Diver trapped in the Medkhanun 3 wreck
A 23-year-old trained diver nearly died at the weekend after being stuck in the porthole of a sunken ship while diving in Darwin Harbour.
The diver had left his 10 diving buddies and went inside the Medkhanun 3 wreck by himself when he became trapped.
The diver’s air tank soon ran out, and he was forced to share oxygen with other divers while waiting for fresh tanks from nearby boats to arrive. “He did the wrong thing. He (went) into the wreck and stirred up all of the silt down there,” said NT diving veteran Suzie Lack, 52. “He became disorientated and went towards the light but got stuck.”
Ms Lack, who is an instructor for Coral Divers, said it was the scariest situation she had seen in her 17 years of diving.
“It was very frightening,” she said. “There were stages where it was touch and go.”
The man was stuck 15m underwater as divers worked to bring him oxygen and pull him free from the wreck. “Once we got the extra air down to him we could start to plan how to get him out,” she said. “He was sort of halfway through the hole, and had taken his tank off.”
The man was brought to the surface about an hour later, badly bruised and in shock — but alive.
“He is a very lucky young man. And lucky that his diving buddy knew where he was,” Ms Lack said.
“It was a very, very serious situation.”
The Medkhanun 3 is a 25 metre illegal Indonesian fishing vessel whose primary function was to steal fish stocks from Australian waters. She is now providing a useful marine habitat at the bottom of Darwin Harbour. But not without some risk for divers. For safety reasons, Dave Powell, General Manager of Darwin Dive Centre, had called on the NT Government to legislate top keep divers out of the wreck itself. “We believe that the vessel will suit both the Dive and Fisherman of Darwin left as she lies on the harbour floor. However, we recommend a notice of non-penetration by divers be declared for safety reasons.” said Mr Powell.