6 divers went missing off Tioman island
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jh_MacLeod
Contributor
Here's a recent article with a few more details. Says they were diving out of Salang at Chebeh.
S'pore diver rescued after 20 hours at sea
First of all, what I'm sharing here is the product of local "chatter." If I find supporting news stories, I'll provide them later on.
I'm certain the divers were diving from a charter, and I think it may have been through a Singapore shop. They were diving at Chebeh Island, which is one of the "outer islands" of the Tioman archipelago, and in fact is the northernmost one. By the time the divers were picked up, they had drifted overnight nearly 20 nautical miles north.
It was a full boat, divided into three groups. Two of the groups stayed in the shallows and a third group of more experienced divers went deeper. One of the divers in the third group became separated from his group early in the dive due to strong currents underwater and surfaced alone. For whatever reason, they all apparently continued diving. After the two shallower groups had reboarded the boat and the remainder of the third group could not be found, the alarm was raised. The official search was initiated 2 hours after the group was overdue and was suspended at dark, leaving the group adrift overnight.
Here is the link to another news article with some additional details: Found - six scuba divers who went missing off Pulau Tioman (Updated)
Speculation: the diver who surfaced alone is reportedly a DM, though whether he was the dive leader of the group isn't clear to me. I know the name of this diver, but will not publish it here unless it is revealed through news sources. It may be that he felt comfortable enough diving solo to continue his dive (there are conflicting reports regarding the time he surfaced, ranging from 15 minutes into the dive to the end of an hour-long dive), but that when he was aboard the boat and the rest of his group failed to surface, he may have attributed their "loss" to the presence of strong currents that could have swept the group away. It's also not clear to me what happened in the immediate aftermath. I have heard that a missing diver announcement went out to surrounding boats at about 2 pm, but we have in this thread a first-hand report from a diver who says the boat he was on did not receive this broadcast. If such a broadcast was in fact made, there would be no reason for the boat to sail back to Tioman to raise the alarm, abandoning the divers in the meantime.
There's still a lot about this incident that needs to be cleared up before we can understand what actually happened and draw lessons from it.
I'm certain the divers were diving from a charter, and I think it may have been through a Singapore shop. They were diving at Chebeh Island, which is one of the "outer islands" of the Tioman archipelago, and in fact is the northernmost one. By the time the divers were picked up, they had drifted overnight nearly 20 nautical miles north.
It was a full boat, divided into three groups. Two of the groups stayed in the shallows and a third group of more experienced divers went deeper. One of the divers in the third group became separated from his group early in the dive due to strong currents underwater and surfaced alone. For whatever reason, they all apparently continued diving. After the two shallower groups had reboarded the boat and the remainder of the third group could not be found, the alarm was raised. The official search was initiated 2 hours after the group was overdue and was suspended at dark, leaving the group adrift overnight.
Here is the link to another news article with some additional details: Found - six scuba divers who went missing off Pulau Tioman (Updated)
Speculation: the diver who surfaced alone is reportedly a DM, though whether he was the dive leader of the group isn't clear to me. I know the name of this diver, but will not publish it here unless it is revealed through news sources. It may be that he felt comfortable enough diving solo to continue his dive (there are conflicting reports regarding the time he surfaced, ranging from 15 minutes into the dive to the end of an hour-long dive), but that when he was aboard the boat and the rest of his group failed to surface, he may have attributed their "loss" to the presence of strong currents that could have swept the group away. It's also not clear to me what happened in the immediate aftermath. I have heard that a missing diver announcement went out to surrounding boats at about 2 pm, but we have in this thread a first-hand report from a diver who says the boat he was on did not receive this broadcast. If such a broadcast was in fact made, there would be no reason for the boat to sail back to Tioman to raise the alarm, abandoning the divers in the meantime.
There's still a lot about this incident that needs to be cleared up before we can understand what actually happened and draw lessons from it.
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Here is a rough translation from someone who was on the boat but in a different group. I didn't fix everything said from the translation but you should get some of the drift. Get it? "Drift". Nevermind. Certain parts I can not make out what was meant so I left it ass is. It does not explain why the divers wet missing but it does give some direct facts that help in the speculation.
