PRESS RELEASE DIRREBREATHER BRITANNIC EXPEDITION
2 - 11 OCTOBER 2016
DIRrebreather has successfully completed a series of deep dives on the wrecks of the ocean liners HMHS Britannic and S/S Burdigala in the Mediterranean Sea near the island of Kea, Greece. The purpose of the dives was to get detailed pictures and video recordings of both wrecks in order to facilitate further research and publications. Both ships sank during WWI, exactly 100 years ago. They were probably hit by a mine or torpedo from a German U-Boot. All divers used rebreathers: diving equipment that facilitates long and deep dives. The divers operate autonomously (without surface supply). This expedition is probably the biggest in terms of number of divers and dives since the discovery of the Britannic by Cousteau and his team in 1975. These kinds of dives are not without great risks and require thorough preparation and experience of all participants. We are happy that not a single diving incident occurred during the expedition.
Expedition leader: Pim van der Horst, President DIRrebreather
12 divers from 9 countries:
Vic Verlinden, Belgium
Marco Valenti, Italy
Diego Esposito, Italy
Pedro Lage, Portugal
Armando Ribeiro, Portugal
Brian Busuttil, Malta
Mark Powell, United Kingdom
Aaron Grigsby, United States
Sabine Kerkau, Germany
Boris Kokoszko, France
Dennis Blom, The Netherlands
Pim van der Horst, The Netherlands
Dives: 72
Dive time: >180 hours
Pictures: >3000
Max depth: 117 mtrs
Scooters (DPV’s): 6
Rebreathers:
Divesoft Liberty (2)
APD Inspiration (4)
X-CCR (2)
rEvo (2)
JJ-CCR (2)
Many thanks to:
• The municipality of Kea, Greece for admitting us to the wrecks
• The ministry of Archaeology of Greece for admitting us to the wrecks
• The port authorities of Kea
• KEA Divers for operational surface support
• Captain and crew of the Proteus III
www.dirrebreather.com and www.tekdiving.nl and Facebook
e-mail: pim@dirrebreather.com
© 2016 DIRrebreather
