Boat driver arrested after diver hit and killed in Victorian bay
Police have arrested a man following the death of a diver who was struck by a speedboat in Victoria's Port Phillip Bay on Sunday.
A 41-year-old man from Carrum Downs contacted police and was subsequently arrested in Mordialloc on Monday after the incident several hundred metres offshore from Canadian Bay.
Two 29-year-old men were spear fishing about 1pm when the tragedy, described by a coast guard as a "hit-and-run on the water", occurred.
The injured diver and his dive partner were picked up out of the water by a passing boat and were conveyed to the Frankston pier, police said.
Paramedics performed CPR on the man but unfortunately he died on the pier.
The second diver did not require medical assistance.
The Carrum Downs man is currently assisting police with their enquiries.
The victim was South Korean and police have described both men as experienced divers who had put out flags and buoys on the water to alert boaters to their presence.
Water police Senior Sergeant Alistair Nisbet said the victim's friend spoke with the skipper of a boat from the water before discovering his friend in distress.
"He'd surfaced and he'd seen that (those on the boat) were close by to where they were swimming and he just wanted to make sure that they could see where they were," the sergeant told reporters on Monday.
After finding his friend, he then hailed a nearby commercial boat which ferried the pair to the pier.
It was too early to tell if the suspect boat was speeding, Snr Sgt Nisbet added.
The limit in a diving area is five knots, a speed the senior sergeant described as walking pace.
It was possible the skipper did not know they had struck a person.
"They probably do know now," the officer said.
The accident happened offshore from Point Eliza, in the southern end of Port Phillip Bay.
Investigators shut down boat ramps in the bay following the accident, as they searched for the vessel.
Police have called on witnesses to come forward.
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