UPDATED 16 May: Search-team diver with DCI dies
Five Italian scuba divers died after entering a cave system at a depth of around 55m yesterday (14 May), in what has become the deadliest single incident in Maldives’ diving history. Only one body has been recovered so far.
The deaths occurred during a dive from the Duke of York liveaboard, in Devana Kandu, a channel near Alimathaa island in the north-east of Vaavu Atoll, some 100km south of the capital Malé.
UPDATE 16 May: Search-team diver with DCI dies
Search and recovery operations for the remaining four divers resumed today (16 May) after being suspended because of poor sea conditions,
They concluded after penetration of the first two of three chambers of the cave with no more bodies found, but in the process one of the recovery divers, Sgt-Major Mohamed Mahudhee, had to be rushed to hospital with suspected decompression illness (DCI) and subsequently died.
Italian technical-diving specialists are reported to have been brought in to assist the Maldivian team. The only body recovered so far has been identified as that of Gianluca Benedetti, the diving instructor and liveaboard operations manager.
According to Italian press, he was found with an empty tank in the second chamber, though a spokesman for Maldives president Mohamed Muizzu, who visited the site yesterday, said that he had been found “near the mouth of the cave”.
A sixth diver, understood to be a female University of Genoa student, had reportedly been preparing to dive with the group but decided at the last moment not to enter the water. She has been helping with the investigation into the cause of the fatalities.
The university has stated that the dive was not part of its official scientific mission, while Prof Monica Montefalcone’s husband Carlo Sommacal has defended the divers’ experience and safety protocols and rejected suggestions of recklessness. He described his wife as a “disciplined diver” who carefully evaluated risks before dives.
Meanwhile the Maldives Ministry of Tourism has suspended the Duke of York liveaboard’s operating licence ‘indefinitely’ as a precautionary regulatory measure pending the outcome of the investigation. Italy has reportedly opened its own parallel investigation.
Four of the five divers on the week-long trip were connected with the University of Genoa. Associate professor of ecology and marine biologist Monica Montefalcone, 51, was accompanied by her 23-year-old daughter Giorgia Sommacal, who was studying biomedical engineering at the university.
Also in the group were Muriel Oddenino, 31, a research assistant in the same department as Montefalcone, and marine biology graduate 31-year-old Federico Gualtieri. He had recently completed a thesis on corals in the central Maldives atolls under Montefalcone’s supervision, and was also a diving instructor,
The fifth diver was Gianluca Benedetti, a diving instructor from Padua and operations manager for Luxury Yacht Maldives and Albatros Top Boat, which operate the 36m Duke of York liveaboard on its central and southern atolls itineraries.
A yellow weather warning had been issued on the day of the dive, with rough seas and strong winds, and the site is associated with strong currents. These conditions were also said to have hampered the subsequent search for the missing divers by specialist divers with boats and aerial support.
Though the dive-group were said to have entered the water in the morning, the alarm was raised only at 1.45pm, suggesting that they might have been prepared for a long, deep dive. Details have yet to be released about the equipment they were using.
The Duke of York caters for technical and rebreather divers as well as those diving within the official 30m Maldives depth limit.
“I dived this cave a number of times and with proper equipment and gas,” well-known Maldives diving instructor Shaff Naeem has commented. “The entrance is between 55 and 58m. The cave goes inside to approximately 100m and forks and goes deeper.
“Not a dive to be done on normal air or without experience in technical diving or cave training.”
One body
The Maldives Coast Guard, the maritime arm of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), has been able to recover only one body so far, found inside the system at 6.13pm yesterday.
It told Italian news agency ANSA that the other four divers were “believed to be inside the same cave, which extends to a depth of approximately 60m”. The system is thought to extend as far as 260m.
Montefalcone, an expert on seagrass ecosystems, was known to the Italian public through her TV appearances. She had contributed to a number of scientific papers on corals and hydrozoans in the Maldives, but there has been no official comment on whether the fatal dive was recreational, exploratory or research-related.
