CAYMAN ISLANDS (13 Mar 2007) -- Three scuba divers, all over the age of 50, have now died in Cayman waters in just over two months. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) is currently investigating the death of a 57-year-old man from Texas. He had been diving with six other people at Smith's Cove on South Church Street and was reported missing by his diving companions at around 4:30 pm on Sunday, 11 March. While uniformed police officers backed up by the joint Customs and Marine Unit and medics carried out a search of the area, staff from Sunset Divers located the man, floating unconscious in the sea. He was taken to shore at the Atlantis Submarine Dock and was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead. This is the fifth watersports-related death reported by the RCIPS this year and the third involving a scuba diver. On 9 January, a 60-year-old woman died while swimming off Seven Mile Beach. Two weeks later, on 24 January, two tourists died, a 54-year-old man scuba diving near Sunset House and a 71-year-old man snorkelling off the Sand Bar. Just a week before this incident, on 4 March, a 71-year-old man died while scuba diving off East End. In 2006, ten people died in watersports incidents, seven while swimming or snorkelling and three while scuba diving. The majority of the victims were over 50-years-old. In January, reviewing last year's fatalities, dive operators said they were generally satisfied with the safety standards in the Islands and expressed the opinion that this comparatively small number of deaths was a fact of life. At the time, Hon Charles Clifford, Minister for Tourism, said the Cayman Islands had a much better safety record than other destinations in the region. After the latest fatality, one source within the dive industry said they felt that it was unfair to single out specific activities. "We should be looking at the overall picture and the causes of these deaths," they said, adding that the majority of the deaths seemed to be due to pre-existing conditions rather than the activity itself. In separate incidents on the same day, the RCIPS Joint Customs and Marine Unit, The Department of Environment (DoE) and members of the public assisted a total of 25 people who were aboard two boats that got into difficulty near the Sand Bar. The first incident occurred at approximately 2:10 pm when the 911 Emergency Communications Centre heard a transmission reporting that a private vessel was capsizing in the vicinity of the Sand Bar. Two DoE boats responded along with two wave runners operated by the Marine Unit. | | Enforcer 8 of the DoE located an 18-foot vessel carrying 14 people that was starting to capsize. The DoE transported the passengers ashore and also towed the capsized boat to shore - no injuries were sustained during the incident. The second incident occurred at 2:20 pm when one of the Marine Unit wave runners came across a 21-foot vessel with 11 passengers on board, which was also capsizing in the vicinity of the Sand Bar. The passengers and the boat were taken to Kaibo Yacht Club with the assistance of private vessels. Again, no injuries were sustained in the incident. The RCIPS will be looking into the circumstances of both of these incidents and is issuing the following safety advice to small boat owners: • Always check the weather to see if it is suitable conditions for boating. • Make sure you know the passenger capacity of your boat and abide by it. • Ensure your radio is working each and every time you go to sea, and for added security, carry a cell phone. • Always have the correct safety equipment aboard and enough life jackets for everyone on your boat. • The person in charge of the boat should never be intoxicated. • Keep your boat in good working condition. One local watersports operator has described conditions in the area at the time as, "unfavourable" with strong winds coming out of the East, across North Sound. Regulations are being prepared, which will control the operations of commercial craft in the area but these will have only limited impact of the use on privately-owned vessels. 
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