6 divers missing off Sangalaki

[HDVdiver]

There are still 4 divers missing after 7+ days. I am extremely concerned for them. I wanted to pull together information from different news articles since that's the only source we have to work with right now. All quotes direct from Google Translate.

A KaltimPost article suggests they were diving with Derawan Ocean Divers, i.e. based in Derawan. From TA reviews, it appears the dive boat trip from Derawan to Sangalaki is 1-1.5 hours each way (I have not dove there - perhaps someone who has can verify). One of the KaltimPost articles suggests they were picked up on Derawan at 10 and arrived at Sangalaki at 11 AM.

It depends where they were diving...the most popular dive location (indeed, the reason most divers go there) is Barracuda Point, which is about 1.5 hours each way from the resort.

I dived there with Oslan a few months ago. While diving with the Barracuda was indeed spectacular I was very aware of how tough the diving conditions there are in terms of current. During a one week stay we only managed about four days at Barracuda point. Oslan would always make the decision whether to dive or not once the boat was on site. Even with 40 years diving experience worldwide I found the current diabolical...and challenging. It was matter of over the side about 50 metres beyond the dropoff...get down as quickly as possible...and deploy the reef hook and hold on. Forget about swimming around. Just wait for the Barracuda school to approach. Truly spectacular experience when they did.

From my very extensive experience diving throughout Indonesia my feeling is that generally the quality of the dive guides is very good. I found Oslan to be an intelligent and very safety conscious guide (he freelances his services...it's his own operation). The boat crews, on the other hand are extremely variable in competence...to say the least. I have found this to be the case in not just Indonesia but in all "Third World" diving locations that I've visited...and even some "First World" countries. So many variables...natural conditions and human frailty...can and do "conspire" during the rough and tumble of dive trips to create a situation where divers are left behind. This was made clear to me several years ago when the excellent day boat that I was on to dive the SS Thislegorm wreck off Sharm el Sheik left a diver behind...while everyone on board was still discussing the fate of several divers who had recently drifted and died during a live-a-board trip to the Brothers Island.

Then there is scarey variability in the quality of compressed air that I've encountered around the world...but that's another story...

As far as I'm concerned I now will not dive anywhere (including at home in Australia) without a PLB in a diver's canister. At home usually one PLB is adequate unless I deem the conditions and remoteness as extreme. When visiting Indonesia (several times a year) I take two PLB's (one for my Jakarta based dive buddy). Given the number of fatal "lost diver" incidents in Indonesia and many other locations around the world over recent years...and given the minimal cost of acquiring a diveable PLB these days...I think it very foolhardy to travel without one.

 

[Midget]

They have called off the search. My heart goes out to the loved ones of these divers.


Search for foreigners called off at Sangalaki Island | The Jakarta Post

 

[Kaltim Diver]

Mystery surrounds missing Italian divers - The Local

Not much else. I've been asking all our local divers and the general public but getting nothing, not even gossip about what might have happened.

 

[Kaltim Diver]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac.../512591-6-divers-missing-off-sangalaki-4.html From a local expat news source.

---------- Post added August 29th, 2015 at 10:56 AM ----------

Search called off for foreign divers missing in Borneo | Coconuts Jakarta

Sorry, pasted the wrong link. Thanks NatashaS.

 

[cephalopod2]

My thoughts are with the loved ones of these divers.
Kaltim Diver's latest links contain the most information to date about what happened on the surface.

Mystery surrounds missing Italian divers - The Local

"The guide said the dive was done in a correct manner and that the guys came up with him, but the boat was not there when they came up," Claudia Mastrogiuseppe told Corriere della Sera in a TV interview on the Italian daily's website.
"After waiting for an hour and seeing nobody, he said he suggested going for help."
..."The guide left. He swam for two hours against the current and was saved by a colleague."

Search called off for foreign divers missing in Borneo | Coconuts Jakarta

After the four divers surfaced they asked their guide to swim to their boat and request the captain collect them from the water.
But on the way he encountered trouble and blacked out, Sudirman said. He was plucked from the water by a passing boat and taken to a clinic on shore.

The article below was posted in the Italian press and also suggests the separation happened at the surface.

