Two divers dead in Scharendejke NLD

[Remy B.]

I have seen divers go to that ship with single tanks, if you are not penetrating that wreck that is fine, but whoever try to enter that wreck with a single and dare to enter the Aft without a line, then he is looking to be in trouble, that wreck make an excellent wreck penetration practice dive because it is structurally simple and very open, so far you stay on the permanent guide wire, the big problem is that there is always bad visibility.

Knocking off your buddy's mask in that wreck is very easy with silty conditions and you DC telling you that you will run over your NCL, thinking that you are heading in the right direction.

I hope not that because of this tragedy they close it out for the divers.

 

[Diver0001]

I have seen divers go to that ship with single tanks, if you are not penetrating that wreck that is fine, but whoever try to enter that wreck with a single and dare to enter the Aft without a line, then he is looking to be in trouble, that wreck make an excellent wreck penetration practice dive because it is structurally simple and very open, so far you stay on the permanent guide wire, the big problem is that there is always bad visibility.

Knocking off your buddy's mask in that wreck is very easy with silty conditions and you DC telling you that you will run over your NCL, thinking that you are heading in the right direction.

I hope not that because of this tragedy they close it out for the divers.

I agree. While we still don't know for sure what happened what I can say is that every time I've been inside that wreck, and particularly inside the space under the bridge, that I have:

(a) laid my own guide line
and
(b) treated it as a technical dive

I was at a friend's place tonight. We dived that wreck often together a couple of years ago and got to talking about what he thought might have happened. His theory was the same as mine and Remy's. Again, this is speculation but regardless, I think it's relevant that at least three divers with experience on this wreck all thought the same thing. It indicates a problem even if these particular divers died from something else.

During one of the dives I made with my buddy, for example, we were inside the "steer hut" area together during a dive, both with 2x12, both technically trained, laying our own guide line, both with thousands of dives of experience and we STILL managed to silt up the place due to a noobish move on my part (bad kick) to the point where we needed to cancel what we intended to do and withdraw. I was swimming us back out of that space while reeling in the guide line that we had laid and my buddy was holding onto my manifold unable to even see his own elbow for most of that.

We don't know anything about the equipment or procedures these divers were using so I don't want to draw any conclusions about that but it really does give me the heebiejeebies to think that someone using a single 10 and perhaps lacking wreck diving experience could get into that area of the wreck without a guide line.

R..

 

[ijdod]

In sofar newspaper are reliable in diving incidents, an article in De Telegraaf quoted a Police Official stating both divers were found near the rear of the wreck, in different compartments, and both were OOA.

https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=22b794552ddfce0fccb1f5eb651c2ae7&oe=5BB78415 (De Telegraaf, in Dutch)

 

[Remy B.]

At least it appear that the "Dive Accident Statistics and Analysis" Organization will make a case study to give some informed advice to prevent this from happening again, Hopefully.

 

[Diver0001]

In sofar newspaper are reliable in diving incidents, an article in De Telegraaf quoted a Police Official stating both divers were found near the rear of the wreck, in different compartments, and both were OOA.

https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=22b794552ddfce0fccb1f5eb651c2ae7&oe=5BB78415 (De Telegraaf, in Dutch)

A quick translation of the relevant points out of the article is that both divers were found in the the area under the steer hut that both myself and Remy speculated about in previous points. They were not found together, which could indicate a buddy separation and they both had no air left in their tanks.

It's looking more and more, as evidence trickles in, like they got into an area of the wreck that is pretty tricky, particularly if you don't lay your own guide line and then subsequently became either disoriented or silted out and were unable to locate the exits.

There is still nothing in the article to indicate whether or not they laid a guide line. To me this is still a crucial bit of information that is missing. There is also no information in the article regarding the gear they were using or the planning of the dive.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

At least it appear that the "Dive Accident Statistics and Analysis" Organization will make a case study to give some informed advice to prevent this from happening again, Hopefully.

I know some people from DOSA because of an accident I was associated with in 2008. In that accident we performed the rescue. They are very good people, very thorough and competent and passionate about safety. My kind of people. At least one of the investigators has police training and at that time was involved in the forensic analysis of diving accidents. In my case they were incredibly helpful and willing to volunteer their time to come to the dive centre where I was working and give a lecture about safety from their DOSA point of view. It think every instructor involved got schooled that day, including me.

They are also ...well... somewhat anti-PADI, ergo, in a Dutch context, pro NOB (CMAS) and tend to want to work in law suits with expert witnesses who really have an axe to grind with PADI. At least that's my experience.

This is diving politics more than accident forensics but I guess no organisation is perfect. This part didn't appeal to me so much because it didn't seem objective to me, but who am I to judge. I'm no expert. I'm just a PADI instructor.... and an IANTD diver.... and a TDI diver and someone who has been diving and seeing divers from many agencies in the water since 1984 over 1000's of dives..... But yeah. In the law suit were I was involved they drummed up some NOB blow-hard who had everything except the NOB logo tattooed on his neck to analyse how the PADI system works. Nobody with actual inside knowledge of the PADI system was called to testify. I thought that could have been done better.....

Nevertheless, to my way of thinking they are, regardless of the politics, VERY good people who I respect and are an important asset to the Dutch diving community.

R..

 

[Remy B.]

There is still nothing in the article to indicate whether or not they laid a guide line. To me this is still a crucial bit of information that is missing. There is also no information in the article regarding the gear they were using or the planning of the dive.

R..

This I believe will shine some light of what shall be the minimum equipment on you in order to enter the Aft of the wreck or the wreck it self.

And if you like the idea, I was thinking in placing a board inside the wreck at the point of entering the Aft of the wreck with some gear pointers and precaution messages, I can't do this alone, it will require deco time and pneumatic equipment in order to drill and place the board.

I believe we can get some drilling equipment sponsored and maybe a voluntary boat that can provide us with air supply for the drilling equipment if we ask the right people.

 

[ajduplessis]

There is no such thing as simple wreck/cave penetrations. This mindset will bite you eventually...

 

[Diver0001]

This I believe will shine some light of what shall be the minimum equipment on you in order to enter the Aft of the wreck or the wreck it self.

And if you like the idea, I was thinking in placing a board inside the wreck at the point of entering the Aft of the wreck with some gear pointers and precaution messages, I can't do this alone, it will require deco time and pneumatic equipment in order to drill and place the board.

I believe we can get some drilling equipment sponsored and maybe a voluntary boat that can provide us with air supply for the drilling equipment if we ask the right people.

That would be a good idea to discuss with DOSA.

R..

 

[Miyaru]

Translated newsarticle:

The two men who were found dead in a shipwreck at the end of Mai in Grevelingen lake, were likely killed due to loss of orientation.

The dive gear of both divers were without any malfunctions, as reported by the police after their examination. One can assume that the divers lost their way in the aft of the ship Le Serpent, situated near Scharendijke.

Bad visibility, caused by silt that was stirred up during the dive, may have contributed. The divers did not use a guideline. That's a piece of rope which is usually tied off outside a ship and unrolled into the interior. If a diver gets lost, he can use this rope to find his way out.

Le Serpent, a ship with a length of 60m, was built around 1920 to transport coal between Great-Britain en France. In July 2011 the ship was transported to Grevelingen lake, where it was sunk to a depth of 25m.

The shipwreck, which was adapted for diving, is because of the depth only accessible to experienced divers.

The two deceased men were experienced divers and and took additional diving courses, including wreck diving. They were also trained as scuba instructors. Their bodies were found several days after they were missing.