2012
I was in the boat, and I have some learning experiences and specific details to share with you:
This was a typical Singapore diving trip over the weekend, starting Friday night after work, a 3 hour journey from Singapore to the Terminal, and then we took the night boat to Tioman. Over Saturday and Sunday we were to do 6 dives then backtrack to Singapore.
On Saturday morning, our boat group looked like this:
A: an instructor, 2 AOW students. 4 Fun diver, I was in the group.
B: an instructor, 1 DM, 2 Deep Dive students, and 3 Deep Dive students retaking the course. The 3 trainees attended this course, because we had a “wreck” in October trip, so these students are going to go over the entire process again.
C: a DM,3 Fun Diver
After the first Check Out dive, the ship came to Chebeh Island, the students of the second group of people start their course. Their plan is 7 9 bottles of gas, aimed at Skill time with adequate water and enough gas to Deco Stop.
This underwater temperature was a minimum of only 24 degrees, which is very unusual in Tioman. Usually the water temperature remains above 28 degrees. 3mm Wetsuit for me, wearing a hood I still feel occasionally cold. Probably only about 5 meters and visibility. But the bottom has no current, on a scale of 0 -10, the current was between 0 and 1.
On this June 23 dive, I am in the water at the deepest of 30.4 m, average depth of 14.3 meters, the bottom time 48 minutes. After we boarded we saw the DM who had been separated from Group B, was the first and only person aboard from his team. Below I give details from the DM for everyone to discuss.
6/24
12:23 PM---the water, move forward in the East
12:25 PM---to 22m under the seabed, continues to move forward in the East
12:33 PM---31 m, instructor for students to do 1 set of skills exercises
12:36 PM---underwater without currents, proximity Deco time, increasing depth, follow the bubbles
Here is to be raised, the instructor and the DM to prevent emergency situations requiring liters of water, let DM a person in a non-decompression diving State, while the other 6 people are in the water before going to do good to a very short period of decompression dive, which is why take 9 bottles of water in the gas.
12:47 PM---I get separated, in 29 m looking for 1-2 minutes later, then begin to surface.
13:07 PM---complete the security, I stay on board.
13:34 PM---on the dive boat followed by a and c Group begin to around the island looking for Group b, the captain informed the others in a nearby dive boat.
14:19 PM---a instructor and another DM water search team was formed, underwater still not ocean currents.
15:00 PM---GUE boat came to the diving sites, due to our search and rescue region in 40 meters, request that they assisted by Twin tank divers.
15:00 PM---instructor and 2 DM once again launched a search and rescue, my buddy and I also participate on a voluntary basis in search. 3 of them were separated from exploration, me and my buddy was assigned a region looking for 2 people. Not found. At about 30 meters, found that ocean currents towards the North. About degree for 0-10 minutes.
15:55 PM---another dive boat also came to the scene to help.
Emergency contact person 16:20 PM---began to contact missing divers, began practicing DAN seeking assistance.
18:14 PM---me and my Buddy in the dark again before the water was found.
First day stop there after dark, we go back to rest on the island. This is our high pressure, were silent.
Because here at the same time there are several boats, we guess is that 6 people pick up by another ship, and 6 people at the bottom does not come up and there is a low probability. All alarm time for about 2 per cent, Malaysia maritime police for about 3 more points have two more boats arrived. 8 naval divers reached the night preparing the next day on the island continue to search for the submarine.
Back on the island after we informed the Chinese Embassy, the Embassy and Malaysia Governments had also made contact, hoping that they insists on continuing search and rescue on the sea at night.
6/24
09:50 AM---I and my buddy by chebeh launching again, since there is no found.
More than 11 points, we are back to the pier intended to pack back to Singapore Shi, received a call from police and officers left behind on the island, found 6 divers said that a ship is at sea, the body is in good condition. As was found by the tugs, ship's speed slow, marine police speedboat to take them back to the island's Hospital for examination. 6 persons are normal, did not remain in hospital under observation.
