A DIVER is feared to have died after going missing while diving for scallops in Weymouth Bay.
Police have launched an investigation after the female diver failed to surface from a dive at Adamant Shoal near the Lulworth Banks on Saturday afternoon.
Police, the Coastguard helicopter, local lifeboat crews and commercial boats were all involved in an extensive search for several hours but their efforts proved unsuccessful. The search continued yesterday but again no trace of the diver was found.
A police spokesman said at around 5pm on Saturday they were informed by Portland Coastguard that a search was underway for the diver.
The 45-year-old woman from the Surrey area had been diving from a local charter boat, believed to be the Portland based Scimitar, and had got separated from her dive buddy and did not resurface.
A police spokesman said: “Dorset Police marine section initially provided assistance with the search and rescue operation but have now assumed primacy for this operation and are treating the disappearance as a missing persons enquiry.” Weymouth Lifeboat launched both its boats at 3.30pm and spent six hours searching for the missing diver before being stood down.
Coxswain Andy Sargent said: “We searched the area quite thoroughly, it was quite a good search and it was dark and they suspended the operation so we stood the units down.” Steve Black said on the Weymouth Lifeboat’s Facebook page: “Was off Portland fishing as it unfolded…not something any of us like to hear on the radio…sad day for Weymouth. Well done to all the boats involved in the area search.”
In response to the news that the lifeboat crews had been stood down Chris Manning wrote: “Not looking good for the missing diver. Thoughts are with the family at this time.”
The Skin Deeper vessel, owned by Skin Deep Diving owner Ian Taylor, was among those to respond to the emergency call on the radio and was involved in the search for around four hours along with two commercial vessels.
The Lul-worth Banks is an area popular with scallop divers and Grahame Knott, who is skipper of the Wey Chieftain 4 and chairman of the Weymouth and Portland Dive Charter Association, said the practice used by divers was likely to be ‘drift diving’.
This involves divers going down from a buoy and drifting in the tide while a dive boat tracks the buoy.
Mr Knott said: “Drift diving in that areas is not risky, it’s normal practice. Between Lulworth Banks and that area there are plenty of scallops so that’s probably the reason they were diving down there.”
Director of local dive company C-Waves Diving Rob Hughes added: “Lulworth Banks is normally an excellent area for diving where people go to pick up scallops and it’s normally a very gentle drift dive area. It’s only about 24 metres deep so it’s not too deep and it’s usually very safe but you never know what causes these things.”
Co-owner of Scimitar Diving Jerome ‘Smudge’ Smith said he was unable to comment on the incident.
From: Scallop diver feared dead in Weymouth Bay (From Dorset Echo)
