ScubaGlobe Asia Pacific - British Virgin Islands

August 25 2008 HawaiiArchaeologists have located British whaler sunk by bad weather in 1837 off Kure Atoll Artefacts from the remains of a wreck believed to be of the British whaling vessel Gledstanes lost for 171 years have been found off Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The artefacts include four large anchors, cannons and cannonballs. The Gledstanes is the fourth whaling vessel found in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, evidence of the area's significance as a 19th-century whaling area. The divers who found the shipwreck were taking part in the 2008 Maritime Heritage Expedition, sponsored by NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries. Full story...

November 26 2008 AustraliaDivers support breast cancer dayWhen one of the members of Pro Dive Nelson Bay’s Narki Gnome Dive Club was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, the group wanted to support her and raise awareness for the Breast Cancer Network of Australia (BCNA). Diving was what brought them together, so they held an event with their own underwater twist. For the past eight years Mini-Fields of Women have been held in communities across Australia during October as part of Australia's breast cancer month, an initiative from The Breast Cancer Network of Australia (BCNA). The Mini-Fields of Women campaign places hundreds of hot pink lady silhouettes in prominent positions throughout Australia to represent women affected by breast cancer. Full story...

August 10 2008 UK Bogus bends nets Divers £250,000 A pair of divers swindled £250,000 (US$500,000) from the National Health Service for treating bogus cases of the bends. David Welsh, 49, and diving instructor Michael Brass, 43, are facing prison sentences after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the NHS and perverting the course of justice. Welsh ran the Fort Bovisand diving centre, which had its own recompression chamber. They paid strangers they met in pubs up to £200 to pose as divers who needed recompression treatment, they only needed only the real names, addresses, dates of birth and national insurance numbers of the supposed victims to work the fraud. Most had never been underwater and some could barely swim. Welsh billed National Health Trusts from all over the UK £6,500 a time for treating the 37 fake victims. The fraud was discovered when police investigated two cases of divers from Liverpool who were supposedly treated for the bends at the recompression chamber. Full story...

British Virgin Islands

Ship to be sunk in British Virgin Islands’ waters

A 1930s vessel that sailed the Sir Francis Channel for more than ten years will be sunk as a artificial reef in Virgin Islands’ waters. The announcement by the BVI Scuba Association (BVISA) confirms Premier Ralph O’Neal’s permission to obtain the Windjammer S/V Flying Cloud and sink it for the enjoyment of Virgin Islands’ divers.

The Flying Cloud was built in 1935 for the French Navy, and served as a cadet training ship. The Flying Cloud acted as a decoy in World War II, spying for the Allied Forces based in Tahiti.

After the war, she transported cargo along the Baja coast. Then in 1968 she joined the Windjammer fleet. The Flying Cloud is 208-feet long, 32-feet beam and her draft is 16-feet. According to the BVISA, “she weighed in at 400 tons (before charter guests and rum!).”

The Flying Cloud sailed the territory’s waters for many years, carrying thousands of passengers, but high maintenance costs made it impossible to keep her in the windjammer fleet, and she was retired from active service in 2002.

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