Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Accident brings S’13 into Spotlight

Ashdod, Israel (Global Adventures): A recent diving accident linked to Oxygen poisoning brings Israel’s Shayetet 13, an elite naval Special Forces unit, some unwanted publicity. 19 year old Sergeant Gal Azoulay died at the Ashdod Port early December 7.

During a routine diving exercise which was supposed to last two to three hours, Azoulay’s diving partner noticed 90 minutes into the dive that he was in distress and pulled him from the water. The night dive was a group exercise, carried out in pairs, simulating a combat dive at an enemy port.

He died on shore 40 minutes later. The navy temporarily suspended all training exercises following the accident, and immediately appointed an investigative committee to look into the incident.

Navy units from around the world frequently use closed circuit rebreathers (CCR’s) to avoid detection from exhaled gases. Pure Oxygen is used for dives at around 20 feet. However, swimming against currents can be exhausting, especially on long dives. Other factors such as cold temperatures and dehydration can lead to Oxygen poisoning.

Shayetet 13 specializes in maritime hostage rescue and counter-terrorist missions. Only a handful of missions have been publicized. The unit was formed in 1949 by Yohai Ben-Nun as part of the Naval Brigade of the Haganah, the Jewish resistance movement during the British Mandate in Palestine.

In the early years, there was a debate in Israel regarding the need for such a unit and Shayetet 13 was small and supported only by a small budget. In 1960, S’13 existence was first made public.

In recent years, it was discovered that Shayetet 13 veterans had high occurrence of cancer, probably due to training in the polluted Kishon River and the Haifa Bay, according to some sources. A commission investigating the matter did not find statistical evidence that the diving in the river caused the cancer.

However, some medical reviews note that prolonged exposure to Oxygen, especially at high PO2’s, may be a contributing factor in the development of cancer.