ANSA reported that she had been in the Maldives co-ordinating a research project with colleagues but that, according to initial reports, the cave-dive had not been related to that project.
“The sympathy of the entire university community goes out to the families, colleagues and students who shared their human and professional journey,” stated the University of Genoa.
Police are investigating the deaths and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka are monitoring the situation, with the latter providing assistance to relatives of the divers.
I thought there was a 30m depth limit in The Maldives,?
Some very interesting comments but we really need to wait until the true facts are supplied by the authorities and not rely on social media and supposition.
My sincere condolences to the families and RIP to the victims.
Excellent point!! Need the facts first before jumping to conclusions.
How experienced were the five divers? Which PADI or CMAS degree did they have? Did they have a a TEK diving certificate?
In any case, it is a tragedy, loosing these five divers. RIP all five.
I think many are wondering the same. Seems like they were in the cave system (no light) vs cavern zone (can see light). In that case, full cave training is obtained through organizations like TDI, NSS-CDS, NACD and IANTD. I am full cave certified, trimix certified and hold other certs through IANTD and NACD. Yes, this is a terrible tragedy.
We don’t care what certs you have.
I do, it makes me kinda hot
I find it a glaring omission in every report: were they or were they not deep cave diver certified? All I read is “instructor”, like that is some panacea for all knowing. It is not. Coming from an instructor. Who is not cave or tech qualified. Indeed, the GUE tech entry requirements are so demanding that I am still working on refinements in my diving, just to get accepted into the course. Would not dream of (1) 50 meters nor (2) cave diving…. It really is very, very specialised. My heart goes out to them, and their families. MTDSRIP.
Depths of up to 100 meters in the cave. That’s Advanced Trimix range. Gas would need to be trimix with a blend of something between 10-15% O2 (hypoxic). You would need helium just to address gas density and narcosis at depth. Air at that depth for any extended time is a death sentence. And…Cave or Advanced Cavern would be needed on top of that.
If someone is doing this dive without the proper certs, death is a reasonable outcome. And that is A LOT of training. I know from personal experience.
So you tried that and died then?
I’m a divemaster, certified to 40m, and have some overhead training, but I wouldn’t go anywhere near caves.
Isn’t the point that diving instructors qualified under any certification scheme should know about the requirements to dive at 50m as well as in caves?
I did PADI AOW and the issues with caves, wrecks and diving past 30-40m were certainly covered in course material – as was the need to get different tech diving qualifications.
Find it hard to believe that 3 instructor qualified divers with 1000s of dives between them wouldn’t have known the risks.
That is not what “panacea” means.
Not only a full cave cert, but at these depth, an Advanced Trimix cert would be needed. That’s the highest Open Circuit cert possible. It takes time and dedication. And most of us switch to CCR after Extended Range just due to helium costs.
In this age of information technology there are countless documented tragedies of caving or scuba diving or the combination of both published online. You think people would be extra cautious and not take unncessary trips. Sad.
UPDATE 16 May: Search-team diver rushed to hospital
UPDATED 16 May: 6th diver stayed on boat
UPDATE 16 May: Search-team diver with DCI dies
yes same
There’s an updated article here: https://divernet.com/scuba-news/health-safety/death/finnish-cave-divers-reach-maldives-on-recovery-mission/
Apparently they weren’t supposed to ho deeper than the 30m
Not completely convinced that they’re still in the cave system. If the weather became so poor. Has any helicopter or any plane checked down current for anything. I’ve surfaced out of sight of the boat, and it’s a bit lonely!
There has been 1 body recovered. No mention yet of what tank/s they had.
Assume Tri mix at that depth ??
This is do sad Condolences to all families
just a speculation.
past the cave entrance depth they started lacking clarity over what they were doing.
probably the only nitrogen pp accustomed diver could have been the boat leader but how do you handle 4 narked divers, even if lightly? were they ahead, where they behind, where they heading deeper towards the wrong end? possibly the one thought of surfacing having lost 4 of his divers took a toll on him. I sense he could have made it to the surface, barely and bent. but…
Don’t go where the road don’t go…
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