BERMAGUI, Australia (27 Oct 2007) — A man died today while scuba diving when his dive gear apparently malfunctioned. Sven Paepke, 42, of Sydney, was diving with an Inspiration Classic rebreather at the 'Iron Knight' shipwreck, a merchant vessel sunk by a Japanese submarine during World War II about 14 kilometers off Bermagui. Authorities said that strong currents at the dive site may have contributed to the death of the Sydney Project Dive Team member, who was diving with two friends. "There was a strong southerly current and the current, along with the negative buoyancy which their friend was subjected to, made it impossible to hold on to him," Eden water police Sergeant Jim Hinckley told reporters. "They found it impossible to bring him to the surface. You've got to consider what a terrible situation it was for these people. The decision to go after him or to go to the surface. "Perhaps if they'd gone after him they also would not have made it to the surface." Hinckley said that despite the strong currents in the area, police will try to recover the body with "highly specialized" sonar equipment. Lewis James Gavin, another Sydney Project Dive Team member who was also diving with an Inspiration Rebreather, drowned at the age of 31 while scuba diving in the Tasman Sea off Bondi Beach, New South Wales in February 2006. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK | 
