Briton sets new scuba dive record: Report

Briton sets new scuba dive record: Report

Associated Press, Bangkok

A British dive instructor plunged to a depth of 313 meters (1,026.9 feet) off the Thai coast to set a new world record for the deepest scuba dive, a news report said on Sunday.

Mark Ellyatt took 12 minutes to make his descent off the resort island of Phuket in southern Thailand on Thursday, besting the previous mark by 5 meters (16.4 feet), according to the Phuket Gazette newspaper. He then needed six hours and 40 minutes to safely return to the surface.

Failure to ascend slowly from deep dives can result in decompression sickness or death.

"It's a lonely trip, like a trip to the moon," Ellyatt said.

An independent verification of the record was not immediately available.

The previous world mark of 308 meters (1,010.5 feet) was set on Nov. 6, 2001 by British diver John Bennett off the island of Mindoro in the Philippines, according to Guinness World Records.

The depth of 305 meters (1,000 feet) had long been regarded as a major barrier.

Ellyatt dived with six tanks and had another 24 brought down to him by support divers who met him at various stages of his ascent.

Ellyatt, a technical instructor at a Phuket dive company, required emergency decompression treatment after a deep dive in February and a further three months to fully recover from the effects.

The Briton said he'd prepared for the dive for about 10 years. He said his motive was not to set a world mark but to improve safety standards.

"I wanted to find a method for safely ascending because there doesn't seem to be one. Lots of companies sell computer software that plots a solution for returning to the surface but none of it seems to work," he said.