MALE, Maldives (5 June 2008) — A New Zealand tourist who was one of the victims of a scuba diving accident in the Maldives that killed one and injured nine other divers called on the government of the Maldives to strictly regulate the scuba diving industry there. Divemaster Lee Findlay and his wife Niv, of Remuera, were among a group of 14 tourists who booked a trip on the Touring Maldives owned and operated Baani Adventurer liveaboard. On May 22, nine divers including two dive guides were injured and Russian tourist Roman Rudakov, 41, died after breathing contaminated air from scuba tanks that had been filled from a compressor owned and operated by the Baani Adventurer. Arrest Maldives police have arrested a 21-year-old Baani Adventurer crew member who was responsible for operating the liveaboard's compressors on suspicion of negligence. But German tourist Raymond Kober said that he felt Austrian Gundi Holm of Maldives Liveaboards, the dive travel company that organized the trip, should be held responsible for the death of one tourist and injuries to several others. Findlay said the compressor was not fitted with a proper filter that can extract carbon monoxide from pumped air and added that substandard compressor equipment is common in the Maldives. The maximum safe level of carbon monoxide is 15ppm, however, air analyzed from the victims' tanks confirmed that they had been breathing the poisonous gas at a level of 80ppm. In addition to bad filters, Findlay said it was clear the compressors were not being properly maintained and the dive boat crew lacked adequate training. Unprofessional crew "The crew did not appear to know what to do," Findlay said referring to their response to a unconscious diver emergency. "(Rudakov's) lungs were full of water so my wife started CPR and several of them simply stood around and watched". When Findlay returned to the dive boat, he took over CPR on the Russian tourist and his wife tried to treat other injured divers, some of whom were semi-conscious, with onboard medical oxygen. But the oxygen equipment onboard the Baani Adventurer was broken and could not be used to treat the injured divers. Findlay said Rudakov, the Russian who died in the accident, was a really nice guy who had a wife and two small children. At least one of the scuba diving accident victims has called on the government of the Maldives to strictly regulate the Maldives scuba diving industry to prevent death and injuries caused by a lack of oversight of liveaboard dive boats and resorts. | 
