4 diveres went missing - Malpelo, Colombia

[Peter Morse]

Even if only half of this were to be remotely correct, the handling of the accident was way beyond the pale, at least bordering on criminally incompetent. Although I perhaps shouldn't be, I'm a little shocked.

I can confirm from my side, that very nearly everything Sten wrote is completely true. The only discrepancy I would consider is that I found Carlos quite an experienced guide, and if what we were told on the Maria Patricia is true, he had over 3000 dives at malpelo and even named most of the sites.
Despite this, Carlos was not himself that day. He was forced to fix a mooring block at 50-60 m depth most of the morning and so hadn't been diving with us until the last dive. I can't comment on his dive profile as I didn't do those dives with him. But at the very least he was exhausted and shivering from cold going into this last dive. He only wore a 3/2 mm wetsuit. He was a great guy and we were excited to have him on our last dive with us. However, he was definitely not in a space to be thinking clearly.

Apart from this everything I read in Sten's artical looks 100% accurate.

 

[Dan]

Incredibly sad story. I understand that for preservation pupose, only one boat is allowed at the same time. For security they would be better of with 2 boats at the same time just giving away less presence time.

This is a very good point. When I went with Mermaid I, cruising from Bali to Komodo, Mermaid II was not far away & in radio contact. I saw them again later together while I was in Raja Ampat with another liveaboard.

I remember, back in 2014, after my trip with them, they rescued some snorkelers floating in the open sea. Apparently a boat full of snorkelers ran aground (hit a reef) near Bima, on the way to Komodo due to bad weather.

Britons feared missing after boat sinks off Indonesia islands

 

[Peter Morse]

In

I can confirm from my side, that very nearly everything Sten wrote is completely true. The only discrepancy I would consider is that I found Carlos quite an experienced guide, and if what we were told on the Maria Patricia is true, he had over 3000 dives at malpelo and even named most of the sites.
Despite this, Carlos was not himself that day. He was forced to fix a mooring block at 50-60 m depth most of the morning and so hadn't been diving with us until the last dive. I can't comment on his dive profile as I didn't do those dives with him. But at the very least he was exhausted and shivering from cold going into this last dive. He only wore a 3/2 mm wetsuit. He was a great guy and we were excited to have him on our last dive with us. However, he was definitely not in a space to be thinking clearly.

Apart from this everything I read in Sten's artical looks 100% accurate.

I will also add that sten and his crew were incredibly kind, experienced and professional. They saved my life by being there. I am also afraid that if it were not for them, no one would have raised the alarm about the other four missing divers I have a lot of respect for Sten, and I am grateful that someone else is trying to tell the real story.

 

[Dan]

Glad to hear from you again Peter. If anyone would tell the real story of the accident is you, the survival.

I still am puzzled with why the Malpelo guards raised the rope ladder. Don't they want to provide an access to the island at all time in case people lost at sea, like you, need to get to a dry land & alert them? What would they be afraid of?

 

[Storker]

I can confirm from my side, that very nearly everything Sten wrote is completely true.

Thanks for the confirmation. For a third party, it's impossible to know how objective any presentation of a situation is, and the point I was trying to make was that even with that caveat, the way the Colombian authorities handled the situation seemed completely scandalous.

 

[Peter Morse]

Glad to hear from you again Peter. If anyone would tell the real story of the accident is you, the survival.

I still am puzzled with why the Malpelo guards raised the rope ladder. Don't they want to provide an access to the island at all time in case people lost at sea, like you, need to get to a dry land & alert them? What would they be afraid of?

I found out later that it was common procedure for the ladder to be raised at night. Would have been nice if they left it down in these circumstances though, or thought of it before leaving malpelo up current.

 

[Dan]

I found out later that it was common procedure for the ladder to be raised at night. Would have been nice if they left it down in these circumstances though, or thought of it before leaving malpelo up current.

Still puzzled on the reason why? Afraid of the sharks chewing on the rope as dental floss?

The other 4 divers would have been rescued sooner, had you been able to climb up the ladder that evening & alerted the guards. Time is of the essence in such dire situation.

 

[EricTheDood]

No excuse for the captain of the Maria Patricia.

"Hmm, nobody on board. Let me go home, have dinner, and go to bed without telling anybody."

Makes absolutely no sense.

 

[John Bantin]

Naturally, I am very sorry that this has happened. I have been to Malpelo more than once and took a close look at Maria Patricia while I was there and marveled anyone would use such a vessel for such a remote location. As far as surface markers are concerned, users of electronic devices (NL) must ensure they are fully charged before every dive. Personally, after more than 350 separate dive trips (and one unplanned 3-hour drift) I carry a very large flag on an extending pole that is bungee'd to my tank when not in use. I have used it in earnest in Aldabra, the Maldives, and the Yemeni Red Sea. It was proved to be visible at a distance of 6-miles at Cocos. It's low-tech and always works. I would not dive without it. I can also vouch for Sten Johansson's integrity and nobody should confuse his anger at what has happened with an attempt to gain business for Yemaya II.

 

[Dan]

After reading this thread, I added several safety gears with me. The latest one is PLB1 - Ocean Signal

After an hour floating at sea with no boat on sight, I'm going to activate this little thing. It'll send distress signal (SOS, man over board, etc) along with its GPS location to Rescue Alert satellite for alerting NOAA to bring the US Marines or US Navy or US Coast Guard (whichever available nearby the GPS location of the accident) and work with the local Search And Rescue agency. I think NOAA will call my emergency contact too.