A body has been found but remains to be formally identified, following the search for a commercial scallop diver who went missing on the afternoon of 27 November in Scapa Flow, Orkney.
The diver’s family have however been informed of the discovery by Police Scotland, which says it was made at around 11am on 6 December on the Churchill Causeway. “There do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal,” it says.
The series of Churchill Barriers, which link the Orkney mainland to four surrounding islands, were built on the British Prime Minister’s orders during WW2 to protect the Royal Navy’s Scapa base from U-boat attack, following the sinking of HMS Royal Oak.
As reported earlier on Divernet, the search for the missing diver had been stepped up on 2 December with the arrival on Orkney of a specialist police marine & dive unit. The day after the man’s disappearance Orkney Coastguard had stood down a multi-agency air and sea search, leaving the police to continue with its own investigation but later rejoining the search.
Orkney Islands Council’s Harbour Authority has also been conducting its own investigation.
Also on Divernet: DIVER MISSING IN SCAPA FLOW, SCAPA WRECK DIVER NAMED, ANOTHER DIVING DEATH IN ORKNEY, DIVERS DIED OFF ORKNEY AND CORNWALL