Lessons learned:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. personal safety equipment complete:
SMB is we often say that the sausage was the first to be prepared, my buddy and I spent 2 respectively, are all common 2 meters by alternate secondary air in water, the advantage is released under water, it is common. Another was around 1 meter, can only be inflatable by mouth, is blowing through your mouth under water without the benefits due to the sudden changes of buoyancy is sitting rockets by rope pull on the water, and then submit a small, easily the sea gas blowing full wave. Harm is special exercises are required to only use, and low height, target is smaller. He had prepared to kind of look at your personal choice.
2 alternate flashlight, we prepare alternate flashlight is the kind of sustained lit up for a long time, lost at night, or when this night drifting in the sea, you can maintain a continuous lighting, attract attention. I am ready to Scubpro Nova light 230, my buddy ready are UK SL3, both flashlight lumens of light are not high, but it can be sustained for more than 18 hours, enough one evening. Day or night diving the two mobile we have been with me, night diving is the main lighting we also used Dealextrem 1000 lumens. My buddy has recently had a 3,000 lumens, underwater lights blind the human eye.
3 is the survival whistle. I found a lot of BCD survival whistle up to 200 meters can be worn, well you could not call for help requests. We have prepared Divers Alert, is the siren LP Guan Lai when gas source.
4 is water, I discovered from this experience if you have a bag of water in the body, even drifting 24 hours there will be no big problem, you can give others sufficient search and rescue time. I intend to bring a bag of water next time in BCD in the rucksack, is the Halycon originally designed SMB place.
I would also like to go to next week GUE fundi course on Tioman, after this experience, I feel the need to better prepare themselves to face situations that may occur.
Just sleep, the mind is also a bit of a mess, look at what opinion or our response to anything that improvements can be made and then discuss it.
2012
I was in the boat, and I have some learning experiences and specific details to share with you:
This was a typical Singapore diving trip over the weekend, starting Friday night after work, a 3 hour journey from Singapore to the Terminal, and then we took the night boat to Tioman. Over Saturday and Sunday we were to do 6 dives then backtrack to Singapore.
On Saturday morning, our boat group looked like this:
A: an instructor, 2 AOW students. 4 Fun diver, I was in the group.
B: an instructor, 1 DM, 2 Deep Dive students, and 3 Deep Dive students retaking the course. The 3 trainees attended this course, because we had a “wreck” in October trip, so these students are going to go over the entire process again.
C: a DM,3 Fun Diver
After the first Check Out dive, the ship came to Chebeh Island, the students of the second group of people start their course. Their plan is 7 9 bottles of gas, aimed at Skill time with adequate water and enough gas to Deco Stop.
This underwater temperature was a minimum of only 24 degrees, which is very unusual in Tioman. Usually the water temperature remains above 28 degrees. 3mm Wetsuit for me, wearing a hood I still feel occasionally cold. Probably only about 5 meters and visibility. But the bottom has no current, on a scale of 0 -10, the current was between 0 and 1.
On this June 23 dive, I am in the water at the deepest of 30.4 m, average depth of 14.3 meters, the bottom time 48 minutes. After we boarded we saw the DM who had been separated from Group B, was the first and only person aboard from his team. Below I give details from the DM for everyone to discuss.
6/24
12:23 PM---the water, move forward in the East
12:25 PM---to 22m under the seabed, continues to move forward in the East
12:33 PM---31 m, instructor for students to do 1 set of skills exercises
12:36 PM---underwater without currents, proximity Deco time, increasing depth, follow the bubbles
Here is to be raised, the instructor and the DM to prevent emergency situations requiring liters of water, let DM a person in a non-decompression diving State, while the other 6 people are in the water before going to do good to a very short period of decompression dive, which is why take 9 bottles of water in the gas.
12:47 PM---I get separated, in 29 m looking for 1-2 minutes later, then begin to surface.
13:07 PM---complete the security, I stay on board.
13:34 PM---on the dive boat followed by a and c Group begin to around the island looking for Group b, the captain informed the others in a nearby dive boat.
14:19 PM---a instructor and another DM water search team was formed, underwater still not ocean currents.
15:00 PM---GUE boat came to the diving sites, due to our search and rescue region in 40 meters, request that they assisted by Twin tank divers.
