# 6 divers trapped when ship sinks

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-divers-trapped-when-ship-sinks/600416>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 22, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-divers-trapped-when-ship-sinks/600416 "2011-10-22T02:53:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-divers-trapped-when-ship-sinks/600416/1 "2011-10-22T02:53:30Z")

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[Article](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44992472/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/#.TqIudEar9FN).

Six Indian divers who had been installing oil pipelines were trapped today after their support ship sank. They are in a decompression chamber, which has a 72-hour supply of oxygen [sic]. (Oxygen can become toxic at depth, but I’ve never done that sort of diving. I’ve only used air, and deeper divers use a mixture of helium and oxygen.) The decompression chamber was on the ship when it sank, and the divers were inside.

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**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-divers-trapped-when-ship-sinks/600416/2 "2011-10-22T03:20:42Z")

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Man, thats bad.

Fortunately, they are shallow enough that even high end recreational scuba divers can/could get to them so they do have a chance. Shallower would be better, but much deeper and they would likely be screwed for sure. Hope things turn out well. I wonder if the US Navy is in a position to come to the rescue here. Good publicity is always a good thing (as well as being a good samaritian of course).

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-divers-trapped-when-ship-sinks/600416/3 "2011-10-22T03:26:34Z")

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> [@billfish678](#):
>
> Man, thats bad.

If they didn’t suffer from claustrophobia before…

It could be worse, but yeah. It’s pretty bad. I wonder if there are any rescue assets in the area? No doubt there are other underwater workers in the region, and they might be able to rig a harness to haul the chamber up. But it’s probably not something they train for. What if the ship broke apart and the chamber is fouled? Or worse, what if the ship rolled over? How is the chamber attached to the ship, anyway? Welded? Bolted? Chewing gum?

I hope they can get those guys up alive.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-divers-trapped-when-ship-sinks/600416/4 "2011-10-23T20:53:36Z")

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[The divers have died](http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/six-indian-divers-found-dead-as-rescue-operation-hits-tragedy-143646).

> [@](#):
>
> The Iranian rescue team looking for the missing crew members had hoped to find some of the divers alive believing they had some supply of oxygen. But their efforts were hit by tragedy as they first found the bodies of six Indians in their diving chamber and later recovered two more bodies floating in water, IRNA reported.