Captain's obligation to divers

[divezonescuba]

Ok. So what if you have divers below and they don't surface after the agree time. Do you have an obligation to go below and start searching for them? How long do you continue to search?

 

[Tortuga James]

Ok. So what if you have divers below and they don't surface after the agree time. Do you have an obligation to go below and start searching for them? How long do you continue to search?

As a dive operator for hire, we are 100% obligated to search until we find any missing diver.

I get concerned when the time divers are gone exceeds the agreed run time or NDL's or what would be past the time a gas supply could last given the depth of the dive. I run a 6 pack, so its easy to check each diver's projected run time, the mix they are breathing and the volume of the gas on their back. If I can still see bubbles on the surface above the wreck or ledge I will not take any action, and if they have exceeded the NDL I will have my mate meet them on the hang line to evaluate remaining gas supply and how long their obligation is. We hang a reg on a long hose for anyone who needs the gas to do their stop.

In NC, we have some decent currents and rough sea condtions. It is more likely that a diver has been swept away from the wreck, done a free ascent and is lost on the surface out of sight of the boat. We watch the surface closely while divers are in the water, but they can get away from you. Every time we have had that happen, the diver has made it back to the boat, or we saw them and were able to drop the hook line and go get them.

If I was faced with themons original question, I would send a mate down to make a quick search of the site, and then assume the diver was lost on the surface and go search there. We have a pretty big fleet and everyone drops everything to help when a boat has an issue. I would enlist everyone's help and then radio it in to the USCG.

 

[Cap335]

Ok. So what if you have divers below and they don't surface after the agree time. Do you have an obligation to go below and start searching for them? How long do you continue to search?

You start the search but also contact the Coast Gaurd, when the Coast Gaurd arrives they take over and will tell you what they want you to do.

Randy

 

[Wookie]

Your first and only obligation is to the safety of the boat and it's passengers. Many or most dive boat captains will tell you that when the diver gets off the boat, they are no longer a passenger. I disagree somewaht, but get the point. As a captain, you are not responsible for the divers when they are in the water. You can set rules, you can prevent them from diving if they break those rules, you can do your best to see them safely home again, but in the end, a diver's profile and run time is the divers individual responsibility.

Now, if you have a divemaster that is your employee in the water with them, a little more of the responsibility shifts to you. If you run the divemon as a six pack, and provide no in-water supervision, they are responsible for their own in-water safety.

By the way, you've asked the million dollar question, which has no answer that will be acceptable to everyone. If you will endanger the vessel or the rest of the passengers by looking yourself, don't go looking.

Edit -- always remember, an underwater search is a recovery, not a rescue. The Coast Guard will NEVER make you do a recovery, only a search. I disagree with James, you are never obligated to go underwater and recover yourself.

 

[Tortuga James]

Edit -- always remember, an underwater search is a recovery, not a rescue. The Coast Guard will NEVER make you do a recovery, only a search. I disagree with James, you are never obligated to go underwater and recover yourself.

Let me clarify, I would check underwater to establish the diver was not on the wreck, not to attempt a recovery, but before leaving the site to search on the surface.

 

[rjack321]

Ok. So what if you have divers below and they don't surface after the agree time. Do you have an obligation to go below and start searching for them? How long do you continue to search?

You cannot leave the boat while "underway" which includes anchored or at a mooring. The exception being if you have another master aboard whom you can delegate authority to.

 

[captndale]

You cannot leave the boat while "underway" which includes anchored or at a mooring. The exception being if you have another master aboard whom you can delegate authority to.

A vessel which is tied in a dock, at anchor, tied to a mooring, aground or being held by a person standing on the bottom is, by definition, not "underway." A vessel is "underway" when it is free to move, whether being propelled through the water by any means or adrift.

 

[oldsalt]

Capt Dale is right about the definition of underway, yet rjack321 makes sense in saying the captain shouldn't jump over the side with passengers on board while anchored out. Having been on hundreds of dive charters, I have never experienced a missing diver. I am thankful that I can say that. I find this thread interesting in that I have seen varying practices throughout the world. The most common is a boat captain, a standby divemaster, and an in-water dive guide. This is the norm I have experienced in major dive destinations in the tropics. In my last dive charter, on Vancouver Island last month, the boat captain (also an instructor), was the only crew member. There was no dive master, just my self and another customer. He anchored the boat and told us where to go. He had no dive gear on board for himself. I have also been on board charters in Canada where the divemaster stayed on board as a standby diver in addition to the captain, the divers entered the water on their own. Twice, once in the US and once in Canada, the boat captain anchored the boat and went into the water with the divers and left the boat unattended. I have not gone back to those operators and a Coast Guardsman told me US operator lost his license because of such practices. As for myself, I will not captain a boat without a separate divemaster. On several instances I have been in a situation where the divemaster went into the water to assist a struggling diver. - oldsalt

 

[Tortuga James]

I am a 6 pack. I have a mate who is also a DM. He ties into the wreck and then comes back and gives a conditions briefing. We help the divers into the water, and then back onto the boat. They are on their own while in the water. I never get in as Captain unless the mate is a Captain as well, or I have a 2nd Captain on board. The DM/mate and I watch the surface continuously while divers are in the water, and he is ready to swim down a diver in need if necessary.

After we have everyone back on the boat safely, the mate goes back to the wreck and shoots the hook to the surface with a lift bag.

 

[rjack321]

A vessel which is tied in a dock, at anchor, tied to a mooring, aground or being held by a person standing on the bottom is, by definition, not "underway." A vessel is "underway" when it is free to move, whether being propelled through the water by any means or adrift.

For ships yes, but for dive boats its going to depend on where you are. If you are anchored or moored 12miles offshore in say NC, jumping overboard thinking you are going to rescue someone is not a good idea. And I don't think the CG would see you as anything but underway and leaving your vessel not undercommand either. The same situation in a harbor would probably be viewed as not underway and at anchor.

The CG is great at splitting hairs about this stuff but the reality is that incidents (and a lost/drowned diver would be one) instantly end up in the court system where it all comes down to what a prudent mariner would do. If you rescued the diver in distress it would be good. If your customers had to start the boat and pick you up or radio a helicopter to come find you offshore, you can expect to lose your license.