The diver who went missing in Gozo last week was last seen by his buddy entering the former cafeteria of the wrecked ferry, the Xlendi, 40 metres down.

Paul Swain had entered the wreck together with one of the two divers who were with him and who recounted the ordeal to the armed forces.

According to the eyewitness account he gave, the two swam some 20 metres into the overturned wreck, deep in its belly, before they entered a second hatch leading into the ship's former cafeteria.

At some point, however, the two lost sight of each other and became disoriented because of the silt around the former Gozo Channel ferry which is lodged belly up in a sand bank in the area known as Ix-Xatt l-Aħmar.

Mr Swain's buddy eventually found his way to the exit again but still couldn't see his mate. He tried looking for him but when his air was thinning out, he left the wreck and surfaced.

He reunited with their third mate and the two rushed ashore and asked a hunter in the area for help.

The search was called off last week after rescuers scouring the wreck concluded that the chamber the diver was last seen in was too dangerous to enter because of loose debris.

Back in the UK his family is trying to come to grips with the vacuum created by his disappearance.

"We would like to know what happened. We would like to have him home," Mr Swain's father Tom tells UK newspaper The Northern Echo in this morning's issue.

His other son Brett expressed his gratitude for the brave and dedicated rescuers in a comment left on timesofmalta.com recently while the diver's friend, Brian Weatherall said the authorities were brilliant. "We can't fault them."

However, his father told the paper he is disappointed that the search had been called off, with no plans to resume it.

The 49-year-old came to Malta late last month to explore the wreck together with nine others from a sub aqua association based in South Hetton, in Durham, about two-and-a-half-hours away from Edinburgh.

Mr Swain was a founding member of the association and also its training officer and regional deep rescue examiner. He lived in Low Grange in Billingham with his long-term fiancée Louise Walsh.

Friend and fellow club member Mr Weatherall told the newspaper that Mr Swain was the most experienced diver there. "He's the most motivated of all of us and has done well over a thousand dives," he said.

The wreck has been a cause for concern since it was first scuttled to create an artificial reef back in 1999. The ship sank onto 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' flippers and gear.

Some time ago, the Red Cross placed reflective signs to warn divers not to enter and had cleaned them of the algae just a week before Mr Swain entered the ship.

Divers have suggested the wreck be blown apart or cut up.