Since publishing the account of Captain Ahmed Abo Gabal, who served as the support diver during Captain Adam Jacoub’s final dive, Diventures Magazine has received many questions about the outcome of the investigation and whether the authorities have reached a final conclusion regarding the cause of the incident.
The magazine has obtained a number of official documents issued by the Public Prosecution, health authorities and forensic medicine authorities. These documents relate to Adam’s death, the release of his body, the issuance of the death certificate, and the handling of equipment and items connected to the case.
Out of respect for Adam’s privacy, his family and everyone connected to the investigation, the magazine will not publish images of these documents, as they contain personal data, official reference numbers, signatures and information that does not need to be made public.
What Do the Official Documents Show?
The official death certificate records that Adam died on 18 July 2026 and lists the medical cause of death as acute respiratory failure.
However, it is essential to distinguish between the medical cause recorded on a death certificate and the technical cause of the incident underwater.
The term “acute respiratory failure” describes the final medical condition that led to death. On its own, it does not explain what caused that condition during the dive, nor does it establish whether the incident involved gas depletion, equipment failure, loss of consciousness, drowning, or another technical or medical factor.
The documents also include orders and procedures relating to the release of the body, personal belongings, diving equipment and cylinders that had been held by the investigating authorities.
The release of equipment, or the completion of certain legal and administrative procedures, does not necessarily mean that the technical investigation has concluded or that technical and regulatory responsibility has been determined.
Has the Investigation Been Completed?
The documents issued by the Public Prosecution and health authorities represent an important development, but based on the information currently available to us, they do not provide a complete technical reconstruction of what happened during the dive.
The technical investigation being conducted by the Chamber of Diving and Watersports — CDWS is still ongoing.
That investigation is expected to address matters that differ from the medical and legal procedures, including:
- The original dive plan and gas calculations.
- The qualifications and documentation of the divers and support team.
- Data from the dive computers.
- Descent and ascent times and rates.
- Decompression stops and gases.
- The condition of the cylinders and equipment before and after the dive.
- Compliance with the procedures and regulations governing technical diving.
- The technical sequence of events between the maximum depth and the divers’ arrival at the surface.
For this reason, the medical documents and prosecution procedures cannot, by themselves, be treated as the final result of the technical investigation.
Images from the Dive Computers
Diventures Magazine has also obtained images showing data from dive computers connected to the incident.
After reviewing the situation, we have decided not to publish these images while the CDWS technical investigation remains incomplete.
One or more photographs of a dive-computer screen cannot be interpreted responsibly without the full technical context, including:
- The make and model of the device and its settings.
- The gases programmed into it.
- Gradient factors or decompression settings.
- The complete dive log, rather than a single screen.
- The device time and whether it matches the other computers.
- Gas-switch depths.
- Alerts or errors recorded by the device.
- The difference between the original plan and what was actually carried out.
Publishing the images without a complete technical analysis could lead to inaccurate conclusions.
Possessing the images does not mean that we have reached an independent conclusion about what happened. The images alone are not sufficient to establish the cause of death or determine responsibility.
What Do We Know So Far?
According to Ahmed Abo Gabal’s account, the dive was planned to a depth of 130 metres, and the descent to the target depth took significantly longer than the time specified in the plan.
He said that the problem developed during the ascent and that the diver accompanying Adam became separated from him before later encountering the support diver while suffering from a severe shortage of gas and requiring assistance to complete the decompression stops.
The details concerning Adam during the period before he reached the surface still need to be examined alongside the accompanying diver’s account, the dive-computer data, the gas plan, and the condition of the cylinders and equipment.
Ahmed Abo Gabal’s testimony remains the account of someone who directly participated in the support and rescue operation. It is not the official final conclusion of the investigation.
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Why Are We Waiting for the CDWS Findings?
The technical investigation is the process most likely to answer the questions still being raised within the diving community, including:
Was the gas plan sufficient for the planned depth and runtime?
How did the slower descent affect gas consumption and the ascent plan?
What did the dive computers record during the final minutes?
What was the condition of each cylinder after the incident?
Did any equipment or cylinder fail, detach or become unavailable?
Were all required documents and procedures completed?
What is the most likely technical sequence of events underwater?
Responsible answers to these questions cannot be based on a single screen image, one witness account, or an isolated reading of the death certificate.
They require all available technical evidence, medical findings and witness statements to be examined together by the competent authorities.
Our Editorial Commitment
Diventures Magazine understands the importance of this case to the diving community. We also recognise that the prolonged absence of official information creates space for questions and speculation.
Our responsibility, however, is not to fill that gap with incomplete conclusions.
We will continue to distinguish clearly between:
- Information officially issued by the relevant authorities.
- Accounts provided by witnesses.
- Preliminary technical interpretations.
- Matters that remain unknown pending the investigation.
We will not publish the official documents or the dive-computer images at this stage, and we will not present a final explanation of the incident before a documented technical conclusion is issued and can be reviewed and verified.
We will update the report when the CDWS investigation is completed or when new verified official information becomes available.
May Captain Adam Jacoub rest in peace. Our deepest condolences remain with his family, friends, students and everyone who knew him within the diving community and beyond.
Mohsen Nabil is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Diventures Magazine. A mechanical engineer and scuba diving instructor based in the Red Sea, he writes about diving safety, marine conservation, underwater exploration, and developments in the global dive industry. Through Diventures Magazine, he works to connect divers, scientists, and ocean advocates while promoting responsible diving and protection of the oceans.