Indonesia, sub dispersi a Sangalaki a est del Borneo - Corriere.it
Direct from Google translate:

The drama of the three sub Milan disappeared in Indonesia
The 36-year old Alberto Mastrogiuseppe, girlfriend Michela Caresani of 33 years, his friend Daniel Buresta (36) and a Belgian, Chris Vanpuyvelde Vana, who had joined the dive, are missing from Saturday

It was the last leg of the journey, the small island of Sangalaki, east of Borneo, Indonesia. Four friends on vacation in Milan, started last August 1. Now Mastrogiuseppe Alberto, 36, the girlfriend Michela Caresani of 33, his friend Daniel Buresta (36 years old) and a 36-year-old Belgian, Chris Vanpuyvelde Vana, who had joined the dive, are dispersed by late Saturday afternoon in the waters crystalline island. They are looking for teams of rescue Indonesian Navy and also several fishing boats and guides for diving in the area.

They have not been spotted from the boat of "Derawan ocean dive ', the private agency that had arranged the dive. Awaiting them on board, plus a charge of diving, there was a boy who was also the Piedmont in the archipelago for the holidays, and the girlfriend of Daniel Buresta, the 34 year-old web designer Valeria Baffe. It was she, after the first few hours of searching, when the boat has returned in an atoll, to give warning to the Italian embassy and the Foreign Ministry.

The group had gone out in the morning for a first dive in which there had been no problems. Then, after lunch, the second session which was attended by the four missing accompanied by Osland, a local instructor. The other two Italian tourists were left instead to the surface to snorkel. Albert, Michael and Daniel have all the diving patent even though they had a great experience of the Indonesian seas. As it is normal for the group to rise to the surface about sixty minutes after the dive, but it did not happen. The only one to have gone back to the boat, to swim, it was just Osland, the instructor, who said he lost contact with tourists once ascended to the surface because of the current.

Michela Caresani works as head of a center for the disabled in the suburbs of Milan, while his teammate Alberto Mastrogiuseppe, after studying at the Bocconi University, works in the financial sector. Daniel Buresta is a videographer and has worked in numerous productions for web and advertising. On Saturday, the sea in the area was in good condition, although - as reported by some local media - there is a great danger linked to the currents that can "remove" the divers of several hundred meters from the point of the dive. The same diving master Osland has been criticized in the past in some comments appeared on the Net because he used to venture into diving tourism without paying much attention to the risks of the current. In any case, one initiated by the Indonesian authorities is still a rescue mission. Fueling the hopes, despite more than 24 hours have elapsed, the rescue of some sub British in 2008 were adrift at sea for two days before being rescued.

August 17, 2015 | 07:19

 

[Maverick17]

So the boat's version seems to be that the boat stayed pretty close to the dropoff point, with the snorkelers, and expected the divers to come up nearby.

The DM version seems to be that the divers came up with no trouble but the boat wasn't there where they expected it to be.

Is that what everyone else reads here? Is it possible the boat and DM were not on the same page about the drift? Or are we just assuming the current was much stronger than expected?

 

[Centrals]

Black out on the surface and plucked out by a passing boat!!!!!!
Miracle or something else.

 

[IyaDiver]

Or are we just assuming the current was much stronger than expected?

First and foremost , if diving in Indonesia, check the area for Indonesian Throughflow ( massive water movement )
Indonesian Throughflow | Where the oceans meet
http://marine.rutgers.edu/dmcs/ms606/Gordon_TOS2005.pdf


Next is look at the Lunar Cycle
Moon Phases Calendar / Moon Schedule


Strong current : 1-4th , 13-19 and 28-31 August
15th August when the dive took place is among the days with worst current , but there will be safe window for sure, but potential water movement of high velocity is there. 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM the tide table at Muara Kassei /Tanjung Batu ( 23 n.miles away from Sanglaki ) was 0.4, 0.4 , 0.4, 0.5 all in meters and in 30 minutes increment. 90 minutes and 10cm water height difference is "polite" or roughly 6.6cm per hour.


