CORNWALL, UK (21 May 2005) -- Coastguard search and rescue officials have called off a massive search for a scuba diver who went missing while wreck diving in Whitsand Bay. The missing scuba diver is a 48-year-old male who was diving the wreck of the James Egan Layne with a friend. The divers ascended from the wreck dive without difficulty but decided to to redescend to free a tangled marker buoy. On the second ascent they both ran out of air and came up too quickly. The dive boat crew aboard Furious spotted the two divers in trouble at the surface but could only rescue one. The crew made an emergency call to the coastguard and two lifeboats, police and a rescue helicopter started searching for the missing diver. As darkness fell, coastguard officials called off the search but local dive boats are continuing to search the area into the night. | | The James Egan Layne, a popular wreck diving site, is a US Liberty ship torpedoed on her maiden voyage in 1945. The vessel is located about 500 meters from the Scylla, a Royal Navy warship which was scuttled last year as Europe's first artificial reef. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
