HMS Scylla, a battleship sank off the coast of Plymouth.
Photo: Francisco Davids / Pexels
A shipwreck off the coast of Britain claimed the lives of two divers after they ran out of air during a search for the ship.officials said, according to the media.
Mark Gallant, 49, and Andrew Herman, 40, went on a diving expedition in September 2021 to dive around HMS Scylla, a battleship sank off the coast of PlymouthAccording to an investigation by the Plymouth Coroner’s Court, as reported by the BBC.
Herman was a master diver trainer, and Gallant was a rescue diver and wreck diving specialist, according to The Times. The two, along with a third diver, Adam Dent, decided to enter and seek the wreck.
Cornwall Live, citing officials, reported that divers reached the third and “most dangerous” deck of the wreck, where large amounts of sediment had accumulated. His movement disturbed Ooz, making it difficult for him to see.
According to the BBC, Dent said, “I couldn’t watch the exit and I was completely disoriented.” “Visibility decreased with the build-up of sediment … I lost sight of Mark (Galant) and Andrew (Herman) because the sediment was really bad, visibility was zero.”
The outlet reported that Dent remembered hitting others at one point and then losing them again. When his air tank ran out, Dent finally saw a short way out. He dropped his tank and ran away, ripping off the wetsuit.
The Times reported that out of the wreckage, the dent surfaced in seconds – a process that takes 10 to 15 minutes to safely do – and called for help.
The BBC reported that Gallant and Hermann were trapped in the engine room, gasping for air and drowning.
Cornwall Live, citing officials, reported that Herman’s body was recovered only a week later, but Gallant’s body was not recovered by divers until nearly six weeks later.
Upon learning of what went wrong during the diving expedition, Plymouth Coroner’s Court officials said additional diving safety protocols may be introduced to prevent future deaths.
HMS Scylla was intentionally launched in 2004 at Whitsand Bay. was submerged to form an artificial rock in, Cornwall, The Times reported. The Plymouth Herald reported that two divers also died in the wreck in 2007, when they too were disoriented and ran out of air.
Plymouth is about 210 miles south-west of London along the coast.
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