DIVING NEWS
Tanker to draw Malta wreck-divers
The Hephaestus, a 60m-long tanker that ran onto rocks in Malta last year, is now set to be deliberately sunk as the Mediterranean islands’ latest wreck attraction. Read more...
Big win with a bigfin
Fourteen-year-old Cruz Erdmann from New Zealand has won the title of Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 with Night Glow, this portrait of an iridescent bigfin reef squid, taken on a night dive in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. Read more...
Hickson breaks freediving record
British freediver Alice Hickson has broken Sara Campbell’s 12-year-old Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) national record by a metre, with a 57m dive in Cyprus. Read more...
Maldives president in freedive record
A successful Guinness World Record (GWR) attempt to have the greatest number of freedivers under water simultaneously at one location has taken place at the Baros Maldives resort. Read more...
Local divers tackle Chesil mystery wrecks
Two protected wreck-sites off Chesil Beach in Dorset are enabling local divers to work as marine archaeologists. Read more...
Zenobia divers hit back at ‘anarchy’ charge
A minor incident involving a British diver on the Zenobia ferry wreck in Cyprus has reignited a long-running dispute between the wreck’s owner and the local dive-centres that dispute that ownership, according to a report in the Cyprus Mail. Read more...
Sharkwater Extinction will screen at DIVE 2019
Divers who didn’t get to see Sharkwater Extinction in cinemas earlier this year will have the chance to do so at DIVE 2019 – with a free screening of this inspiring film on the DIVER Stage. Read more...
North Sea divers missing
A search and rescue operation was launched in the North Sea near the border between Belgium and France yesterday (15 September), after two scuba divers went missing. Read more...
Big steps to new breath-hold record
The Longest Underwater Walk With One Breath (Female) record has been broken by Turkish freediver Bilge Clingigiray. She set the new Guinness World Record by covering a distance of 81.6m in one minute, breaking not only the record for women but for men too. Read more...
Sink into diving history in Sutton
Richard Castle, Colin Martin, Nigel Phillips and Andrew Marshall are guest speakers at the History of Diving Conference, the annual get-together of the Historical Diving Society (HDS) which is open to the public as well as members. Read more...
Crew all asleep when fire started – report
A preliminary investigation into the recent California diving liveaboard fire that killed 34 people has concluded that none of the six crew was awake when it broke out - contravening a law stipulating that such vessels must provide a nightwatch. Read more...
You could be a Ghostnet Recovery Diver
Free in-water training is now available for scuba divers interested in tackling the problem of the lost and abandoned fishing nets, lines and pots that trap marine life – and endanger unwary divers. Read more...
Vanished observatory riddle – police follow new lead
The mystery of a missing Baltic Sea underwater scientific observatory has given rise to speculation of dirty tricks by metal-scavenging divers or a Russian submarine - but German police are now reported to be working on a more down-to-earth theory. Read more...
Back the Bahamas – by diving there
In the wake of last week’s deadly Hurricane Dorian, the Bahamas has issued a plea to scuba divers and other tourists to provide support by continuing to visit those parts of the Caribbean island chain it says were unaffected by the natural disaster. Read more...
Mustard’s Circle of Life Highly Commended
This black & white image, Circle of Life, has been Highly Commended in the prestigious 55th Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Read more...
‘Very poor’ outlook for GBR
Australia’s lead management agency for the Great Barrier Reef has downgraded the long-term outlook for its eco-system from “poor” in 2014 to “very poor”. Read more...
Hope for makos and rhino rays
Shortfin and longfin mako sharks and 16 species of “rhino rays” are to be added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Scuba divers have been among conservationists campaigning to win this element of protection for the threatened species. Read more...
Conception owners move to limit liability
Glen & Dana Fritzler and their company Truth Aquatica, owners of the California liveaboard Conception on which 34 people died in a fire on Monday (2 September), have taken action to minimise possible compensation payments to victims’ families. Read more...
UK freedivers set inaugural bi-fin records
Two freedivers have set the first UK records in the new competition depth discipline Constant Weight Bi-fins (CWTB) - going up and down a line propelled by bi-fins as opposed to faster monofins. Read more...
Liveaboard fire leaves 34 dead
All 33 passengers and one crewman on the southern California liveaboard Conception are now presumed dead, following the fire that swept through the vessel early on Monday morning (2 September), reported on Divernet yesterday. Read more...
Liveaboard blaze death toll hits 25
Twenty-five of 33 passengers have now been confirmed as having died following the catastrophic fire that broke out on the diving liveaboard Conception off southern California yesterday (2 September). Read more...
Liverpool Bay gun-runner wreck protected
The wreck of 19th-century paddle-steamer the Lelia, described as one of the North-west of England’s most historically significant shipwrecks, has been granted heritage protection status. Read more...
Oldest diver completes 42m wreck-dive
Ray Woolley, currently recognised by Guinness World Records (GWR) as the world’s oldest scuba diver, has completed his annual birthday celebration dive. Read more...
Diver dies at the Manacles
A female diver died at popular wreck-site the Manacles reef on south Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula on 28 August. She was recovered onto the dive-boat after getting into difficulty on her dive. Read more...
Inside HMS Terror 170 years on
The first systematic footage captured inside the historic Arctic wreck of HMS Terror has been released by Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team. Read more...
Second chance for sat-diving centre
One of only two saturation-diver training facilities in the world, Scotland’s Underwater Centre closed down last year – but now it looks set to reopen under new ownership. Read more...
1919 Scottish wreck becomes war grave
Although HMY Iolaire sank in peacetime, the wreck of the ship on which more than 200 sailors died while returning from Great War service died has been designated as a war grave. Read more...
Has anyone seen JIM?
JIM 18 stands alone, but its keepers are hoping that it might be joined by its “soulmate”. The Diving Museum at Gosport has issued a request to divers who might have some idea of the whereabouts of JIM 19 to get in touch, so that it can put a matching pair of the atmospheric diving suits on display. Read more...
DIVE 2019 speaker line-up grows
Galapagos diving, ghost-fishing nets and u/w photo skills will be among topics in focus at DIVE 2019 with the addition of Monty Halls, Christine Grosart and Mario Vitalini to the line-up of diving luminaries set to step on stage at the UK’s biggest annual event for scuba divers. Read more...
