ORMOC, Philippines (26 May 2005) -- The deep wreck technical diving team at Ormoc Bay in the Leyte Gulf has deployed a descent line and other equipment ahead of Saturday's attempt at the world's deepest wreck dive on the USS Cooper. Surface support team manager Roscoe Thompson of Action Divers in Puerto Galera, which is sponsoring the dive along with Dive VIP Seaside Resort, told CDNN the weather is excellent and the team is ready to go after a warm-up dive yesterday to a depth of 150 meters (492 feet). At 12:30pm this afternoon, USS Cooper survivor Hank Wagener joined the entire team aboard the surface support vessel as everyone received the blessings of a priest and prayed for the 191 officers and crew who lost their lives when the American destroyer was hit by a torpedo and sank with its guns blazing. At a depth of 220 meters (720 feet), the Cooper is 43 meters (141 feet) deeper than the previous world record set in 2003 by Mark Ellyatt who reached a depth of 177 meters (580 feet) on the wreck of the SS Baden in the English Channel. Ellyatt told CDNN earlier this week that the Cooper dive will not only be extremely deep and technically demanding but divers will have to cope with severe cold, limited visibility and unpredictable currents. Mark Ellyatt diving the SS Baden | | USS Cooper "Dives of this nature sometimes cannot be completed within planned timelines," Ellyatt said. "But if skills and determination are present then a successful result will be achieved on a subsequent attempt. Most recreational scuba diving is limited to a depth of 40 meters (130 feet). Deep diving requires special technical training and world record deep diving requires additional training, experience, planning and team diving techniques that enable the lead diver to reach depth and return safely to the surface. The Cooper dive is scheduled to start at 8:00am Saturday morning with a run time of 330 minutes. If all goes according to plan, lead diver Rob Lalumiere should be back on the surface support vessel at 2:30pm. COPYRIGHT © CDNN NewsWire |
