A fire services diver searching for 16 missing seaman nearly became a victim himself yesterday when he got entangled with debris in the sunken Ukrainian tugboat. Another diver came to his rescue.The incident highlighted the dangers on the seabed where the 80-meter Neftegaz-67 sank after a collision with a Chinese cargo ship last Saturday off Lantau Island.
The discovery of a door leading to a cabin of the tugboat enabled divers to recover two bodies in the early hours yesterday.
Chief fire officer Chow Wing-tak of Marine Fire Command Headquarters, said the diver's breathing tube became entangled with floating debris in the hull of the vessel around noon yesterday.
"It caused him to stay underwater past the safety limit and after he was untangled, he had to decompress in the water for 50 minutes," Chow said.
The diver has made a full recovery, and is continuing to search for victims.
Chow added that another diver was suspected to have suffered from decompression sickness late Tuesday and was immediately placed in a decompression chamber.
Divers went down nearly 40 times and searched five of the 32 rooms of the tugboat.
The two bodies, he said, were found in an auxiliary engine room and a locker room.
Marine regional headquarters operations acting superintendent John Cameron said they were sent to the Kwai Chung public mortuary.
Their identities are now being checked.
Chow said divers can make use of four tide turns a day to go underwater, and on eac
h turn they can only send three divers.He added that it is difficult to say when they can finish searching all the rooms.
"When the tide slackens, divers have a one- to two-hour window to work," Chow said.
He said some divers will be sent into the hull of the vessel specifically to remove debris. Director of Marine Roger Tupper said divers will continue their search until all 16 missing seamen are found, "provided it is safe for the divers to do so."
Three members of a Ukrainian delegation led by Vice Minister of Transport and Communication Shevchenko Vasyl Vasylyovych arrived at the scene early yesterday to observe the area where the accident happened and returned to the Marine Police base in Tai Lam shortly after 4am.
The vice minister thanked the Hong Kong government for its assistance and in particular the rescue officers for their untiring efforts.
The tugboat sank upside down at a depth of 37 meters after a collision with mainland cargo ship Yao Hai. The tugboat's captain and six of his crew were rescued after the collision.
