Fatal dive was plagued by faults

The ill-fated dive to the wreck of the Holmglen in November 2008 should not have gone ahead, a coroner's court has been told.

There were problems with the equipment and gases used, and with the health of Blenheim man Kevin Bailey, when he and three others went diving at the wreck off the South Canterbury coast.

However, regional coroner Richard McElrea has adjourned the case to let the parties involved respond to a police national dive squad report.

Mr Bailey was the owner and manager of a Blenheim dive shop and an industry veteran who had been diving recreationally since the late 1960s and professionally since 1988.

On November 10, he, Peter Steggle, of Blenheim, and Mark Gibson, of Dunedin, arrived near the wreck of the Holmglen, 22 nautical miles southeast of Timaru.

The court was told the group dived, spent about half an hour at the wreck, tried to retrieve the ship's bell and were on their way to the surface when trouble struck.

The bell, attached to a buoy and clipped to the divers' ascent line, dropped from the surface, dragging the ascent line with it.

The three divers, decompressing 15 metres to 18 metres from the surface, got clear when the line fell to the ocean floor, but a short time later Mr Bailey disappeared from sight.

Three days later Mr Bailey's body was recovered when a trawler cast a net in the area.

South Canterbury pathologist Barrie Berkeley said an autopsy led him to believe Mr Bailey had died of acute heart failure, possibly brought on by irregularities with the gas mix.

While there was water in Mr Bailey's airway, Dr Barclay said he did not believe drowning was the main cause of death.

Constable Paul Ferguson, of the police national dive squad, said the dive equipment could have contributed to the diver's death.

It had several faults, the main one being no oxygen in a tri-mix formula.

Due to the 68-metre depth, tri-mix gas was needed: 18 per cent oxygen, 50 per cent helium and the balance nitrogen.

That had been prepared and checked with a gas analyser by Mr Steggle three days before, while Mr Bailey filled his own oxygen bottles.

Mr Ferguson said Mr Bailey was not formally trained in using a Closed Circuit Rebreather tri-mix, Mr Steggle was not licensed to fill a tri-mix cylinder and the cylinders had not been lab-tested.

During Environmental Science and Research tests, it was found that Mr Bailey's diluent cylinder had only about 1 per cent oxygen in it, Mr Ferguson said.

"It was intended to have oxygen in it, but didn't have ... it was labelled as if it did have oxygen in it."

Mr Steggle said his checks showed there was an appropriate amount of oxygen in the bottle, which had been filled at the same time, in the same way, as his own.

"ESR could not explain the reason why the mix is that," Mr Ferguson said.

"How the mix got to that, I don't know. I can't imagine any scenario that would produce a zero oxygen."

He said a fault with batteries had also compromised Mr Bailey's dive computer, which would have been apparent early on "and the dive should then have been aborted".

Mr Steggle and Mr Gibson both said Mr Bailey was an experienced diver and throughout the dive looked comfortable.

"If he had wanted my assistance, he was in a position to ask for it," Mr Gibson said.

"My opinion is he went out like a light. Something catastrophic happened, but it happened fast."

The coroner allowed Mr Bailey's family and diving companions a month to look at the dive squad report and raise any issues or questions for a supplementary report.

COASTER'S SINKING STILL A MYSTERY

The mysterious sinking of the Holmglen and loss of its crew shocked the region.

The 485-tonne coaster was only five years old when it sank in heavy seas steaming from Oamaru to Timaru in November 1959.

The tragedy surprised many people because the ship was so new and designed to supply the sub-Antarctic islands.

Before the sinking, a radio message was received at Tairoa Head, saying the ship was heeling hard to port, its accommodation area was awash and crew were trying to launch a lifeboat. Then silence.

Several freighters, two navy ships and 20 Oamaru and Timaru fishing boats were unable to find any survivors, but discovered a large oil slick where the ship had gone down.

The 15 crew members died and only three bodies were ever recovered.

An empty lifeboat was found three days later.

The ship lies upright on the seabed in about 67 metres of water, 22 nautical miles southeast off the coast of Timaru.

It is believed the expedition in November 2008 was only the third to the Holmglen's final resting place.

- © Fairfax NZ News