Missing diver found dead (Updated)

A diver missing at the Zenobia shipwreck was found dead by authorities within the ship on Friday.

A search party found him at around 11am, in a compartment of the ship that is not often visited.

An autopsy is expected to be announced.

Commander of the Larnaca search and rescue coordination centre, Andreas Charalambides, said the man was not in a prohibited section of the ship.

Entry into any part of the wreck just “depends on the diver’s endurance and skills,” he said, and it also can’t be ruled out that the deceased man had ended up there by accident.

The commander suggested the man may have been unable to get out due to disorientation, panic, or lack of visibility.

“Unfortunately, the only thing that matters is the outcome,” the commander said. Speaking on Sigma TV, he speculated that based on footage from a camera another member of the group had with them, the diver may have lost his sense of time.

It appears the deceased diver was an instructor escorting a couple, who ascended before him without problems.

“It seems he was in a state of time pressure and panic,” Charalambides said. “The conditions in the wreck are not easy, there is lack of visibility and it can be hard to find the exit.”

Search parties had started at 8am for a second day on Friday to look for the diver who made his descent at 10am the previous day.

According to the commander, the missing man’s dive partner was not concerned when he first resurfaced alone as “nothing worrying” was at play. The alarm was raised once the scheduled dive time expired, and the man was still nowhere to be seen.

Search parties at the scene on Thursday continued until the light failed and were reinforced with divers from the police and the national guard, as well as volunteer groups.

Helicopters and boats also searched the surface of the sea at a wide radius around the wreck.

“Maybe prohibitions for certain areas of the wreck should be in place,” the commander added when queried about the fact that the deceased diver was ultimately found seemingly trapped in the wreck.

Asked about other deaths and incidents at the site he said he was not able to immediately comment.

However, it is known that at least six diver deaths have occurred at the site since the Zenobia sank in 1980, enroute to Syria from Sweden.

Recent reports of diving incidents have called into question the state of diligence over safety and a long-simmering row exists between the owner of the wreck and the divers’ association.

The owner, AAK Larnaca Napa Sea Cruises, has in the past claimed a state of “anarchy and illegality” prevailed, while the divers’ association insisted the site has one of the best safety records in the world, that its members follow all regulations, and that there are no licensing issues.

Head of the divers’ association Nicos Nicolaou, at the time, told the Cyprus Mail, “There are more than 30,000 divers every year in the area, and this is the first incident this year. We would have dozens of deaths every day if there were no regulations.”

The Zenobia shipwreck, which sank in 1980, has been touted as one the best the Mediterranean diving sites, often referred to as the Titanic of the Mediterranean.

It is frequently listed as one of the top ten wrecks in the world for diving. The popular wreckage is located around 1,500 metres off the Larnaca coast, at a depth of 42 metres, and is 172 metres across.

Last year another diver was taken to hospital from the wreck for pulmonary edema following rescue.