British diver's body found

The body of the British diver who went missing two weeks ago was yesterday located by the Civil Protection Department in the cafeteria of the scuttled Xlendi wreck off Gozo.

However, the CPD had to postpone its operation to recover the body of Paul Swain, 49, to this morning because of poor visibility, department director Peter Cordina said when contacted.

"We have contacted Mr Swain's family and they were relieved to hear the news," he said.

Mr Swain, an engineer and part-time diving instructor from Billingham, was last seen on November 3 by his diving partner entering the cramped cafeteria of the old Gozo Channel ferry, which is lodged belly up in a sand bank in the area known as Ix-Xatt l-Aħmar.

The initial search was called off two days after Mr Swain disappeared, because rescuers scouring the wreck concluded the chamber he was last seen in was too dangerous to enter because of loose debris.

However, spurred by an account by Mr Swain's dive buddy, who retraced the man's last movements, the CPD got their hands on the plans of the ship's layout and renewed its recovery efforts, Mr Cordina said.

"We were acting on what Mr Swain's friend told us and we set out to confirm what he was saying," he added.

The search and recovery operation started yesterday at 9 a.m. by a troop of 10 CPD officials and members of its Spider team of volunteers, who specialise in technical diving operations.

After working tirelessly in dangerous conditions, the body was discovered at around 12.15 p.m., located in a deep part of the wreck. Since the search stirred a considerable amount of silt, limiting underwater visibility, the actual recovery will have to be renewed this morning once the debris settles.

The UK's Gazette Live website yesterday reported how the Swain family were calling for more warning signs of the dangers on the wreck, which attracts hundreds of divers every year.

The wreck has been a cause for concern since it was first scuttled to create an artificial reef in 1999. The ship sank on a steep sand bank and overturned, embedding itself in the silt that continued to accumulate.

Divers are easily disorientated because of the darkness and floating silt, which is disturbed by the divers' fins and gear. Some time ago, the Red Cross placed reflective signs warning divers not to enter and had cleaned them of the algae just a week before Mr Swain entered the ship.