Are Third World Scuba Tanks Safe?

A scuba tank exploded on March 20 at the Blue World Explorer dive center in Le Méridian Hotel, Pointeaux- Piments, Mauritius, killing the 27-year-old locallyborn staff member filling tanks. It begs the question, how often are scuba tanks internally inspected and tested in tropical locations?

Europe, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and the Maldives have regulations for the inspection and testing of scuba tanks, and these tanks bear a date stamp of their last test to indicate to those filling them if they are likely to be safe. But if you've seen dive center staff tossing tanks into a truck in the Caribbean, you may wonder if that testing is adequate.

It's the compressor operator who is most at risk from a tank failure, and Undercurrent has published accounts of tanks exploding while being filled. We rarely, if ever, hear of a tank exploding while a diver has it. It's when the tank is being subjected to a rapid increase in internal pressure (filling) that it's most likely to fail.

That said, a diver may be at risk if a filled tank (especially one filled with 10 percent more gas than recommended) is left in the trunk of a car on a hot day, say 90-100°F. Within an hour, the trunk temperature may exceed 140°F, and in a place like Arizona, it may climb to 170°F. Given enough time, the internal gas could expand so much as to make that tank lethal.

Tanks actually stretch. Routine hydrostatic testing measures if this stretch and its return are within safe tolerances. Some countries have regulations to protect the compressor operator, such as requiring tanks to be filled within a reinforced steel cage or wholly immersed in water.

You might wonder if the tanks you strap on at dive centers in remote locations have ever been tested. Rest assured, they generally are. It's in the owners' best interest because they or their employees are filling the tanks; their people and the premises are at risk.

Alex Bryant of Emperor Divers told us that there are tank testing facilities in Male (Maldives), Sorong (Raja Ampat), Labuan Bajo and Bali (Indonesia), Hurghada (Egypt), and even Honiara (Solomon Islands. So, he says, "There is no excuse by anyone for not getting tanks regularly hydrostatically checked."

Third-world countries have tank testing facilities because pressurized tanks are used in various industries -- manufacturing, welding, medicine, scientific research, fire control, beverage manufacturing, and dispensing. The list is endless.

In La Paz, Mexico, Luke Inman of The Dive Gurus gets his tanks hydro-tested locally in La Paz and has more than one test center option. Shmulik Blum from the Undersea Hunter Fleet tells us there are two places in Costa Rica where he can test tanks and get the necessary certification.

In one of the world's more remote locations, Papua New Guinea, Alan Raabe, who operates the MV FeBrina, told Undercurrent, "We can get them done in Port Moresby, Walindi, and Kavieng.

Scuba tank hydro tests are conducted every five years in most places. If you are concerned about being given an out-of-test tank to use, look for the latest date stamped on the shoulder of the tank. It should not be more than five years old (in some territories, less). And keep in mind, the real risk was to the staffer who last filled it.

-- John Bantin