Current Edition of Subsea

Benny-c

Just got the current edition of Subsea in the letterbox today and there are two letters, one from the wife of a Naval diver & one from the Chief Petty Officer of the Navy who are pretty unhappy with the article in a previous edition Subsea concerning the Rising Sun tragedy earlier this year.

This tragedy resulted in the deaths of crew members Pat Colfer & Jimmy Meyler and the subsequent death of diver Billy O' Connor while searching the wreck.

It is alleged that Naval Divers were subjected to verbal abuse by 'other divers' and (in the article) the Navy's equipment & proceedures were substandard.

They make interesting and sobering reading.

Peace

Is it available online? Sub sea used to do online editions.

Benny-c

Peace wrote:

Is it available online? Sub sea used to do online editions.

Dont think so.

Miss Polaris

http://www.cftclub.com/scubaireland/downloads/index1.php?dir=SubSea%2F

not updated in a while

its about time someone took on CFT about the cr*p printed in the last issue

rick_fantastic

well i was down there when the navy divers wouldnt continue the search on the wreck for the bodies and there were disgruntled divers down there giving out because the navy divers wouldnt let them dive in the search and recovery operation...

the loss of billy oconnor is a sad and sobering event. he was a VERY experienced diver and the loss is a tragedy to the diving community in ireland. what i cant understand is why recreational divers wanted to dive when trained navy divers deemed the conditions too unsafe to continue with the operation...

i havent had the time to read subsea yet but i will be checking it out when i get home to see what the articles are about...

Mick F

rick_fantastic wrote:

what i cant understand is why recreational divers wanted to dive when trained navy divers deemed the conditions too unsafe to continue with the operation...

Trained for what? 50M - air only. No devil gas here. Sorry, but there are many "recreational" divers who are regularly carrying out dives at depths far in excess of the reach of our Navy divers.

This is in no way meant to belittle the INS divers, but until their own superiors, and the HSA, allow them to obtain the necessary kit and training to properly carry out such dives, then they should steer clear. 50M on air is serious narks territory. The INS have some serious questions to answer given the exclusion zone they put in place.

How dived up were the INS guys who went down?

Why did it take almost a week after Billy O'Connor's disappearance to carry out the recovery dive?

How on earth can they accept 50M END as a safe working environment?

In other countries, commie outfits such as COMEX are used to carry out search & recovery dives such as this. Why wasn't this option explored?

As I say, I have nothing but respect for the Navy divers who actually went down to the wreck of the Rising Sun, but like it or not, this was not acceptable practice.

Mick F.

Oilrig

Hi Guys, just a few points on this:

During our slow and ongoing transformation from the third world to the first, various Governments have recognised the need to have a competent agency that will deal with incidents such as this that happen in our waters. This lead to the establishment of the Irish Coastguard. Ideally this agency would have the resources to carry out all such rescue/recovery operations - as in other countries. The establishment of Helo SAR ops under their command was the first step. Unfortunately, while they are legally tasked with everything they are resourced with very little.

In an incident like the Rising Sun, the Irish Coastguard seems to be de facto responsible for all activities such as any search for bodies etc. This means that if they ask/allow "recreational divers" to carry out searches on the site & something goes wrong they are legally liable for the consequences.

It would seem that the only diving asset they can call on "without" liability are the Defence Forces... i.e. the Naval Service in an Aid To Civil Power role (ATCP)

To my knowledge (And I stand to be corrected) the NS do not regularly train for 50M surface fed dives, not to mention the run in Wexford.

NS divers are probably the most highly trained divers in the state, in terms of physical and mental training (before you dispute this, familiarise yourself with their programme), but they don't “work” at 50M. Many or most will probably dive in these regions with their "civvie" clubs, but when it comes to "work" 50M is pushing it - ask the Cops what their depth limit is... Health & Safety applies everywhere these days.

The root of the problem lies with the Legislature, the Irish Coastguard has been handed responsibilities but no resources to carry it out. The net result is that the Coastguard and the Naval Service emerged from this smelling of sh*t. Their complete failure in terms of PR is probably a good starting point for the future.

Lobby the Gov to fund/train/insure local SAR units staffed by local divers & other personnel.

For the record, I'm not or never have been a member of the Navy, or the Coastguard, or a political party, nor do I know the identity of Podge, Rodge or Mr Lordi.

seadeuce

There were trained/insured divers available to do that dive but the exclusion zone was set up to deny them access.

While 50m is not to be sneezed at, it is within the capabilities of many through regular diving to depth. After all, the Extended Range Diver is a qualification to go that deep.

If diving had been allowed there probably would have been less anguish to the family of BOC.

Remember too that to search on a shotline for a body that lies in the immediate vicinity does not mean you have to dive to max depth. If viz allows one can do the search at 40m. If something is seen you bounce to recover it.

As far as NS divers are concerned, with no disrespect to them, there were divers in the area that had far more experience of that depth and those conditions. Pity they were not used.

Seadeuce

rick_fantastic

ok, billy oconnor was one of the most experience divers in ireland. billy oconnor dived on the wreck in SAR and died. why would anyone want to risk their lives in a potentially dangerous situtation where there had already been loss of life????

conditions were not favourable to dive. the exclusion zone was set up to stop the further loss of life.

seadeuce

I knew BOC well, and firmly believe that if he had been diving on OC he would not have had a problem.

I also know that he would have been a good judge of the conditions, and, having decided to dive, it was safe to do so. Conditions were not the cause of the tragedy, nor was the depth.

The exclusion zone, IMO, was set up to stop the reactive diving that would have taken place to search for BOC. But selective diving could have taken place by qaulified divers. Unfortunately, due to our litigious society, allowing a selective dive to proceed would carry the same liability as if the dive had been requested.

As we all know, if they are asked to dive, liability attaches to the body making the request. Catch 22.

There were ways in which diving could have gone ahead. as a private dive, if the will was there. But some bright spark in the CG thought an exclusion zone was the right answer. He wasn't a diver I assume.

Seadeuce