A former military diver has claimed that “rules weren’t followed” during the scuba diving expedition in the Maldives that left five people dead.
Keep reading to know more.
The tragedy involved a group of Italian divers connected to the University of Genoa, whose bodies were recovered after disappearing during a deep cave dive in Vaavu Atoll.
Among those who died were associate professor of ecology Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, marine biologist Federico Gualtieri, researcher Muriel Oddenino, and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. Benedetti’s body was discovered shortly after the incident on May 14, while the other four divers were found days later.
The group is believed to have been exploring a cave system at a depth of around 50 meters (160 feet). According to ABC News, the legal recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters (98 feet).
Now, former military diver Shafraz Naeem has spoken publicly about the risks involved in the dive and questioned why it was allowed to happen.
“I’ve done at least 50 dives in the Alimatha caves, taking the right precautions and using the right equipment,” Naeem told Italian outlet Il Giornale.
He said he was “always aware” of the extreme dangers involved in dives at those depths and stressed that “expertise and precaution are necessary.”
Naeem then directly questioned how the group had been permitted to carry out the expedition.
“Everyone knows the rules were broken; they didn’t even have a permit to conduct research at those depths,” he told Il Giornale.
Reports state that the cave reaches depths of around 70 meters (230 feet) and stretches roughly 200 meters in length.
Naeem also claimed that conditions inside the cave would challenge “even the most experienced divers.”
While the exact cause of death remains under investigation, he warned that at such depths, a single mistake or complication can quickly become fatal.
According to Naeem, just one “unexpected event can quickly turn into tragedy” during a deep dive like this.
At the same time, he said it would be “irresponsible” to speculate on exactly what happened before the investigation is complete.
The tragedy also claimed the life of rescue diver Sergeant Major Mohammed Mahudhee, who died from decompression sickness on May 16 while searching for the missing group.
Authorities in the Maldives have now launched an official investigation into why the divers went beyond the permitted depth limit.
Chief government spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef addressed the incident publicly, saying, “For recreational and commercial diving, by law, nobody is allowed to go further than 30 meters, and unfortunately, this appears to have happened a lot deeper because even the cave’s mouth is almost 50 meters under.”
Meanwhile, the Italian tour operator linked to the diving trip denied authorizing or knowing about the dive that allegedly violated local regulations.
According to the company’s lawyer, who spoke to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the operator was unaware the group intended to descend beyond the legal limit.
Following the incident, the operating licence of the liveaboard vessel MV Duke of York has reportedly been suspended indefinitely.
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