Diver's death 'could have been avoided' - inquest
Paul Swain had over 20 years' diving experience.
An inquest into the death of an experienced British diver who perished while diving on a wreck in Gozo last November concluded that the incident could have been avoided had clear danger signs been in place.
The coroner's inquest was launched in Hartlepool soon after the incident, which claimed the life of 49-year-old Paul Swain from Billingham.
An autopsy on Mr Swain's body revealed that the diver, who had 20 years' experience, had died of asphyxiation. The Englishman had last been seen by a buddy entering a hatch leading into the former cafeteria of the scuttled Gozo Channel ferry Xlendi, off Ix-Xatt l-Aħmar in Mġarr, Gozo, on November 3.
Mr Swain's dive buddies failed to locate him and were forced to stop searching after the air in their cylinders ran low.
A rescue mission launched by the emergency services, volunteers and the Armed Forces of Malta was hampered by bad weather.
Mr Swain's body was finally recovered 15 days later on November 17, partly buried in silt, by the Civil Protection Department.
It took three days to recover the corpse from the depths of the wreck because of the darkness and floating silt inside the chamber he was found in. The inquest heard how the upside-down ferry did not have the proper warning signs to alert divers to the dangers of the wreck.
The wreck has been a cause for concern since it was scuttled in 1999 to create an artificial reef. The MV Xlendi sank on a steep sand bank and overturned, embedding itself in the silt that continued to accumulate.
Divers are easily disoriented because of the darkness and floating silt, which is disturbed by their fins and gear.
However, some time ago, the Red Cross placed reflective signs warning divers not to enter. These signs had been cleaned of algae just a week before Mr Swain entered the ship.
Mr Swain was in Malta with six fellow members of the Sub Aqua Sports Association. His friends told the inquest that Mr Swain had clocked up more than 1,000 dives over 20 years. They said that despite thoroughly researching the trip, if there had been clear warning signs at the entrance of the wreck they would probably have gone elsewhere.
All members of the group agreed that one sign was face down at the entrance, another was obstructed and a third was facing out to sea at the opposite end of the wreck. Hartlepool coroner Malcolm Donnelly concluded that the death had been accidental.
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Joe Xuereb
Feb 22nd 2009, 21:00
Lesson to be learnt. Surely, if a guys' guy wants to experience frisson, he could explore something beyond looking at algae through silt. And having surfaced and received his pat on the back by his buddies, he goes on to another rather and more algae. And after that, another and then another. I ask. Even if algae where interesting, surely there cannot be that many different species to warrant curiosity. Why cannot people settle for David Attenborough's documentaries that show infinitely more than any diver could get to see. Plus they come with a script and can be enjoyed from the comfort of one's own living/bedroom. With feet as warm as toast and no cramps. And, unless you live in an prone to earthquakes and flash-floods, you are not likely to hang up your socks in the house. Of course many guys will ignore all this. It is a guy thing.
J Farrugia
Feb 22nd 2009, 20:05
COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED! MAY HAVE ... even i could have flown like a bird from Malta to Gozo, but that is wishful thinking . and this coming from a British High Court! Is that how the courts England work... bil-maybe, could be, should have been??????? Ridiculous. And how come a British court had investigated a death which happened in Malta? This is new for me.
L..Galea
Feb 22nd 2009, 18:45
Daniel Jones
I did not say that that is wha happened, but was it investigated?
Daniel Jones
Feb 22nd 2009, 16:54
It could have been avoided if Mr Swain had never learnt to dive in the first place. The Xlendi is the only wreck IN THE WORLD with any signs saying not to enter. This does not make it any more dangerous than any other wreck, simply that the warnings are there. Take for example the Thistlegorm in Egypt or the Xenobia in Cyprus, many divers have died on both of these wrecks and neither have any form of signage. One diver has died on the Xlendi in the many years it has been down.
Oh and L. Galea and G. Grech - the idea that he was murdered by his buddies is simply ridiculous. You are obviously not divers and have no idea of the risks of silt inside wrecks where visibility can be reduced to zero in an instant. In this case, a bottom line and direction markers should have been used and this incident might have been avoided.
L..Galea
Feb 22nd 2009, 13:38
G.Grech
"The truth will never come out as they were down with him, but could this be the result of murder, and make it sound like an accident ?"
The thought had occurred to me but I didn't want to put it down. However, now that it has been brought up, this is a very good point that may not have been investigated.
I wonder why, if that is the truth, an experienced diver would enter the wreck knowing the danger he was entering into especially after seeing warning signs warning the divers of the danger as had been said by the other divers themselves.
And yes, it is the divers fault if they get in trouble because they should know what risks they are going to take without the authorities having to warn them or to hold their hands as children.
Brian Ferrante
Feb 22nd 2009, 11:52
A look at the British Sub Aqua Club's annual incident reports for 2006,2007,2008 will show that around 2-4 British divers died in similar acidents (inability to find the way out after silting out in a cave or wreck) in each year. Similar accidents also happen in the USA and elsewhere. Indeed, we had two similar incidents here, one in Qawra, where three Maltese divers got trapped in a cave and another in the Coral Cave in Gozo, where a foreign father and daughter team (I believe they were Dutch) also got lost in the late 1990's or early 2000's.
Brian Ferrante
Feb 22nd 2009, 11:45
The death could only have been avoided by the diver and his buddies, and nobody else. The authorities cannot go around marking every wreck and cave as being dangerous. In the recreational activity that is diving, danger is relative. A 30 metre dive is dangerous to a diver with an Open Water Diver qualification with four dives experience at a maximum of 18 metres. On the other hand, it would be considered as an easy dive for a technical diver used to diving 60 metres plus (with appropriate training, equipment and techniques). Penetration outside the "light zone" (where you cannot see sunlight) into a wreck or cave requires separate training, equipment and techniques which were used by the Civil Protection Department Divers to extract the victim. Given his experience, the victim could not but have known this. The court should have asked whether the victim:
1. had appropriate gas (type and quantity) for the dive?
2. had adequate lighting for the dive?
3. used appropriate equipment including reels?
4. used techniques, including use of lines and markers to help him find his way out?
G.Grech you're saying a lot of nonsense when mentioning murder. The victim just pushed his limits.
G.Grech
Feb 22nd 2009, 11:04
All divers agreed that the signs were in certain positions. So I assume all diveres, including Mr. Swain saw the danger keep out signs. How come a diver which such experience ventured in the chamber? He was no new commer to diving!
How come he went in on his own ?
This story stinks as fish left onshore under the sun for a number of days. I believe his "friends" should all be interrogated. The truth will never come out as they were down with him, but could this be the result of murder, and make it sound like an accident ?
I cannot believe that with all the warning signs they admit to have seen, with the experience Mr. Swain has and therefore I am sure he was cautious about going in a obvious death trap that this was really the result of an accident.