Malta, May 31^st, 2004.

Port franc de Marsaxlokk, le terminal des conteneurs.

Our three Algerian trainees did not show up last evening after all. Since they lacked the visa needed to enter Malta – the country joined the European Community last May - they couldn’t board their plane at Tunis airport. We did try and find a solution last night, but our many telecopies and phone calls were unsuccessful.

Today we resumed our negotiations with various officials and authorities, and, after we had visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sent a fax to the Maltese Consulate in Tunis, our hopes of a solution finally became a reality during the evening. But our three divers had to remain stranded in Tunis for two days, waiting for the next plane.

We then resumed the training course preparations as we welcomed the arrival of another two trainees : Anne Joyard from Paris, and Ingrid Ross from Malta.

Meanwhile, aboard the Madona Ta’Pinu , the setting up of the technical equipment entered its last stage. We cast off at 2.30pm for a global check of our prospecting gear, which seemed to have endured the flight: everything worked to perfection and we felt pretty much ready for the next day’s scheduled activities.

In the North, after our divers had made a first reconnaissance of the It-Torri I-Abjad bay, diving without any breathing apparatus, they came back somewhat perplexed. We then reread the directions written by the wreck’s finder, and we discovered that we had mistaken feet for yards! We should remain able to locate the wreck the next day, after all.