A recent news article published in the Miami Herald states that Scuba divers ran out of air and died while exploring a shipwreck, according to UK officials.
Lives of two scuba divers
A shipwreck off the coast of the U.K. claimed the lives of two scuba divers after they ran out of air while exploring the vessel, officials said, according to news outlets.
Mark Gallant, 49, and Andrew Harman, 40, set out on a scuba diving expedition in September 2021 to dive around the HMS Scylla, a warship sunk off the coast of Plymouth, according to an inquest by the Plymouth Coroner’s Court on Monday, Nov. 7, BBC reported.
Harman was a master scuba diver trainer, and Gallant was a rescue diver and a wreck diving specialist, The Times reported. They pair, along with a third diver, Adam Dent, decided to enter the shipwreck and explore.
The divers reached the shipwreck’s third and “most dangerous” deck where a large amount of silt had built up, Cornwall Live reported, citing officials. Their movement disturbed the silt, making it harder for them to see.
“I could not see the exit and became totally disorientated,” Dent said, per BBC. “The visibility dropped as it silted up… I lost sight of Mark (Gallant) and Andrew (Harman) as the silt was really bad, the visibility was zero.”
Dent recalled bumping into the others at one point then losing them again as he searched for an exit, Cornwall Live reported. As his air tank ran out, Dent finally spotted a small exit. He dropped his tank and squeezed through, tearing this wet suit in the process, the outlet reported.
Drowning in engine room
Outside the wreck, Dent surfaced in seconds, a process that takes 10 to 15 minutes to do safely, and called for help, The Times reported. Gallant and Harman remained trapped in the engine room, running out of air and drowning, BBC reported.
Harman’s body was recovered just over a week later, but divers did not recover Gallant’s body until almost six weeks later, Cornwall Live reported, citing officials.
After hearing about what went wrong during the scuba diving expedition, officials at the Plymouth Coroner’s Court said additional dive safety protocols may be introduced to prevent future deaths on the shipwreck, BBC reported.
The HMS Scylla was intentionally sunk in 2004 to create an artificial reef in Whitsand Bay, Cornwall, The Times reported. Two scuba divers also died in the wreck in 2007 when they also became disoriented and ran out of air, the Plymouth Herald reported.
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Source: Miami Herald