Second dive if done at 01:00PM to 03:30 PM, its 0.7 Meter to 2.4 Meters. 150 minutes and 1.7 meters water height difference is 68 cm per hour. This would be strong current guaranteed within those 2.5 hours, when exactly the current velocity will increase in those 2.5 hours, its hard to say. In some areas, tide table vs current speed may not be accurate on time of the actual water velocity increasing along with water height even though the tide station is only 23 n.miles away

.

 

[IyaDiver]

Overall, nothing beats the simplicity of hanging a marine VHF on a crew neck and diver carry one too ( IPX7 rated ) in a dive cannister. This is the fastest response, and you can confirm transmission reception.

This is absolutely not true! Why are you pushing a "rescue system" that at best would be of limited range use on a very well organized/funded dive boat such as a top class liveaboard. Even then the range of these UHF or VHF systems is basically line of sight...10 km or so. Such a "device" would most likely not help these divers in the slightest.
.

I think you did not follow from the start for the safety gear reccomendation I speak of.

Look at Natasha post.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...ng-off-sangalaki-post7481418.html#post7481418
The older link, but page 19, post 181.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...ndonesian-island-post7044201.html#post7044201


For Indonesian waters, best to have, and in order of importance and speedy pick up if not rescue:

01. Hanging a marine VHF on a crew neck and diver carry one too ( IPX7 rated ) in a dive cannister. This is the fastest response. No need DSC capable. Simple IPX7 or IPX8 rated marine VHF.

02. PLB


The AIS-SART I speak of is for those in 1st world country to have a back-up device for local use.
Or if you dive in groups among your own friends in remote area 3rd world countries and wanted to have a dedicated local rescue system before activating a PLB. The AIS-SART and say a six person sharing a DIY receiver display system I wrote about is not too expensive and the team will have something similar to ENOS. Since AIS-SART transmission is text message, it will go further than voice. Since a chartplotter is part of the system, the boat will find the diver easier.


Prior to PLB, in 1997 I and my dive team installed a Sitex RDF ( radio direction finder ) on my friend's boat, which so happen the boat is the primary dive boat for us. Its for extended range where if divers can't see the dive boat, the RDF will be used, but fortunately in its entire 9 years of life when the boat was sold, the RDF was never used. Voice over IPX7 marine VHF in the dive cannister is enough as the drift was never beyond 2KM and the dive boat is big enough to be seen. Came 2009 and McMurdo PLB FastFind was small enough to carry in a dive cannister and that was an added safety device. I immediately got a McMurdo Fast Find PLB in 2009 and its nylon cannister from Custom Diver in UK. Now I have Ocean Signal PLB1 smaller units, not one but 2. My McMurdo 5 year battery shelf life expires early 2015. Ocean Signal PLB1 has 7 years battery shelf life.


Again, I have to emphasize, if you want to carry ONLY 1 long range recall device for Indonesian waters, nothing beats
hanging a marine VHF on a crew neck and diver carry one too ( IPX7 rated ) in a dive cannister. This is the fastest response.
This has saved me a few times and also my friends from becoming part of the lost divers statistic.

The key is to avoid national SAR team of the country you dive in, to be involved or mobilized.
Drifting at sea for 12-24 hours or more and overnight is not something for the faint hearted and it is a selfish act.
The moment you drifted too far and you have to trigger a PLB distress transmission , your whole dive boat and dive members need to stop diving and look for you, because when they can't find you +30 to 60 minutes after everyone already surfaced and collected, they on the boat will declare an emergency.

Relying on a 3rd world country ( meaning poor country ) already limited SAR assets is not a good thing and overall from the moment you trigger a PLB distress signal, to the actual SAR mobilization , depending on where you are in Indonesia, it takes time. PLB typically has only 24 hours transmission when activated. Yes, it can register your drift direction for those 24 hours transmission, ...again until one has experienced drifting at sea more than 24 hours, avoid this kind of experience at all cost.

Indonesia is not USA or any 1st world country with well funded and well equipt SAR team.
Most diving locations, except Bali, is considered remote area. Indo SAR ( Basarnas ) team or assets are located in major cities, as they also assist flood victims, volcano eruption, missing people in the mountain , aviation accidents and so on. They are not like USA Coast Guard which specifically guard US waters from intruders , smugglers and ALSO task to save boaters/divers/person life and even animals.

