CPD rescuers feared they would be sucked into gate valve

A crane was used to lift the victim’s body.

Civil Protection Department divers feared for their lives as they conducted a search for a diver who had been caught underwater at the Palumbo shipyards in 2015, a court heard yesterday.

Six Palumbo shipyard directors are charged with involuntary homicide after an experienced diver and marine biologist got sucked into a gate valve while attempting to fix an underwater mechanism.

In February 2015, Patrick Joseph Vella, a diver from Zejtun, lost his life in an accident at the Palumbo Shipyards. He was called in to repair a faulty underwater mechanism that was used to empty the dry dock. He died of asphyxia due to drowning after being sucked into a gate valve.

Yesterday, several Civil Protection Department (CPD) officials, as well as officials from the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM), took the stand and recounted what they lived through after being called to the scene to retrieve Mr Vella’s body.

The various witnesses who took the stand said that once it was discovered that Mr Vella was stuck underwater, it did not take long for the rescuers to arrive at the scene. Many officials testified that there was a legitimate concern about removing Mr Vella physically, due to the risk of getting sucked into the same gate valve in the same way that the victim did. A crane was used to lift the victim’s body, avoiding the risk of having another rescuer getting stuck in the same valve.

The divers also found a measuring tape (rutella) just a few metres away from the hole near the underwater mechanism that had been causing the suction.

The six directors have pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them. The directors are Italian Antonio Palumbo, Giuseppe Palumbo, Raffaele Palumbo, Giogrio Flippi, as well as their Maltese colleagues Joseph Calleja and March Grech, from Santa Venera and Zabbar respectively.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli presided over the case, while lawyers Gianella de Marco and Matthew Brincat represented the accused and lawyer Carlos Bugeja was parte civile for the family of the victim. Inspector Josrick Mifsud prosecuted.