SPEAKERS

Kevin Denlay

Kevin Denlay is a Fellow International of The Explorers Club (New York) and has been involved in deep shipwreck exploration since his 1995 participation in the very first scuba dives on the USS Atlanta, sunk in 130m off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Since then Kevin has been actively engaged in diving and exploring countless shipwrecks around the world in such diverse locations and environments as Australia, Bikini Atoll, Baltic Sea, Java Sea, Malacca Strait, Papua New Guinea, Red Sea, Solomon Islands, South China Sea and the USA.

During that time he has been involved in numerous 'virgin' wreck discoveries and participated in the very first dives on such historically significant WW11 warships as Hr Ms De Ruyter, Hr Ms Java, Hr Ms Kortenaer, HMS Electra (all lost during the Battle of the Java Sea, Feb. 27th, 1942), USS Perch (lost Java Sea 1942), HIJMS Itsukushima (lost Java Sea 1944), HIJMS Kuma (lost Malacca Strait 1944) and numerous cargo ships and/or 'marus' from that same turbulent period in several of the above locations. Kevin also made it a point to extensively explore and document the wreck of the legendary Japanese heavy cruiser HIJMS Haguro - sunk in the Malacca Strait in the last major ship to ship engagement of WW11 - making numerous return visits during 2003, 2004 and 2005. More recently, in May 2007, he participated in what is considered to have been the most extensive torpedo damage survey to date on the hulls of the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser HMS Repulse, sunk off the east coast of Malaysia in 1941.

Closer to his home in Australia, during 2000, he was involved in the discovery of and first dives on the wreck of the SS Keilawarra, sunk in controversial circumstances in the late 1800's north of Coffs Harbour, NSW. In October 2005 he also participated in the discovery of a mid 19th century copper sheathed wooden sailing vessel off the south east Queensland coast thought to be the brig Missie.

Kevin first embraced so-called 'technical diving' in 1991 after taking part in what was only the second nitrox diver course taught recreationally in Australia, going on to become a closed circuit rebreather and mixed gas instructor trainer with both the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers and Technical Diving International. No longer instructing, Kevin now concentrates solely on shipwreck exploration, documenting them with both still photography and videography.

Besides writing articles for international magazines on the wrecks he has dived/explored, Kevin shares his images, video footage, survey data and other relevant information with maritime archaeologists, naval historians, WW11 naval veterans and, whenever possible, with the remaining survivors from the ships he has dived. Since February 1999 he has exclusively used a modernised Biomarime Mk 15.5 closed circuit rebreather when diving and currently lives near the Gold Coast in Australia.