DORSET, UK (23 Aug 2005) -- A sea search for a missing 22-year-old diver who vanished after surfacing from a wreck has been called off. The male diver was reported missing off the Dorset coast by the skipper of dive boat Killer Prawn when he surfaced and then appeared to lose buoyancy. On Monday a search by a helicopter and five lifeboats took place over the wreck of the Kyarra, off Anvil Point. The Coastguard said the search for the man from Northamptonshire had been extensive but no trace was found. A Coastguard spokeswoman told the BBC News website on Tuesday: "The search area was saturated with helicopters, five lifeboats and various other boats until 2100 BST on Monday. "There is nothing more that they can do." Boats in the area are being asked to keep a lookout for any signs of the missing diver. On Monday, a coastguard spokesman said they were entirely satisfied the crew of the Killer Prawn had done everything correctly. Other incidents "They put a distress call out straight away, and put a marker in the water to see what the current was and how far he might drift," he said. Mark Rodaway, Coastguard area operations manager for southern England, said: "Diving as a sport and pastime is becoming increasingly popular as people travel more widely throughout the world. | | The search for the missing Kyarra divers went on all day. (photo by Dave Corben) "Lots of people go on holiday and experience it for the first time in tropical waters. "Diving in warm water with very good visibility is considerably different to experiencing diving in north west Europe where here our water is considerably colder and visibility much reduced." In July a diver from Killer Prawn was airlifted to the recompression centre in Poole after he became tangled up with a surface marker buoy and had to make "a rapid ascent". On 4 August a female diver from Cambs failed to resurface while exploring the Kyarra wreck from the same dive boat. A massive air and sea search failed to find any trace of her. The Coastguard spokesman said after the accident in July they inspected the boat and were satisfied with the standard of the equipment and staff. |
