Diver Gets Seperated From Dive Boat

[sbk]

Anyone hear about this? A young guy was diving with a diving co and got pulled away by a strong current. He drifted for 4 hours before getting picked up by a fishing boat.

It's in the Thai papers, happened today (the 14th). Anyone with details? Lucky guy, but why didn't the dive boat people notice he was missing?

[kat]

Yikes! Just when I was finally softening on my aversion to diving.

[britmaveric]

Odd- usually you are paired up with a dive buddy. Funny no one noticed.

[monkeygirl]

the bigger question is why is there a fishing boat in the marine park...

[sbk]

Anyone hear about this? A young guy was diving with a diving co and got pulled away by a strong current. He drifted for 4 hours before getting picked up by a fishing boat.

It's in the Thai papers, happened today (the 14th). Anyone with details? Lucky guy, but why didn't the dive boat people notice he was missing?

Umm... because he drifted away on a strong current for 4 hours so probably wasn't in the park any longer?

Umm.. because fishing boats fish illegally off of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and the National Park EVERY DAY and the marine police do nothing about it.

Take your pick, either one could be correct

[stevehaigh]

there's a movie playing right now called "Open water" exactly about this subject.

[monkeygirl]

yeah, these are pretty freak accidents though. you should know what the heck you are doing when you dive and if you don't, then dive with a guide. padi lets people get certs when they are so not ready! okay it's another thing if the people running the boat are incompetent and don't even know you're not back yet!!

[medicinebox]

I worked as a Dive Master around Samui and Kho Tao etc.

Chances are he lost his dive team and drifted off in the current. Its amazing how easy you can get lost in poor visibility. A strong current could easy take you out of sight of the dive boats. The diver was probably minimum qualified and hadn't dived for years, or newly qualified with 10 dives.

BUT, the Dive Master/Instructor should have done a head count. It is absolutely crucial. Even top surgeons started doing this after apparatus was left inside some one.

My guess it is the by-product of a greedy dive school who pushed someone through their DM course, without letting them get experiance, so they could get out and do their 'internship' which is making money for the dive school and getting paid 700bht per day out. Usually a 12 hr day as well.

Divemaster = Dive Slave.

Crowded boats, large groups, it won't be long till something really serious happens. I've been saying that for ages.

Diving as a divemaster is a charity to the school. If you fukc up its all down to you, and for what, so you can point at the nice fishes???

Would like to see the link...

[Guest fj2003]

some people will never learn their lesson

check the current before the dive

stay with your buddy and

ascent immideatly if he/she is out of view for more then one minute

set up your safety sousage

[Bizz]

Diving is and always has been a very serious pastime.

Should be taken seriously at all times. Does who teach and does who take responsibility should always take it seriously.

I speak from experience.

[damnaam]

I too can speak from experience on this one.

My take;

Having spent the past few seasons working on a liveaboard at The Similans I have witnessed many beautiful things and, unfortunately, the odd ugly thing. The comments above, between them make many good points.

PADI Open Water divers are equipped, I believe, to dive safely to max 18 metres. However, local knowledge is priceless regarding currents, tides and general local diving conditions and any sensible diver will avail themselves of the divemaster guide on the dive. On the boats I worked on it was not allowed for customers to solo dive or dive without a guide unless DM rating or above. I believe this is a fair approach to recreational diving without infringing on peoples enjoyment and safety.

I have witnessed errors of judgment by some members of the dive industry, who seemed more into the image/lifestyle side of things, rather than being totally dedicated to customer safety and enjoyment. Where necessary (only once fortunately...) I have reported them to PADI for breach of standard. I could not do this lightly, believe me!

Diving should be safe and fun but any certified diver embarking on some diving in an unfamiliar environment will/should have signed a release form. Yet to see some of the things people do once in the water is unbelievable and contrary to what they would have been taught in training - just because they are on holiday. I'm talking about finning straight through a sea fan, to breathing from an air lock, through some weird shit that some divers do whilst experiencing nitrogen narcosis, even though they were briefed not to go so deep, to refusing to acknowledge signals which were in the dive brief - i.e let's surface - finishing up with a 'mature' overweight diver who refused to recognise their limit and died of a heart attack on our boat before we could even get that person ashore.....

I take being a Divemaster very seriously and just wish that all my divers would too....

[Up2U]

I worked as a Dive Master around Samui and Kho Tao etc.

Chances are he lost his dive team and drifted off in the current. Its amazing how easy you can get lost in poor visibility. A strong current could easy take you out of sight of the dive boats. The diver was probably minimum qualified and hadn't dived for years, or newly qualified with 10 dives.

BUT, the Dive Master/Instructor should have done a head count. It is absolutely crucial. Even top surgeons started doing this after apparatus was left inside some one.

