Posthumous honour as diver Carl given underwater 'Oscar'

Carl Spencer was awarded the Golden Trident Academy Award by the International Academy of Underwater Sciences and Techniques nearly 13 years after his death on a dive in the Aegean Sea.

Mr Spencer, who lived in Kings Bromley, died while leading a National Geographic documentary crew on a dive to explore the Titanic’s sister ship, The Britannic, in May 2009. The award was presented at a virtual ceremony.

His 21-year-old son Ben collected the honour in his father’s memory at The Go Diving Show at NAEC in Coventry watched on by his mother Victoria Ann Spencer-Kibble and 16-year-old sister Georgia.

Close family friend, and member of the Trident Association, Italian diver Edoardo Pavia, who was with Carl when he died, took part in the virtual ceremony before flying in from Italy to personally present the award to Ben.

Ms Spencer-Kibble said she was blown away by the award and spoke about the significance of it.

She said: "We’re truly honoured that Carl has been posthumously conferred such a prestigious and rare award. It’s just amazing.

"We’re incredibly humbled that Carl’s memory is being immortalised like this in recognition of his extensive, global underwater exploration of the ocean of going where few had gone before.

"I have a favourite phrase that’s ‘Legends are borne out of the blue’ and that was Carl.

"Now our son Ben is following in his footsteps. I’m incredibly proud that Ben is receiving this honour in tribute to Carl."

During the dive in which Mr Spencer lost his life, he helped place a medical experiment on the seabed close to the resting place of The Britannic which sank in 1916 in the Aegean Sea.

The experiment is due to be brought back to the surface later this year and Mr Spencer's son Ben will be part of the recovery crew.

Ben's will be the last pair of hands that touch the experiment before it reaches the surface where it’s expected to be used to help medical developments, such as antibiotics and fighting viruses like Covid-19.