Two scuba divers were rescued and taken to hospital on Sunday, 28 June after getting into difficulties in the Channel off Poole on the UK’s Dorset coast – while two others had to be recovered from the sea after their dive-boat had broken down off Norfolk.
The Coastguard received a report of the first incident at around 10.50am and multiple emergency service teams responded, including the Coastguard helicopter and Poole rescue team, the Swanage all-weather lifeboat (ALB), South-west Ambulance Service and Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance.
According to the Coastguard the divers were taken to hospital separately: one airlifted from the dive-boat and the other brought ashore by lifeboat and transferred to hospital by ambulance. No information has been released on what occurred on the dive, or about the divers’ current condition.
Pick-up and tow
That afternoon another pair of divers had to be rescued when their dive-boat’s engine failed, leaving them stranded in the North Sea. The location was some 5km off the north Norfolk coast, where the buddies had been wreck-diving at the Blakeney Overfalls sandbank.
Humber Coastguard relayed an emergency call to Wells RNLI, and both its ALB and inshore lifeboat sped to the site, where they succeeded in recovering the divers uninjured.
With no other suitable vessel in the area equipped to bring the dive-boat to safety, it was decided that the ALB would tow it back to Wells Harbour, with help from the smaller boat.
“By towing the vessel back to its berth, our volunteer crews ensured that everyone on board returned safely and prevented what could have become a more serious situation had the vessel remained disabled offshore,” stated Wells RNLI.
Tara Edwards from Norwich, the partner of one of the rescued divers, stated that she had signed up to support the RNLI charity in May, “never imagining that so soon your team would be helping someone I love. Today really brought home just how vital your work is, and I’m even more proud to support such an incredible organisation.”
The two incidents came during an exceptionally busy period for UK lifeboat and Coastguard crews as hot weather drew large numbers of people to the coast.
This prompted numerous rescue call-outs involving swimmers, paddleboarders and recreational boat-users, though no other scuba-diving incidents were reported over the weekend.
Also on Divernet: Dive-boat loses power with divers down