My guess it is the by-product of a greedy dive school who pushed someone through their DM course, without letting them get experiance, so they could get out and do their 'internship' which is making money for the dive school and getting paid 700bht per day out. Usually a 12 hr day as well.

Divemaster = Dive Slave.

Crowded boats, large groups, it won't be long till something really serious happens. I've been saying that for ages.

Diving as a divemaster is a charity to the school. If you fukc up its all down to you, and for what, so you can point at the nice fishes???

Would like to see the link...

Exactly my thoughts.

But four hours in the water? I assume he surfaced a long time before that - otherwise he had been breathing nothing for half that time. Usually these trips are fairly shallow dives, nothing deeper than 30 metres, so no decompression worries.

Had he dropped his kit, or was he struggling along with cylinder and so on?

Really, to me the dive-master is at fault, if it is people he does not know, because he has let someone get away from his control. I know that the guy was probably an inexperienced diver who thought he 'knew it all', but one can normally identify this type quickly and pair them with someone you trust. Unless of course it was a complete party of idiots, which is happening now in LOS.

[sbk]

Only 8 people were diving from that boat. Like I said, no details, don't know if he was taking a course, newly certified whatever. Just that he was a young (23) English guy who drifted for 4 hours before being picked up by a long tail. Sounds like he dropped his kit 'cause when they found him he only had on his swim trunks and flippers.

Story is from the Daily News: lost diver story

According to dear hubby, hook and line fishing by locals is legal inside the national park. These guys were in a small long tail, which is legal. What isn't legal are the large fishing trawlers using big nets 5 meters right off the reef here in Koh Phangan. Police do nothing about it too

[NedKelly]

I've only dived once and it was a 'resort' dive from Samui. I dont recall being buddied up with anyone on that day out. It was great funthough......out around some rock near KohTao........loved every minute of it. Did two dives.....in themorning we went clockwise around the rock and in the afternoon we went anti clockwise.......hahaha.......but really did see some different stuff.......unless the fish changed costume or whatever..........

[penzman]

My wife and I spent a few days on Koh Chang last year, did some snorkling. On one of the expeditions we went to a smaller island close by. Later on the boat returned to Koh Chang leaving us on the beach without noticing the only falang in the group and his wife were missing . Someone was able to contact our resort through radio and a speed boat brought us back.

[meemiathai]

but why didn't the dive boat people notice he was missing?

As far as the article goes, I don't see anything being mentioned. So maybe they knew someone was missing and were looking for him. But we really can't tell from here, can we?

I have never done scuba-diving before, so am not really qualified for any comments. But I do remember hearing this sort of accidents happening quite a few times. So I guess it is not that rare.

[andyadam]

The theory is, this should never have happened! But it did, if the boat skipper had half a brain he would know which direction the current ran, but what happened to the guys whistle?????? or is that now a low tech thing divers no longer need? I have had a similar thing happen to me in the Red Sea but the skipper knew exactly where to find us!!

[medicinebox]

I have just emailed my friend in Samui. He will give me the no nonsense version of events, he is well respected in the dive community.

[IamMaiC]

there's a movie playing right now called "Open water" exactly about this subject.

yeah scary as ###### but same thing happen to the man in thailand that happend to the couple in the movie. but he was found

[splitlid]

it does happen,even in countries where youd think it wouldnt(Australia)

alot of the trouble extends from the rush rush rush attitude of the dive operators.time is money.

the pressure on the divemasters and instructors is huge,as they must get everyone in and out of the water in time to move on.

problems occur and the whole schedule is off track.

diver log sheets are designed so that everyone can be recorded as to where they are.

name:

pressure group:

time in:

time out:

depth:

time:

pressure group:

these items tell the DM where everybody should be.

if someone was logged in at 1 oclock and its 2 oclock then its best to start to look for them.also if someone hasnt come back with their buddy then its a reason to look for them!

should also have a passenger list which is signed by everyone before moving from a site,this should be verified by the skipper also.

[Up2U]

From the early / mid-nineties until 2002 I used to vacation every three months on Phuket.

During the diving season I was out in the Similans for a five-day liveaboard each trip, plus a day or two here and there.

From 1996 until 2001 I was diving North of Jeddah in the Red Sea many weekends.

Never have we lost a diver for more than ten minutes. But then there was little pressure to clear up a dive and move on to the next location. If we needed to wait, we waited.

I don't know if the scene has changed very much in the past few years, I'm getting to old to enjoy protracted dives any more, so have turned my back on it and teach my daughter to swim instead.

But I agree with Damnaam that the responsible people should be exactly that - responsible. That includes the commercial guy (the owner) as well as the crew. Don't just grab money from wannabees, have good instruction sessions, sufficient experienced divers to take care of newbies (and still have time to enjoy the diving), check lists, so on.