Eight divers were decompressing aboard the Iranian flagged dive support vessel Koosha-1 when it sank three days ago in the Persian Gulf.
The official in charge of the rescue operation told an Iranian news agency that the bodies of eight divers have been recovered. He also said that 60 personnel assigned to the ship have been safely rescued but five divers remain missing.
The divers — Indian, Iranian, and Ukrainian nationals — were inside the vessel’s pressurized diving chamber when the vessel sank in stormy seas Thursday afternoon. The divers were decompressing after installing an underwater oil pipeline located approximately 14 nautical miles off the coast of Iran. The work was being done in the South Pars gas field which is shared by Iran and Qatar.
The chamber was bolted onto the deck of the vessel which now rests 72 metres below the surface.
