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HOOD DIVE BAN WAS TOO HASTY
NIGEL EATON, EDITOR
THE SUDDEN DECISION TO BAN DIVING on the wreck of WWI battleship HMS Hood off Portland raises several worrying questions.
Announced by Portland Harbour Authority at the beginning of January, the prohibition shook the sport-diving community (see Diver News), and led to the launching of an anti-ban petition on www.divernet.com that has drawn wide support.
The Hood was sunk in 1914 as a blockship to defend the southern entrance to Portland Harbour from attack by U-boats. Although now in a degraded and collapsing state, the 380ft armoured giant still provides a substantially intact historic site close to shore and suitable for divers with a broad range of experience, including trainees. Situated within easy reach of the South and Midlands, it is visited by thousands every year.
PHA claims that the reduction in height of the vessel is affecting the "complex hydrodynamics of the harbour", presumably suggesting that the wreck may in the future need to be removed altogether and/or replaced with a more solid underwater barrier. It also says that the Hood may now be too dangerous to dive. It is not, it says, "prepared knowingly to put divers' lives at risk".
The ban is claimed to be only temporary, but divers and local dive operators have been astounded by its hurried and unexpected imposition. Why, crucially, was there no proper consultation?
And how dangerous is the Hood? Any site, wreck or otherwise, can be dived in an unsafe way. But on the Hood it is perfectly possible to enjoy a dive, as most divers do, without entering any enclosed areas or swimming under raised sections. In the case of those whose risk assessment involves a greater level of penetration, it is doubtful whether the danger is any greater than on hundreds of other similar or more damaged wrecks around the UK.
Clearly a long-term concern must be that other ageing wrecks may be put out of bounds because of exaggerated safety concerns.
In fairness, as Diver went to press it appeared that PHA was starting to listen to the views of divers and local experts, stating that it was "not against divers". But with the busy spring holiday season just around the corner, any delay in properly addressing the facts will unfairly affect divers' interests.
Not only will it prevent access to one of the south coast's best dive sites. It will also risk damaging the air and gear suppliers, charter-boats and other local facilities on which divers rely when planning a visit to any of the hundreds of sites in this outstanding diving area.
If PHA is unsure of its facts, it should lift the ban now.
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