4 diveres went missing - Malpelo, Colombia

[CuzzA]

After 15 minutes. I held out as long as I could, but they were too distracting, rushing up from below and peeling off at about 10 ft. and I figured the fish wouldn't do me any good after a couple hours spoiling, lost at sea. I did have my PLB, so if my boat turned into a spec on the horizon I would have deployed it. I ditched weights too in case one bit me and rendered my BCD useless and made me negative. You can read about it in the near misses forum.

 

[Riko Lopez]

Riko Lopez, thanks so much for sharing Peter's side of this tragic situation. Peter, I'm so glad for you that you're with us to tell it. After what you accomplished and survived,there's no doubt in my mind that you would, indeed, have had the fortitude to survive another night and as many more as it may have taken. Fortunately, you didn't have to do that, none of which makes light of your absolutely amazing swim and self-rescue! If it weren't for you, it's likely that none of the others would have been found. You're a hero to me! I welcome you to the rest of your life and I'm sure you'll find your home when you're ready.

I think this kind of events have to be reviewed to learn from those mistakes....

 

[Riko Lopez]

The skiffs / zodiacs, in liveaboards I've been in, usually follow the diver bubbles in drift diving, instead of leaving the divers underwater & going back to the mothership in rough ocean. It'll be difficult to see a 2m SMB in a 3m wave. This is a bad situation waiting to happen.

Also, after an hour of diving (~ 4:40pm), which was still plenty of light, not able to locate the divers at the surface, at where they were supposed to be, the search & rescue should start then, before dark set in. I assume the sun sets around 6pm there, so the crew have about a bit over an hour to search the divers in the direction of the current. Why the mother ship ended up sailing against the current is beyond my comprehension.

Indeed! sailing against current and lights out.... weird...

 

[EricTheDood]

Accidents happen and this was a terrible accident. And it was not due to maintenance of the boat or mismanagement of the Crew. Harold, the owner of the Maria Patricia has been diving Malpelo for 30 years and something like this has never happened.

It only needs to happen once. The reputation of this dive op has been irreparably ruined. I would be surprised (and frankly, disappointed) if they were able to continue at all, because the reputation of this geographical area has also been severely damaged.

Of all the different dive destinations available, where do you think Malpelo ranks on my list? Trick question, it's not on my list at all. Yes, it's unfair to other dive ops in the area who had nothing to do with the accident, but that's the way it is. The situation was caused by mother nature but the accident was caused by the dive op's inability to handle the emergency. In fact, according to some, the dive op failed to even identify the emergency, much less make a good effort to handle it.

Like you said, the owner of the Maria Patricia has been working this area for 30 years... thus any other dive op's track record is basically meaningless.

 

[Kevrumbo]

On page 7 I wrote this:

This unfortunate situation made me think what if it happens to me. So, for my next liveaboard, I'll have the following items attached to my BCD or in BCD pockets:
1. Whistle
2. 6' SMB
3. Mirror
4. Flashlight
5. Dive Alert air horn
6. Nautilus Lifeline (for 1st 24hr)
7. Ocean Signal RescueME PLB1 (for 2nd 24hr)

Also will add 500ml water bottle.

I think it is critical to be rescued in the 1st 48 hours. Nautilus & PLB1 each has only 24 hour power to send out SOS, strobe & GPS location anyway. Personally, I really doubt myself to be found alive beyond 48 hours floating in the sea.

●60 degree water - survival time 7 hours

●50 degree water - survival time 2.5 hours

●40 degree water - survival time 2 hours

●32 degree water - survival time 1.5 hours

-->This is why getting out of cold water is a big, big deal!
For Sale - Halcyon Life Raft - As New


●The less info SAR units have about your location, the larger the Search Area.

●The larger the Search Area, the longer the search until you are located.

-->The more accurately you communicate position information, and if your 406 MHz PLB registration information is complete and current, the better your chances for a speedy recovery.
Emergency position-indicating radiobeacon station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Dan]

●60 degree water - survival time 7 hours

●50 degree water - survival time 2.5 hours

●40 degree water - survival time 2 hours

●32 degree water - survival time 1.5 hours

-->This is why getting out of cold water is a big, big deal!
For Sale - Halcyon Life Raft - As New


●The less info SAR units have about your location, the larger the Search Area.

●The larger the Search Area, the longer the search until you are located.

-->The more accurately you communicate position information, and if your 406 MHz PLB registration information is complete and current, the better your chances for a speedy recovery.
Emergency position-indicating radiobeacon station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank for the info. Cut the survival time by half for me. Growing up in Indonesia, I'm a warm water whimp & won't be going to less than 60 degree Fahrenheit sea.

 

[Dan]

Indeed! sailing against current and lights out.... weird...

Time was of the essence. Daylight was looming. Get the boat down stream & start searching, instead of waiting for dark to set in & "hoping" the divers remember bringing flashlight for the 3:30pm dive, which will last to 4:30pm, & be able to see the lights miles away in 3-4m swell, with no SOS sent out. It is definitely weird.

 

[KevinNM]

Some people don't improvise well under pressure. And that is why written emergency plans, carefully developed without the problem of a ticking clock, are important.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Don't know why the vessel sailed against the current but likely lights out was to help them "see" the lost divers and/or their lights.

Has anyone on board attempted to explain this? Other customer divers on that cruise, the captain or any crew?

 

[BazzaB]

What about this ?
This one is depth rated to 100m

http://www.easyais.com/en/products/d-easyrescue-dive-a040/
(updated link)