4 Divers Lost In Red Sea! Pls Help!

[mislav]

Never seen this in Egypt, also.

RD, has anything been found yet? Any pieces of equipment surfaced? New witnesses come out? Has anyone conducted a coastline search north and south of Elphinstone?

 

[String]

In Egypt they do it very rearly. And not this time, as far as I know.

The dive guide had an SMB.

However it would appear none of the customers had one which is in my view a HUGE error on their part.

 

[Russian divers]

RD, has anything been found yet? Any pieces of equipment surfaced? New witnesses come out? Has anyone conducted a coastline search north and south of Elphinstone?

No, unfortunately.

We've received a confirmation from military airforce (they were checking satellite photos of Jan 15) that on that very date there were no traces os the wanted divers on red sea surface. so, the variant that they managed to reach the shore before that is more evident. hopefully.

 

[TimAZ]

My prayers are with you. Please let us know everyone is safe.

 

[Zambezi]

A group of South African divers is praying for your friends to be safe. Please keep us informed of any progress in the search.

Regarding the "float" and SMB, in an instance such as this an SMB would probably be useless. The guide will probably only deploy the SMB at the end of the dive and in a strong current, the dive group could be very far away from the boat by the time the SMB is deployed.

On the South African coast I've never done a dive where a "float" was not used. We call it a "buoy line". A float is attached to a reel of nylon cord that is in turn attached to the DM. As the DM descends the line peels off the reel and the skipper is able to follow the float on the entire dive. I went on a "big blue" dive in Mocambique 2 days after the tsunami in 2004 and we travelled 3 kilometres underwater in approximately 50 minutes. Without a float, the skipper would not have been able to follow us and I tremble when I think we would have surfaced 3 kilometres further out to sea with no boat or land in sight.

Perhaps some the dive operators in the Red Sea will learn from this experience (apologies if I'm sounding harsh). If diving in strong currents, ALWAYS use a float attached to the DM/guide. I'm planning a trip to the Red Sea next year and will definitely be taking my buoy line with me!!

 

[svs]

Many locations require floats but not in Egypt. There are probably reasons for that. On a busy day in Sharm you can count more then a dozen boats near popular reef. Each boat drops 2-3 groups of divers for a drift dive. Traffic above and below surface reminds rash our in New York. Floats in these conditions are useless. On the other hand with just a couple boats on the reef and less then perfect conditions float would be a life saver.

 

[Russian divers]

The dive guide had an SMB.

However it would appear none of the customers had one which is in my view a HUGE error on their part.

u always have a SMB with you, i always have, they didn't. unfortunately, it doesn't change anything now. it has already happened. i think, a lot of divers made their conclusions about safety measures. but to say, what was a"a HUGE error" for them now... no use to blame them now.
at the same time I completely understand what u mean.

let's hope for the best.

 

[Russian divers]

A group of South African divers is praying for your friends to be safe. Please keep us informed of any progress in the search.

Regarding the "float" and SMB, in an instance such as this an SMB would probably be useless. The guide will probably only deploy the SMB at the end of the dive and in a strong current, the dive group could be very far away from the boat by the time the SMB is deployed.

On the South African coast I've never done a dive where a "float" was not used. We call it a "buoy line". A float is attached to a reel of nylon cord that is in turn attached to the DM. As the DM descends the line peels off the reel and the skipper is able to follow the float on the entire dive. I went on a "big blue" dive in Mocambique 2 days after the tsunami in 2004 and we travelled 3 kilometres underwater in approximately 50 minutes. Without a float, the skipper would not have been able to follow us and I tremble when I think we would have surfaced 3 kilometres further out to sea with no boat or land in sight.

Perhaps some the dive operators in the Red Sea will learn from this experience (apologies if I'm sounding harsh). If diving in strong currents, ALWAYS use a float attached to the DM/guide. I'm planning a trip to the Red Sea next year and will definitely be taking my buoy line with me!!

Zambezi,
thanks for the care and prayers. I will send your words as well as all of you to friends&relatives of our divers in search.

I've never seen the buoy line in Egypt as u describe. So, do pls take it with u to be safe and sound:14:

 

[sucan]

Very sad. My prayers to all ..... Any updates ?

 

[ofleisher]

Any news ? Updates ?
very strange that nothing come up from the sea......