Five Improperly Equipped Divers Die at 200 feet: Undercurrent 06/2026

Five Improperly Equipped Divers Die at 200 feet

why did they undertake that dive?

from the June, 2026 issue of Undercurrent

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The death of four Italian sport divers and a dive guide in the Maldives on May 14 is perhaps the most serious sport diving tragedy ever. Using normal scuba gear, they dived deep into a cave off the island of Alimatha in Vaavu atoll, a popular diving spot, and never returned. Their deaths are fraught with error, a lesson for all of us.

Sommacal/Montefalcone/Benedetti

The deceased included a 51-year-old marine biologist from the University of Genoa, Monica Montefalcone, her 22-year-old student daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, university researcher Muriel Oddenino (31), marine biology graduate Federico Gualtieri (30), and the dive guide, Gianluca Benedetti (44). They dived into a cave about 200 feet deep, where even a short time at that depth would require a greater gas supply (they used only air) and lengthy decompression stops. Benedetti's body was first recovered from an outer section of the cave (he is said to have navigated the ferocious currents of the Vaavu Atoll since 2017), while the others were found farther into the cave system.

They were diving from the luxury liveaboard MY Duke of York, and, according to Orietta Stella, the legal representative of Albatros Top Boat (the boat's charterer), their diving was supposed to involve coral-sampling at standard recreational depths. The University of Genoa was quick to distance itself from the tragedy, saying that though researchers were on a scientific mission in the Maldives, they had taken the fatal dive on their own, while other tourists aboard MY Duke of York engaged in normal recreational diving.

The Wrong Dive Kit

Because "the group was using standard 80 cu. ft. cylinders, not suited to depth below 100 feet," Laura Marroni, CEO of DAN Europe, told La Repubblica, "they would have had little time to turn around [if they took a wrong turn]." The divers ran out of air....

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