Wellington firm's clients in second lost-diver alert

The Wellington owner of a dive charter company has defended his company's safety record after a second search and rescue operation in two days for missing divers.

The skipper of Southern Comfort alerted nearby vessels about 1pm yesterday that two female divers were overdue on a dive off Wellington's south coast.

They were found soon after.

Dave Drane, owner of Wellington dive charter company Splash Gordon, said the skipper had followed safety procedure when he alerted the nearby vessels and a mayday had not been made.

The alert came just two days after the same boat was involved in the search for a Wellington diver who spent the night drifting in Cook Strait in the same area the charter had been in yesterday.

Stuart Grenside, 34, was one of 10 divers on a Splash Gordon trip on Sunday when he became separated from his companions.

An air and sea search was mounted but he was picked up early the next morning only after a crewman having a cigarette break on a passing vessel heard his cries.

Mr Drane said it had not been the best week for the company, which had been almost incident-free in its six years of operation.

He said the skipper had not notified search and rescue but had followed safety procedures and alerted vessels in the area to be on the lookout for the two divers. "It's a common thing to do."

Mr Drane said he had no idea how search and rescue had been notified but presumed they were listening to the radio, heard the appeal and initiated the rescue themselves.

Fran Aston, one of the overdue divers, said the incident had been no big deal.

- NZPA