Malta: Scottish diver discovered

[DandyDon]

timesofmalta.com - Updated: Diver found dead

The lifeless body of a diver has been taken ashore at Cirkewwa by members of the Civil Protection Department.

The body is believed to be of a 53-year-old Scottish male who was diving. The police are hoping that a diving computer found on the diver's body would help them establish what could have led to his death.

CPD director Patrick Murgo said the CPD were informed that the body of a diver was floating at sea by the Armed Forces of Malta just before 2.30 p.m. and it sent three divers from its Diver Section to investigate.

The CPD divers found the body, which they took ashore and handed over to the police.

Sources said that the body was first noted by fishermen who alerted the police.

 

[DandyDon]

Sounds like an experienced diver got in trouble on a solo dive...

Scots oilman killed in scuba diving accident in Mediterranean - The Daily Record

Scots oilman killed in scuba diving accident in Mediterranean
Nov 21 2010 Bruce Walker, Sunday Mail

A SCOTS dad-of-two has died in a scuba diving accident on holiday.

Oilman Dennis O'Hare's body was found floating in the Mediterranean off the coast of Malta.

Last night, his family paid tribute to a "huge personality, a loving husband and a dad with a zest for life".

Mr O'Hare was a keen diver with more than 30 years' underwater experience.

The 57-year-old, from Balloch, Dunbartonshire, is believed to have suffered a "traumatic event" underwater while diving off Cirkewwa - a harbour at the northernmost part of Malta.

He is thought to have been taking pictures of the wreck of the P29 patrol boat - a popular site for divers.

His cousin, Thomas O'Hare, raised the alarm after Mr O'Hare failed to return to shore by the appointed time.

His body was found floating on the surface by three local fishermen and taken to land by divers from the Maltese Civil Protection Department.

Mr O'Hare, a senior consultant with an oil company, leaves his wife, Lesley, and two teenage children, James and Kathryn.

He was a graduate of Glasgow and Heriot-Watt Universities and at one time also lectured at Strathclyde University.

His elderly mother, Mary O'Hare, was being comforted by family and friends last night.

Members of Mr O'Hare's family flew to Malta yesterday to start the process of repatriating his body.

A spokesman for the family said: "Dennis was a huge personality, a loving husband, father, son and brother who had a great zest for life.

"He was one of the pioneers of North Sea drilling who went on to work for the biggest exploration companies in the world.

"After his family, diving was his passion and he was very, very experienced and meticulous about safety.

"Until the cause of death is established, any speculation about the nature of his fatal accident is just that, speculation.

"The family wish to express their gratitude to the Maltese authorities for their help.

"All his family and friends are completely devastated at the loss of this wonderful man. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him."

Mr O'Hare, who worked in the oil and gas drilling industry, had been in management on rigs all over the world.An inquiry into his death has begun.

 

[diver 85]

Sorry to hear......Outta curiosity, what holiday is it ??....ie " in a scuba diving accident on holiday."...TIA..

 

[DandyDon]

"On holiday" is a term for a pleasure trip in many English speaking countries.

 

[KP3S]

Holidays means Vacations for us Yanks.

 

[DandyDon]

This followup story seems to suggest an embolism during an OOA CESA, depending on how you decipher the reporting words and terms...

Nov 21: Sudden air pressure change led to Scottish diver’s death

The 57-year-old Scottish diver who died off Ċirkewwa on Friday died because of large rapid pressure changes (barotrauma), an autopsy revealed yesterday.

Preliminary investigations found that the lone diver had missed a 10-metre decompression stop, possibly because he ran out of air. This means he probably ascended too quickly and his body tissues were damaged by expanding air.

A decompression stop is a period of time a diver needs to spend in shallower water at the end of a dive to safely eliminate absorbed nitrogen from the body before surfacing.

Although decompression stops can remain safe when missed by slow gradual ascent, barotrauma occurs when the ascent or descent is too quick, and happens against a closed airway. This means the air inside the tissues, which is like a balloon, is given no time or place to escape while expanding and ruptures whatever is containing it.

Sources close to the investigation told The Sunday Times it was almost certain that Dennis O’Hare’s death was connected with his missed 10-minute decompression stop. It was very likely that he shot up at the very last minute when he realised he was out of air, the source said.

However, Mr O’Hare’s dive computer will now be inspected to reveal the exact pattern of the dive, which will provide more information about the final stages when the diver found himself in trouble.

The diver’s regulators and equipment will be checked tomorrow for any faults, even though this seems to be unlikely.

Daryl Borg Cardona, the director of diving in one of Malta’s top diving centres, said divers are always advised to never dive alone.

“When you’re alone underwater there is no one who can help you; even if you run out of air, you can take some reserve air from your buddy,” Mr Borg Cardona said, emphasising this was not only important for life or death situations.

According to local regulations it was not illegal to dive alone, but it was good practice to do so, said the instructor, who has been diving for 10 years.

The incident should not raise alarm among other divers as it was an isolated case in which the diver was unlucky and had no one to help him, Mr Borg Cardona said.

“If people follow safe diving recommendations they have nothing to worry about,” he said.

Members of Mr O’Hare’s family flew to Malta yesterday to start the process of repatriating his body.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

Without more details, we cannot say for certain that the diver did miss any deco stops, regardless of what his computer said...

For example, when I am doing a deco dive, I have 2 computers. One is a 3 gas deco computer, the other is just a plain Nitrox computer, used as a backup gauge. The deco computer I may have set to Gauge mode, so that I can simply follow tables to execute the dive. There have been many times where I have been using multiple deco gasses and I complete the dive, based on tables and my Nitrox computer gets mad because it thinks i blew off 10 or 15 mins of deco, where in reality, I didn't.

Just saying, doesn't seem to be enough info here to come up with anything.