KOH TAO, Thailand (12 June 2008) — Royal Thai Navy divers found the body of a scuba diving instructor who disappeared in February 2006. Authorities told CDNN the remains have not yet been identified, but they are certain it is the body of Tomas Casagrande, a German national who disappeared while working for DJL Diving (Davy Jones Locker), a retail dive store located in Koh Tao, Thailand. The body was found in the engine room of a Unicon freighter that sank eight nautical miles off Koh Tao during Typhoon Gay almost 20 years ago. According to Rear Admiral Roengrit Bunsongprasert, director general of the Naval Civil Affairs Department, the German Embassy in Thailand formally requested that Thai authorities remove the body from the freighter. Subsequently, the Royal Thai Navy approved a wreck diving training mission comprised of a 24-member operational team tasked with recovering Casagrande's body from the wreck of the freighter, which is 51 meters (167 feet) deep. Sloppy wreck diving procedures According to unconfirmed reports, Casagrande's death was a direct result of sloppy wreck diving procedures by DJL Diving. | | Thai Navy divers found the body of Tomas Casagrande, a scuba diving instructor who disappeared while working for DJL Diving (Davy Jones Locker), a British-owned retail dive store located in Koh Tao, Thailand. Casagrande allegedly entered the wreck alone without adequate wreck diving training, without adequate experience, without adequate surface support and without deploying standard wreck penetration safety equipment. |
