.

 

[bardass]

the articles are quite not fair.
The deceased diver is not a professional instructor but a voluntary (unpaid) 61-year-old instructor.
The circumstances of the accident are still unknown.
The boss of the company piloted the boat.
And to know well the boss of the company well, I can say that he is serious and competent.
I hope we will have the explanations later.

Giorgio, you are very humble, your French is excellent

 

[BlueTrin]

I think so. How's your French? Can you make anything else out of the articles?

It said that the person was hit by a boat while diving on CCR.

 

[bardass]

It said that the person was hit by a boat while diving on CCR.

it seems that the accident (diver hit by the boat) occured at the start of the dive, CCR or OC does not matter

 

[BlueTrin]

it seems that the accident (diver hit by the boat) occured at the start of the dive, CCR or OC does not matter

I am just translating what’s written …

 

[JMBL]

From the original article (French national commenting here) :

- victim is a CMAS/FFESSM N4 (Guide de Palanquée, best translated as Dive Master I should say) in a non profit organisation (which is the correct meaning of Club in France)
- hit the boat while jumping into the water and then sunk
- no mention of his age, nor of an ECCR or CCR

Bardass, it seems you know more about the accident, do you care to elaborate ?

Nasty story and my thought are with the victim's buddies and family.

 

[bardass]

Hi JMBL, happy to see you here.

As i said previously, the article is not fair.
The deceased diver is a voluntary (unpaid) instructor (french MF1 / Instructor 2* CMAS eq OWSI). And not a professional instructor or a dive master.
He was 61-year-old and came from the north of France.
As you can see on the picture, some rebreather on the boat
It seems the accident occured at the start of the dive.
But the exact circumstances of the accident are still unknown.