Maldives scuba diving fatality: accident or negligence?Edward - Instructor / Diving Instructor
June 4, 2008 at 19:19:28I fully agree with "Sam C's" comments and think that the post by "Mohammed" of the Russian divers death was due to an existing
medical condition is ludicrous. Regardless of what the diver was doing with regards to his chosen sport, there is no such thing as dying happy - death is death. A sport like scuba diving can be dangerous but when proper training and safety procedures are followed then the risks of anything serious happening are greatly reduced.
It is now apparent that the accident was due to the alleged negligence by the crew or the compressor operator not following basic guidelines and safety procedures for air fills. These types of so called accidents do happen all over the world and generally are due to mistakes made by staff not been properly trained or by poorly serviced compressors. They are rare but not rare enough that as an Instructor we still have to tell students about the possibilities or getting "bad
air". I have been to the Maldives 9 times and regard them as some of the best diving in the world. I also only dive with operators that are safety conscious. I never dive on any boat or with any operator who does not have basic safety and first aid equipment i.e. O2 etc., and I always check that there is an Emergency Assistance plan on board. The majority of Diving centres and Liveaboards that operate in the Maldives are properly run and adhere to safe diving guidelines,
but then these are guidelines. The problem is that there is not and specific organisation or department in the Maldives to govern this and as such their will always be people cutting corners to save money or to speed things up. Hopefully now something will be done to rectify this. Having said that I will continue to return to the Indian Ocean and enjoy the sea and the people that work and live around it. I love the sport and that is why I became an Instructor so as others
can safely enjoy it and hopefully I can enthuse and educate them enough to continue to challenge and enjoy themselves. As for the accident I hope that if someone was negligent that they as held fully responsible for their actions. My condolences and prayers go out to the family and friends of Roman Kudarov. | 
