6 divers missing off Sangalaki

[Midget]

Does anyone have any more information than this ?

The dive guide was found but 6 divers are missing.

 

[pubert]

according to this:
Four tourists go missing while scuba diving in Indonesia's Borneo Island, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

two were just snorkeling and are safe. 4 are still missing

 

[DandyDon]

Divers seem to go missing somewhat frequently in that area, too often in groups. We had daily reports on the Bali group of Japanese women and the group lost near Komodo island, and both searches went on so long that I was surprised that most were found alive.

Hope they find these okay...

 

[JohnN]

Does anyone have any more information than this ?

The dive guide was found but 6 divers are missing.

News report I saw said strong current and 2.5 meter waves. . .

 

[Wingy]

Interesting comments at the bottom of this article Six foreigners reported missing in Sangalaki Island waters | The Jakarta Post

 

[InGearX]

i was just there .. report is that guy on boat "driver" fell asleep .. and today is Indonesian Independence Day .. they are not searching .. but celebrating :/

friend who is thete wrote on WhatsApp:

> 4 divers still missing. Boat driver fall to sleep while there had a dive around Sangalaki. Strong current there so boat was seperated from dive group. As he awake he finds the divemaster in bad condition and then they looked for the rest but couldn't found them. Just heard that from other divers on Maratua.

 

[rickpreve]

Hello guys, I read Italian and so can tell you that the article below from today's La Stampa newspaper says that 4 divers are still missing: three Italians in their 30s, and a Belgian diver. The article characterizes the 3 Italian divers as "expert and certified" but we all know that those are very relative terms unless more clearly defined.

The article goes on to say that the Indonesian guy was rescued and said the divers had all surfaced but that strong currents had swept them away. The search continues.
Continuano le ricerche dei tre sub milanesi dispersi nel mare del Borneo - La Stampa

---------- Post added August 17th, 2015 at 01:52 PM ----------

Here is a review (in English) on Trip Advisor that ran the dive, the guide mentioned in the review is the same involved in this case...
Utter disappointment and ridiculous dive operator: Derawan Ocean Divers - Review of Derawan Archipelago, Derawan Islands, Indonesia - TripAdvisor

 

[boulderjohn]

When I dived off of a liveaboard in Australia last year, every diver was given a Nautilus Lifeline to use. No one ever needed it, but I thought it was a pretty good piece of equipment to have in an area like that. I plan to go to the Bali area in about a year. I just might be investing in one of those for that trip.

 

[Peter69_56]

When I dived off of a liveaboard in Australia last year, every diver was given a Nautilus Lifeline to use. No one ever needed it, but I thought it was a pretty good piece of equipment to have in an area like that. I plan to go to the Bali area in about a year. I just might be investing in one of those for that trip.

They may not serve much purpose in Indonesia as many of the dive boats have no radio so they are ineffective. Even if they do have a radio virtually all will not have the DSC function to locate you. A better bet would be a PLB as at least then someone in the world knows you are in trouble and where you are, even if the dive boat you were on doesn't. In this way hopefully the navy or police in the area will be contacted and will come looking for you.

 

[Centrals]

They may not serve much purpose in Indonesia as many of the dive boats have no radio so they are ineffective. Even if they do have a radio virtually all will not have the DSC function to locate you. A better bet would be a PLB as at least then someone in the world knows you are in trouble and where you are, even if the dive boat you were on doesn't. In this way hopefully the navy or police in the area will be contacted and will come looking for you.

There is also a emergency channel(channel 16) which will transmit your position(GPS). At least more than a step up on smb.