DIVE STAR

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Missing diver rescued off Dunkirk

On July 03, 2021, the CROSS Griz-Nez was alerted by the MRCC of Ostend in Belgium that a diver from the 'Dive Star' had not come to the surfaace 17 nautical miles north of Dunkirk. The CROSS Griz-Nez deployed an NH90 helicopter of the Belgian Air Force, stationed in Koksijde as well as the patrol vessel PSP 'Cormorant' of the French Navy and also broadcasts a Mayday Relay to which the patrol boat 'Tyne' of the British Royal Navy responded. The Belgian helicopter and the patrol boat quickly arrived on the area, and after about one hour of search, the 47-year-old diver was found alive by the NH90 helicopter of the Belgian Air Force. He was hoisted and taken to the Ypres hospital in Belgium.

Diver lost off Boulogne-sur-Mer

On June 5, 2017, the CROSS Gris-Nez coordinated a research operation off Boulogne-sur-Mer. The "Dive Star" had reported early in the morning that one of its divers was missing. Indeed, following a dive in about 40 meters depth. The CROSS Gris-Nez initiated an SAR operation involving the French customs patrol boat "Jacques Oudart Fourmentin" stationed in Boulogne-sur-Mer, the SNSM-boat from Boulogne-sur, a patrol boat of the Maritime Affairs, the "Fort de l'Heurt" from Boulogne-sur-Mer and a Dauphin SP helicopter of the French Navy base in Le Touquet. The Coastal Maritime Surveillance Authority (VCSM) deployed the "Scarpe" of the water police in Boulogne-sur-Mer, and a Belgian NH-90 helicopter took off from Koksijde. The search operation was complicated by unfavorable weather in the area. The "Dive Star" proceeded to Dunkerque for investigations, where the crew was interrogated by the officers of the "Escaut" from Dunkerque. After a whole day of unsuccessful search, the maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea decided the end of the active search in the early evening. The nautical flights and patrols which are part of the permanent surveillance of the maritime zone were to be oriented towards this zone in the forthcoming days.

Two divers rescued off Dunkirk

Two Belgian divers were rescued off Dunkirk on Oct 16, 2016. They had dived a wreck in a water depth of 30 meters about 15 kilometers north of the port. Nearly 25 minutes after the estimated time to resurface again, the two were not yet back, and the crew of the "Dive Star" raised alarm. A helicopter took off from the air base in Koksijde and located the pair about 8 kilometers from the dive site. They were hoisted and taken to Belgium. It turned out they had lost their beacons and drifted for nearly two hours on the water, with the current of two knots.