Three Spanish divers rescued by Polish services in Baltic Sea

The three Spanish divers who have been rescued by the Polish Maritime Search and Rescue Services in the Baltic Sea, lacked a motorboat licence and did not have permission to dive, according to Poland's police.

PAP was told by Karina Kamińska of the police provincial headquarters in Gdańsk, northern Poland, that the three divers from Spain had been rescued on Saturday night and brought to the port along with their boat.

According to police, the motorboat had no required safety equipment, and the crew did not have a motorboat license nor permit to conduct diving.

Rafał Goeck, a Maritime Search and Rescue Services spokesperson, told PAP on Sunday by that the night rescue operation had been carried out by policemen, firemen, paramedics and rescuers from the Świbno Coastal Rescue Station.

Initially, the services had received a signal about a sinking barge. Later it turned out to be a four-metre motorboat, which had broken down about three nautical miles north of Górki Zachodnie in the area of the mouth of the Martwa Wisła (the Dead Vistula).

Goeck pointed out that sea conditions were difficult as the wind force was 7-8 on the Beaufort scale, the air temperature was 6 degrees Celsius, and the water temperature was 3 degrees Celsius.

The Spaniards were slightly hypothermic but did not require hospitalisation, Goeck added.