Beneath the Maldives’ crystal-clear turquoise waters, white sandy beaches and thatched-roofed overwater bungalows lie deep, narrow caves, devoid of light and the colorful marine life that inhabits the higher waters.
The seas were rough and winds were picking up late Thursday morning as a team of five experienced Italian divers plunged into a pitch-black cavern off the coast of Vaabu Atoll, about an hour south of the capital Male by speedboat.
The group also included instructor Gianluca Benedetti. Monica Montefalcone, Associate Professor of Ecology at the University of Genoa. her daughter Giorgia Somacar; Marine biologist Federico Gualtieri. and researcher Muriel Odenino.
The divers went deep into the cave network. The cave opens at a depth of approximately 47 meters (154 feet) and drops to approximately 70 meters (230 feet) at its lowest point.
they never returned.
The bodies of the five scuba divers were only discovered after several days of search operations. The difficult and dangerous task resulted in a sixth casualty, local diver Sergeant John Johnson. Mohamed Mahdi.
Local authorities said the group had permission to dive deeper than the Maldives’ recreational diving limit of 30 meters (98 feet).
However, it is not clear whether they went deeper than planned or whether they had suitable equipment for such a high-risk expedition.
The divers were staying on a 36-metre luxury yacht called the Duke of York, which offers customized cruises for up to 25 people.
A sea lover’s dream, this yacht allows divers to explore the Maldives’ coral islands up close while enjoying a seafood dinner or relaxing on a sunbed on the top deck.
Maldives government chief spokesperson Mohamed Hussein Sharif told CNN that someone on the boat issued a distress call at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
The divers were underwater for about two hours but were unable to surface.
Sharif said another residential vessel was the first to respond. Within about 30 minutes, divers from that ship discovered Benedetti’s body at the entrance to the cave.
The Maldives Coast Guard began searching both above and below the water for the remaining four divers, but after Benedetti’s body was discovered, authorities began working under the assumption that the remaining four divers were in the cave.
Monica Montefalcone was an environmental activist who spent many years conducting marine research in the Maldives.
Giorgia’s father and husband Carlo Somacar said his wife was “one of the best divers on the planet”.
“She must have completed 5,000 dives,” Sonmakar told Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Shareef said that prior to the dive, the Maldives Marine Research Center approved Montefalcone, Gualtieri and Oddenino’s research proposal to study soft corals near Vaabu Atoll. Somakal and Benedetti were not listed on the application.
The Italian researchers also have permission for technical diving, meaning they can explore deeper than 30 meters, Sharif said.
But Sharif said Maldivian authorities had no idea the divers would be diving into the cave, or they would have enlisted the help of the coast guard and other experts to assist with the complex dive.
“If they had told us that this was such a grueling mission deep inside a cave, I’m sure they could have given us clearer guidelines and advice.”
According to Reuters, the University of Genoa said Montefalcone and Odenino were in the Maldives to study the effects of climate change on biodiversity, but that the dive itself was “not part of the mission’s planned activities” and was “carried out privately.”
Bad weather made diving even more dangerous. The Maldives Meteorological Department issued a white warning on Thursday morning, warning of strong winds and rough seas. It is unclear whether the divers were aware of the warning.
By mid-afternoon, the warning level had been raised to yellow, with strong winds of up to 30 mph and gusts of 50 mph and extremely rough seas.
Few divers have ventured into this unusual underwater ecosystem. Vladimir Totilov, a Russian technical diving expert, is one of them.
“This cave is only accessible to technical cave divers who have proper preparation and appropriate experience and plan to dive into this cave correctly,” Tochilov told CNN.
Inside the cave where five divers died in the Maldives
A video taken in 2014 shows the spot where five Italian divers died while exploring a cave in Vaabu Atoll in May.
Tochilov, who dived there in 2014, said the cave in which the Italians were discovered is about 200 meters long and consists of several halls.
A video posted on YouTube by Tochilov’s diving company, Neva Divers, reveals a dark, barren, and otherworldly ecosystem.
At several points, divers must swim through narrow passages while illuminating the route with flashlights. It looks creepy and claustrophobic.
Tochilov says cave diving requires not only intensive technical training, but also psychological preparation to deal with feelings of fear and disorientation.
Tochilov said that as you go deeper into a Maldivian cave, you reach a point where you can no longer see the exit light and have to proceed in complete darkness.
“For any person, spinning in the dark or trying to find an exit in a dark room will also create difficulties,” Tochilov said.
Unlike other popular diving destinations, the Maldives is not known for cave diving. Tochilov said the cave the divers were exploring may be the only cave of its kind in the region.
“Perhaps this is why it has attracted the attention of divers, including scientists, biologists and researchers,” he says. “Caves are home to unique flora and fauna that cannot be found outside the cave.”
After the diving instructor’s body was discovered on Thursday, Maldivian authorities say it will take until Monday to find the four remaining divers in the third chamber of the cave.
Sharif said the multinational search operation involved local experts, three Finnish divers from the global scuba safety organization Divers Alert Network (DAN), and specialized equipment provided by the United Kingdom and Australia.
Sharif said the operation was extremely difficult due to unpredictable strong currents, narrow passages in the cave, and complete darkness.
“You have to be an expert at this level of diving,” he added.
Search efforts were suspended for a day after Mahdi, a senior military diver, died on Saturday.
Authorities believe the diver died from decompression sickness, which occurs when the diver ascends rapidly and the pressure around him suddenly drops.
At a ceremony in Male, Mahdi was buried with full military honors and thousands of people paid their respects, including President Mohamed Muiz, tourism and military officials, and foreign ambassadors.
It is not yet clear what happened to the Italian diver.
Deep-sea cave diving comes with many risks, said John Volantsen, dive officer at the British Cave Rescue Council, who played a key role in rescuing a Thai youth soccer team trapped in a labyrinthine network of underwater caves in 2018.
Twelve boys and their coach were safely removed from the flooded Chiang Rai cave system after a daring and extraordinary effort to remove them one by one.
One of the dangers of deep sea diving is gas anesthesia. This is the anesthetic effect experienced by scuba divers caused by breathing compressed gas in the deep sea. Divers often use special breathing mixtures such as nitrogen and oxygen to prevent this condition.
Volantsen said the Italian divers may have become disoriented while deep inside the cave.
“If you start going deeper, the anesthetic effect can cause panic, but it can also prevent you from being able to find your way out,” Volantsen said.
Sharif said authorities are focusing their investigation on the yacht and have suspended its license pending further investigation.
“We know for a fact that this vessel did not have all the documents in place,” Sharif said, adding that the vessel lacked a “diving school license.”
“If you operate a dive school and promote or support clients’ dive missions, whether recreational or technical, you need to obtain a dive school license,” he says.
CNN has reached out to Duke of York operator Abdul Muhsin Musa for comment. He told Reuters the ship was authorized to dive to a depth of 30 meters and that divers were briefed on that limit upon arrival.
Orietta Stella, a lawyer for Albatross Top Boats, the Italian tour company that sold the yacht trip, said the boat operator was “not aware” of the group’s plans to descend beyond the recreational diving limit and “never authorized it,” according to the Associated Press.
He also clarified that Albatros only sells cruises and does not own ships or employ crew, but hires locally. CNN has contacted Albatross Top Boat for further comment.
Sonmaka is left to grieve his wife and daughter as authorities try to determine what killed five people.
Montefalcone told La Repubblica newspaper that he was a “conscientious person” who would never put the lives of others at risk.
“Something must have happened there.”