15:00 PM---instructor and 2 DM once again launched a search and rescue, my buddy and I also participate on a voluntary basis in search. 3 of them were separated from exploration, me and my buddy was assigned a region looking for 2 people. Not found. At about 30 meters, found that ocean currents towards the North. About degree for 0-10 minutes.
15:55 PM---another dive boat also came to the scene to help.
Emergency contact person 16:20 PM---began to contact missing divers, began practicing DAN seeking assistance.
18:14 PM---me and my Buddy in the dark again before the water was found.
First day stop there after dark, we go back to rest on the island. This is our high pressure, were silent.
Because here at the same time there are several boats, we guess is that 6 people pick up by another ship, and 6 people at the bottom does not come up and there is a low probability. All alarm time for about 2 per cent, Malaysia maritime police for about 3 more points have two more boats arrived. 8 naval divers reached the night preparing the next day on the island continue to search for the submarine.
Back on the island after we informed the Chinese Embassy, the Embassy and Malaysia Governments had also made contact, hoping that they insists on continuing search and rescue on the sea at night.
6/24
09:50 AM---I and my buddy by chebeh launching again, since there is no found.
More than 11 points, we are back to the pier intended to pack back to Singapore Shi, received a call from police and officers left behind on the island, found 6 divers said that a ship is at sea, the body is in good condition. As was found by the tugs, ship's speed slow, marine police speedboat to take them back to the island's Hospital for examination. 6 persons are normal, did not remain in hospital under observation.
Lessons learned:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. personal safety equipment complete:
SMB is we often say that the sausage was the first to be prepared, my buddy and I spent 2 respectively, are all common 2 meters by alternate secondary air in water, the advantage is released under water, it is common. Another was around 1 meter, can only be inflatable by mouth, is blowing through your mouth under water without the benefits due to the sudden changes of buoyancy is sitting rockets by rope pull on the water, and then submit a small, easily the sea gas blowing full wave. Harm is special exercises are required to only use, and low height, target is smaller. He had prepared to kind of look at your personal choice.
2 alternate flashlight, we prepare alternate flashlight is the kind of sustained lit up for a long time, lost at night, or when this night drifting in the sea, you can maintain a continuous lighting, attract attention. I am ready to Scubpro Nova light 230, my buddy ready are UK SL3, both flashlight lumens of light are not high, but it can be sustained for more than 18 hours, enough one evening. Day or night diving the two mobile we have been with me, night diving is the main lighting we also used Dealextrem 1000 lumens. My buddy has recently had a 3,000 lumens, underwater lights blind the human eye.
3 is the survival whistle. I found a lot of BCD survival whistle up to 200 meters can be worn, well you could not call for help requests. We have prepared Divers Alert, is the siren LP Guan Lai when gas source.
4 is water, I discovered from this experience if you have a bag of water in the body, even drifting 24 hours there will be no big problem, you can give others sufficient search and rescue time. I intend to bring a bag of water next time in BCD in the rucksack, is the Halycon originally designed SMB place.
I would also like to go to next week GUE fundi course on Tioman, after this experience, I feel the need to better prepare themselves to face situations that may occur.
Just sleep, the mind is also a bit of a mess, look at what opinion or our response to anything that improvements can be made and then discuss it.
Thanks for that detective work, Z. It does confirm some of what I've heard. I wonder if Hood could be persuaded to come here and post? He's in Singapore.... do you know him?
I don't know him (at least I don't think I do - forum names are hell). His report from his point of view seems pretty decent. I'd still like to hear from the instructor or one of the others who went missing. BTW, here is someone else's much more accurate translation. I stole it from another forum:
I was on the same boat and would wish to share what happened on that day as well as what was learnt with you guys:
__________
This is a common itinerary for Singaporeans, depart straight after work on Fridays, 3 hours bus ride to the jetty at Mersing, followed by a boat ride at night to Tioman. 6 dives in total would be done over Saturdays and Sundays before heading back to Singapore.