Indo equivalent of US Coast Guard does not yet exist
The dilemma of Indonesia
The equivalent of Indo Cost Guard are now the Indo Marine Police and the Navy and they are more into guarding our territorial waters, not for rescue mission.

Indo SAR ( Basarnas ) is the one handling all EPIRB/ELT/PLB distress signal at Jakarta Airport and the one supposedly cordinating rescue effort when receiving such distress signal. They can request assistance to the Marine Police of the Navy or Military if the distress location is not within their SAR asset.

In Sanglaki case, the Indonesian Military send out their chopper to help.
Helikopter TNI AD Ikut Bantu Cari 4 WNA Penyelam yang Hilang di Sangalaki - Kompas.com Regional

Pencarian tidak cuma di laut tetapi juga melalui udara dengan memanfaatkan helikopter jenis Bell milik TNI AD.
........

Gabungan SAR didukung kapal rescue boat 215 Basarnas, rigid infetable boat SAR Tarakan, tug boat PT Berau Coal, hingga belasan speedboat milik warga.

The above means :
- Chopper from the military. TNI AD means Land Force, military.
- Basarnas rescue boat #215
- Tarakan city inflatable rescue boat
- Berau Coal company tug boat.
- Many local owned speed boats.

BASARNAS asset in Kalimantan - Balikpapan.
Rescue Boat 215 Tambah Kekuatan Basarnas Balikpapan - Tribun Kaltim
Balikpapan is 260ish nautical miles to Sanglaki.
Basarnas rescue boat #215 is a 36 meters and the cruising speed will be at best 20 knots and it will be a semi displacement
hull meaning speed is not a priority but range is, for it to be able to do decent 500+ n.miles range endurance.
The faster #215 go, they more fuel they burn.
This #215 rescue boat will need 13 hours to reach Sanglaki at 20 knots and would burn at least 7,000 liters of diesel just to arrive at Sanglaki at 20knots speed.

If Basarnas did not deploy their chopper for Sanglaki, that means Balikpapan does not have a dedicated Basarnas SAR chopper yet.

http://nasional.news.viva.co.id/news/read/635775-tambah-kekuatan--basarnas-akan-beli-24-helikopter
The story from June 2015 wrote :
- Currently Basarnas owned 8 chopper from the 1980s
- Want to buy 24 more this 2015 budget year.

8 chopper only for Indonesia which is 3,600 ish miles east to west , means the assets are spread real thin.
Balikpapan is not a major city in the Indonesian cities hierarchy, even though the entire Kalimantan ( Borneo ) is a real money machine for coal, at least for the last many years....but not today in 2015.

Therefore, I will repeat again and again......
Nothing beats the simplicity ( and SPEED of self rescue from the dive boat ) of hanging a marine VHF on a crew neck and diver carry one too ( IPX7 rated ) in a dive cannister.

Yes, please do carry a PLB too as last resort. Carry two, not one so that you get 48 hours transmission.


BTW, a diver trigerring a PLB in Indonesia is not yet documented as to how fast the actual response is for the actual X dive area. There was a case of accidental triggering in 2010 by a friend, due to cannister leak and the McMurdo Fast Find PLB triggered a transmission in a storage room of a dive center. The leak occured from a previous dive. The antena was not even deployed ( rolled out ) and the dive center storage room has those red tiles simple roof, not concrete roof. Such transmission power the PLB has. That PLB was registered in USA NOAA, so the USA Coast Guard or Navy called my friend cell phone to re-confirm if that was a false alarm or not. Case closed.


Dive safe....

 

[Maverick17]

First and foremost , if diving in Indonesia, check the area for Indonesian Throughflow.

I totally get that Indonesia has strong currents. But my key word was "expected". Meaning I would think the DM knows the currents somewhat and him and the boat should have a plan on how to handle it. And I'm just trying to figure out if anyone more experienced than me has been able to interpret how this one went wrong (besides not having adequate gear like a PLB). Did the boat not follow the plan? or did the DM not correctly manage the situation to drift so much further than planned?