Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — An employee of the Ronald Reagan Shipyard Authority was undergoing training underwater when tragedy struck, last Thursday evening. It is unknown what occurred while he was under water, nor if his passing is officially being considered a drowning, accidental or otherwise.

Comments were sought from the Department of Search and Rescue- Marine Patrol and EMS, as well as the LBJ Medical Center about the incident, but Samoa News was told that the cause of the young man’s death is an ongoing investigation and they therefore cannot release any information or comment.

Samoa News was granted an interview with the Shipyard’s Managing CEO, Carlos Sanchez, who identified his young employee as Ricky Fa’amoana.

CEO Sanchez, Samoa News notes during the interview, was still trying to come to terms with the sudden passing of the young man for which he had high hopes.

When this newspaper visited the shipyard, at Satala, and said good morning toSanchez in his office, he responded, "It's not a good morning.”

He told Samoa News that “one of our young employees died, due to an unknown reasons, underwater, just behind our office.”

Mr. Sanchez said, he "had high hopes to help build him (Fa’amoana) up to become somebody.”

He spoke of how he managed to help another young Samoan several years back. He trained him successfully and he is now living in Seattle, making $22 an hour.

"I am not here to stop people from growing, I am here to help people grow,” said Sanchez, adding that “Ricky wanted to be somebody and I wanted to help him.

“He wanted to be a diver after six months on the job.”

The CEO told Samoa News, there were three people in the diving training, and one of them was someone that he found from Utulei and he put him to work about a year and half ago. “That guy also became successful, multi talented, including being a diving instructor for the workers.

"Ricky was one of those guys, who was going to be, but what happened? We still don't know,” he said. "But what we know, there was air in his tank, because people from the Marine Patrol came here and took the tank, they checked the tank and it had (contained) 1000PSI left.

 “Each tank contained 3000PSI before divers went down. It hurts my feelings to see him,” said Sanchez.

He further stated that police came before the Marine Patrol, then Coast Guard, as someone told them (Coast Guard) there was a problem.

Regarding the incident, Sanchez said they called for the ambulance three times, “Maybe that would have saved him if they'd been here on time.”

He “said, I don't know if he was breathing" and said the people giving CPR were qualified as they had CPR training. “They said he was vomiting when he came up, and if he was vomiting that means he was breathing…”

According to Sanchez, the training was less than two hours of diving and when the guys came up, he asked, for Ricky.

In response to questions, Sanchez pointed out that "Ricky was learning.” He said Ricky started as a temp, but gradually became a permanent employee. The training for Ricky to become a diver was into one or two weeks, at a depth of 21 to 40 feet deep at the end of the day.

Asked about the qualifications of the diving instructor, Mr. Sanchez said that he's an experienced diver. However he noted that the instructor has no formal certification, and no certificate, “as you cannot get certifications here”.

Asked about the medical condition of his employees, the Managing CEO started mumbling his words and became upset, "I want to know what happened,” he said, and walked away.

Department of Search and Rescue- Marine Patrol Chief Nofoaiga ‘Ina’ Ulberg said he would provide a full report on Monday following approval from his superior.

He was asked about the statement that Mr Sanchez said he obtained from the Marine Patrol office, and Mr. Ulberg said there was no report from his office. According to Mr. Sanchez, the statement from the Marine Patrol office that took the tank, was “the tank contained 1000PSI.”

The Department of Public Safety is taking over the investigation according to the DSR- Marine Patrol.

In the meantime, Samoa News understands the case will be investigated by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as is normal with all incidents — whether accidents or deaths — occurring at job sites.

Samoa News extends it sincerest condolences to the family of Ricky Fa’amoana, as well as to the Management & Staff of the Ronald Reagan Marine Railway for their loss.