Separate Orkney incidents land divers in hospital

Two divers were taken to hospital after separate incidents at Scapa Flow in Orkney yesterday – which occurred just 20 minutes apart.

The men were both showing signs of the bends after apparently surfacing too quickly.

In the first incident Shetland Coastguard was alerted at 12.20pm when a diver was ferried by boat to a waiting ambulance at Burray Pier.

He was taken to the decompression chamber at the Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall.

His dive buddy accompanied him as a precaution, but was not showing any signs of sickness.

Just 20 minutes later another diver reported problems with the bends and was landed at Stromness. He too was taken by ambulance to the Balfour. Both men's conditions are unknown.

Scapa Flow is one of the world's most historic naval and dive sites.

It was home to the British Grand Fleet during World War I and II.

Following the German defeat in WWI, 74 ships of the Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet were interned in Gutter Sound at Scapa Flow pending a decision on their future in the peace Treaty of Versailles.

On June 21 1919, after nine months of waiting, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, the German officer in command at Scapa Flow, made the decision to scuttle the fleet.

At least seven of the scuttled German ships, and a number of sunken British ships, can be visited by scuba divers.