MaltaMedia.com

A thirty-five year old Polish diver was rescued to safety by Armed Forces of Malta Maritime Squadron personnel on Tuesday evening after having found himself in difficulty due to rough seas and was unable to reach the shore at Dwejra, Gozo in an area known as the Azure Window.

The AFM Operations Centre was first alerted at 1800hrs by an ex-police officer who happened to be in the area when the distressed diver’s buddy managed to get to shore and asked for help. The Bremse Class Patrol Craft P32 and the Melita 1 SAR launch maritime assets conveying EOD divers were immediately dispatched to the area while an AB212 helicopter manned by an Italo-Maltese team were put on standby.

With the help of the ex-policeman and the diver’s buddy, AFM Operations Centre proceeded to instruct the diver to ditch his weight-belt, inflate his buoyancy control device and swim offshore to avoid being swept ashore.

The Bremse PC was the first to arrive to the scene and managed to rescue the diver despite rough north-west waves. The Bremse then proceeded to Mgarr Harbour, Gozo and handed over the diver to paramedics from Gozo General Hospital who were standing-by.

The Bremse P32 is stationed at Mgarr Gozo 24/7 and is generally the first asset to deploy in operations in the North area.