MALTESE DIVE CENTRES DEFEND NON-AIR DIVING - from DIVER Magazine

DATELINE: 18th October 2001

MALTESE DIVE CENTRES DEFEND NON-AIR DIVING
The island of Malta has long been a favourite destination of British divers. A sunny climate, clear seas and Anglophile approach has made it a natural alternative to the Middle East. Now a row between UK technical dive team Starfish Enterprise and Dr Iro Cali-Corleo, head of the Malta hyperbaric chamber, has highlighted ambiguities in Malta's sport-diving regulations that could effectively bar deep dives.

The UK team had prepared an expedition to dive HMS Russell, which lies in 100m-plus in Maltese waters, on mixed gas and rebreathers. The expedition was backed by the Maltese Tourist Authority and Transworld Sport TV company, but at the 11th hour it had to be cancelled after Dr Cali-Corleo intervened. He declared that diving below 50m, and using anything other than air, was contrary to the Maltese Sport Diving Regulations of 1979. In his opinion this meant that the proposed diving was "illegal".

Dive centres in Malta, several of which run nitrox and mixed-gas courses, are unimpressed. "We simply don't agree with this interpretation of the regulations," said Mike Upton from Maltaqua, and chairman of the Professional Diving Schools Association of Malta. "We've taken legal advice, and these regulations are not law, they're simply recommendations. As they were written in 1979, they make no mention of nitrox or trimix, but it would be ridiculous to say that this prohibits their use. And there is nothing in them that indicates a maximum depth limit for divers."

New diving regulations are currently being worked on, and the dive centres hope that this will clarify the situation by early 2002. "To be honest, the vast majority of divers are not affected by this problem," commented Upton. "We're continuing to use nitrox - I've just sold a couple of nitrox fills this morning."

Maltaqua and other dive centres using nitrox and mixed gas are insured for their use through Divers Alert Network (DAN). Ironically, DAN is represented in Malta by Dr Cali-Corleo, who is a director of DAN Europe.

"Our role is not to set standards or create regulations," DAN's Director of Medical Services Dan Nord told Divernet. "That's the role of the training agencies."

Dr Alessandro Maroni, DAN Europe's Medical Officer, confirmed that DAN is not opposed to use of nitrox or mixed gas. "We acknowledge these developing modern methods, and part of our mission is to assist the divers pursuing these methods with the best updated safety and medical information."

"I don't see how Dr Corleo can possibly claim to be following the DAN mission," said Alex Vassallo of Starfish Enterprise, who spent three years researching and organising the HMS Russell expedition. "He's just effectively put diving in Malta back 10 years. His attitude is actually preventing safe diving practices being adopted."

In a statement received by DIVERNET, Dr Cali-Corleo maintains that he has been struggling to update the current Maltese diving regulations, and blames the dive centres for dragging their feet.

"Since 1994 we have been pushing for their replacement with regulations very much similar to those issued by the HSE in the UK in 1997 which would have removed the restriction on the use of breathing gases other than atmospheric air.
Unfortunately, some influential elements in the local diving industry had objected to the amended regulations and this has retarded their implementation. As doctors we have no right to 'interpret' laws and regulations nor can we encourage or support the breaking of such laws and regulations."