Deadly diving accident on the wreck of ORP Delfin

On Thursday, 20 August 2020, a fatal diving accident occurred in the waters of the Bay of Puck. During a dive conducted on the wreck of the Polish ship ORP Delfin, a diver ventured inside the wreck from where he failed to get out in time.

From the information we have obtained, we know that the participants of the dive are Poles living abroad who were spending their holidays in the country. For the dive on the wreck of the Dolphin They set off from Jastarnia and were equipped with a recreational configuration – a wet suit and a single 15 l cylinder.

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One of the dive participants ventured inside the wreck. Unfortunately, he did not lay a railing rope to secure himself and find his way back. Moving down the staircase he reached the lower deck. The visibility inside the wreck was very poor and there were problems with the return.

The partner of the diver trapped inside the Delfin surfaced and help was immediately summoned. A second unit sailed from Jastarnia and several minutes later a search operation was conducted on the wreck. Unfortunately, at that moment visibility on the Dolphin was zero and the missing man could not be found.

The emergency services were also notified of the accident. A SAR unit arrived and carried out a standard search operation on the surface. Unfortunately, also without results. The operation was terminated at 21.30.

The search was resumed the following day. A vessel with a diving team set off from Jastarnia, which found the body of the missing diver and brought it to the surface.

^{Source: For the editors’ information
Reference photo: Leszek Legat/Baltic Explorers}