A Finnish rescue diver involved in the recovery efforts has said the five Italian divers who died in the Maldives last week were only around 15 minutes from the surface when they ran out of options — and that they did not have key equipment needed for a safe cave dive.
The group disappeared on May 14 during a deep dive inside an underwater cave in Vaavu Atoll, roughly 164 feet below the surface, in an incident officials have called the deadliest diving accident in Maldivian history.
Finnish diver Sami Paakkarinen, who took part in the rescue operation, later described what he believes went wrong, speaking to The Sun.
“Unfortunately, in most cave diving accidents, the main cause is always human error,” he said.
Paakkarinen claimed the team entered the cave without specialist cave-diving kit — most importantly a reel or guide line, which is widely considered essential for navigating and exiting submerged cave systems.
“The equipment we found them with wasn’t optimal, they weren’t using underwater caving gear,” he said. “In general, for those who visit caves, it’s known that it’s not very wise to do so without a safety line.”
Without a continuous line to follow, even experienced divers can become disoriented in tight, low-visibility spaces, losing the ability to reliably trace a route back to open water.
The cave is understood to have three main chambers linked by narrow sections. Those involved in the recovery have suggested the divers may have mistakenly turned into a dead-end passage. Four of the five bodies were later located together in that same corridor, at around 200 feet below the surface.
It has also been reported that the vessel used for the trip was authorised only for dives up to 30 metres, and that divers were briefed about this restriction when they arrived. The group went to nearly twice that depth.
“did not know” the group planned to go deeper than the recreational limit and “would never have allowed it.”
Maldivian authorities have since suspended the Duke of York liveaboard’s operating licence indefinitely while the investigation continues. Prosecutors in Rome have also opened a culpable homicide case linked to the incident.
The victims were named as Monica Montefalcone, 52, a marine biologist at the University of Genoa, and her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, 20, as well as researcher Muriel Oddenino, 31, and Federico Gualtieri, 31, who had recently graduated. Diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti also died.
All five were Italian nationals. Benedetti’s body was recovered the day the group went missing and was returned to Italy on Tuesday. The other four victims were repatriated early on Saturday.
The deaths have reverberated across Italy’s diving community, prompting renewed scrutiny of planning, depth limits, and safety procedures for cave dives.