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I'm forwarding this here because there are a lot of New England
divers on this list. Several other passengers (survivors) on the
charter are from round here (Butch Amaral, Greg Dawe).
-jr
From: geary%cfa3.DECNET@cf*.ha*.ed*
Subject: Diver Dies on Andrea Doria
Date: 15 Jul 1993 09:18:55 -0500
The following is taken from yesterday's Boston Globe:
DIVER'S BODY FOUND AT ANDREA DORIA WRECK
Thirty-seven years after the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria
collided with the Swedish-American Stockholm off Nantucket and sank
to the bottom, an accident in which 52 people died, its hulk is
still claiming lives. Divers yesterday recovered the body of a
Port Jefferson (NY) man who died while exploring the wreckage Monday,
apparently from oxygen poisoning, which can occur when deep dives
are made using only compressed air.
The Andrea Doria lies on its side in about 235 ft of water, 50
miles southeast of Nantucket and has been called "the Mt. Everest
of the diving world" - one of the deepest, murkiest, most risky
goals of the sport diver on the East Coast.
Monday's victim was one of a group of recreational divers operating
from the Sea Hunter, based in New York City, according to Coast
Guard reports. Crewmen aboard the vessel recovered the body yesterday
and the Sea Hunter last night was steaming toward Montauk on Long
Island, 90 miles west of the wreck site. The body will be turned
over to forensic investigator Robert Golden of the Suffolk County
(NY) medical examiner's office, according to John Boughal, dispatcher
for the office, which is based in Hauppauge. The Sea Hunter was
not expected until after 9 PM last night and attempts to reach it
by radio were unsuccessful.
According to Coast Guard LT Mark Cullinane of First District
Headquarters in Boston, two divers from the Sea Hunter were making
their second dive of the day about 6:30 PM Monday when one appeared
to panic and, in flailing about, knocked the air regulator from the
other's mouth. Cullinane said that the diver told them that his
mask filled with water and, by the time he cleared it and secured
his regulator, he was low on air and the victim's body appeared
limp. The second diver said he then ascended, alerting the Sea
Hunter. Divers from the Sea Hunter searched the Andrea Doria for
signs of the victim, but the body was not found until yesterday,
according to the Coast Guard, which was not involved in the search.
The dead adventurer, who was not identified pending notification
of relatives, joins more than a dozen other divers who have perished
while diving on the wreckage of the Andrea Doria since it went down
on July 26, 1956.
Matthew Lawrence, 33, of Miami Lakes FL is believed to have been
the most recent previous victim. He died on the wreckage July 3,
1992.
The most famous explorer of the Andrea Doria wreckage was Peter
Gimbel, the department store heir whose underwater pictures, taken
the day after the ship sank, were published in Life magazine and
then in publications around the world. Over the next three decades,
Gimbel made hundreds of dives on the wreck while producing two
acclaimed documentary films about it.
In 1981, after investing more than $2 million in his searches,
he brought up a Bank of Italy safe from the wreckage. Gimbel almost
died of oxygen poisoning during his first 1981 dive - he was brought
up unconscious but recovered - and claimed the wreckage had "a
malevolent spirit".
In 1984, on a live television special, the safe finally was
opened and found to contain thousands of soggy US dollars and Italian
lira, but not the vast treasure that had been rumored to be aboard
the ill-fated vessel. Gimbel died of natural causes at 59 on July
12, 1987.
The Andrea Doria, a $30 million, 697-foot, 11-story-high luxury
liner, was en route to New York with more than 1600 people aboard
when it was struck by the smaller Stockholm, whose 750 passengers
and crew were bound for its namesake home port from New York.
__________________________________________________________________
And, from today's Boston Globe, a short follow-up story:
DEAD DIVER WAS LONG ISLAND MAN
New York authorities yesterday identified the diver who died
Monday at the Andrea Doria wreck site off Nantucket as Robert Santul-
li, 33, of Coram NY, a town south of Port Jefferson on Long Island.
An investigation into the cause of death is being conducted by the
Suffolk County (NY) medical examiner's office, working with the
East Hampton town police. Santulli's body was taken to US Coast
Guard Station Montauk Tuesday night aboard the Sea Hunter III, the
charter boat that was the diving platform for his group of recreation-
al divers exploring the hulk of the Italian luxury liner, which
sank in 235 ft of water in 1956.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Taken from today's Boston Herald:
DROWNED DIVER SOUGHT SUNKEN SHIP'S TREASURES
The diver who became the Andrea Doria's latest victim was going
down to get a few more of the ship's monogrammed crystal goblets
when he died Monday.
"Their plan was to go in, get a few things, and come out" said
Wayne Amaral of Tauton, who was aboard the dive boat Sea Hunter III
when Robert Santulli of Long Island died.
Santulli and his dive buddy, Peter Haralabatos, already had
pulled up some silverware and crystal on the first dive. On the
second dive, the pair could only spend about 10 minutes at about
230 ft before beginning a 90-min ascent to get dangerous concentra-
tions of gases out of their bodies.
"Everything went perfect, except when Pete turned to give him
the signal to go up, he didn't get the right response," Amaral
said. On the boat after the accident, a shaken Haralabatos described
to Amaral how Santulli began convulsing, knocking Haralabatos' mask
off and his breathing regulator out of his mouth. By the time
Haralabatos put his mask and regulator back on, Santulli had dropped
his own regulator.
"And then the body went limp'" said Amaral. "Pete knew he had to
get out of there, because he was running out of time." As he made
the slow, 200-ft ascent, Haralabatos sent up a message on a slate,
"Bob confused, out of air."
Two divers went down with extra air, but came back up reporting
that they couldn't find Santulli. By then, they knew it was too late.
"Too much time had elapsed," Amaral said. The next morning, four
divers went back down and recovered the body.
"They secured him on the deck, covered him, and we headed back in
to port," Amaral said. "We all know it can happen. You've just got
to live with it. Everybody took it pretty well."
With nearly 35 ft visibility Monday, Amaral said the ocean liner
that sank 70 miles south of Nantucket in 1956 "was a beautiful
sight," with dozens of portholes, railings, and superstructure
coming into view as he descended. "It's big. It looks like a hotel
on its side," Amaral said. He said he is undaunted by Santulli's
death. "I'll go back. It's no worse than climbing a mountain. You
could fall. When you dive deep, you could die."
OOo O John Geary
O oO PADI DM-52283
o geary@cf*.ha*.ed*
_____ o o
(_/-\_)..
===(O).
--
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