On that particular Saturday, the groups were divided as follows:
A : 1 instructor, 2 AOWD students, 4 leisure divers (I was part of this group)
B : 1 instructor, 1 DM, 2 students learning Deep Dive, 3 students for Deep Dive refresher course (these 3 students who are on refresher course have previously learned Deep Dive form this dive school, because we have a wreck dive in October, these students were there to practice the whole procedure etc.
C : 1 DM, 3 leisure divers
After the 1st check out dive, the boat arrived at Pulau Chebeh, group B then started their Deep Dive course. Their plan was to bring 9 bottles of air for 7 pax. Main aim is to have maximum bottom time and still have enough air for safety stop.
On this divesite, the lowest water temp was 24 degrees celsius. This is uncommon at Tioman as normally the water temp should be 28 degrees and above. Despite wearing a 3mm wetsuit, coupled with a hood, I still find myself shivering at times. In addition, visibility was a mere 5m or so. But there is no underwater currents, if range 0-10 points, should be between 0 to 1 point.
My dive was on 23rd June, 1237hrs. Maximum depth is 30.4m, average depth was 14.3m with a bottom time of 48mins. When we surfaced and reached the boat, Group B's DM has already been seperated from the group and headed to the boat by himself.
Following are the spate of events that this DM encountered for discussion purposes:
6/24
12:23 PM --- Entry，Headed East
12:25 PM --- Descended to 22m，Carry on heading East
12:33 PM --- 31m，instructor let students perform a skillset
12:36 PM --- No current，and as it was approaching decotime, ascended，while following the bubbles.
12:36 PM --- underwater no currents, because is near to hitting the Deco time, we ascend, follow the bubbles.
(think meaning not ascend faster than the smaller bubbles?)
12:47 PM --- Seperated from the group，Searched around for a minute or 2 at 29m，began to ascend.
13:07 PM --- Completed safety stop, headed to boat.
13:34 PM --- After the boat has picked up groups A and C, they circled the island to try to locate Group B. The boatman also informed boats in the vicinity about the missing divers.
14:19 PM --- 1 instructor and another DM dived and attempted to look for them, to no avail. There was still no current underwater.
15:00 PM --- A GUE vessel arrived at the dive site, as our searching radius was around 40m, we requested their twin tank divers to help in the search.
15:00 PM --- Instructor and 2 more DM re-entered the water to search, me and my buddy also decided to join in the search, 3 of them went their own ways to search while me and my buddy were allocated another place to search. We found nothing. But found that the currents towards the north. If range 0-10 point, it should be 2 point. (think he trying to say very mild current)
15:55 PM --- Another boat came to join in the search.
16:20 PM --- Began to contact the next of kin for all the missing divers. Began contacting DAN to ask for help.
18:14 PM --- My buddy and I entered the water once again before nightfall, found nothing.
After nightfall, the day's activities were halted. We went back to the island to rest. Everyone was under a lot of stress, everyone was silent.
As there were a several boats at the same dive site, we guessed that one of the boats may have already picked them up. Also, the possibility of 6 divers going missing all at once seems improbable. The police reports were made around 2am. The Malaysian Coast Guard deployed 2 boats to the scene at around 3am. There were also 8 naval divers who came and prepare for next day's search and rescue.
After reaching the island, we got in touch with the China Embassy, the Malaysian Government was also notified, hope that they will carry on the search even after nightfall.
6/24
09:50 AM --- My buddy and I went back to Chebeh to search again, we found no one.
11+，as we were at the jetty awaiting to head back to Singapore, we received phone calls from the police and the islanders, saying that there was a vessel who found the divers and that they were all safe and sound. The Malaysian Navy deployed a speed boat to transfer them to the island for checkups as the speed of the tugboat which located them is slow. They were found to be fit and there was no need to stay on for observation.
I was on the same boat and would wish to share what happened on that day as well as what was learnt with you guys:
__________
This is a common itinerary for Singaporeans, depart straight after work on Fridays, 3 hours bus ride to the jetty at Mersing, followed by a boat ride at night to Tioman. 6 dives in total would be done over Saturdays and Sundays before heading back to Singapore.
On that particular Saturday, the groups were divided as follows:
A : 1 instructor, 2 AOWD students, 4 leisure divers (I was part of this group)
B : 1 instructor, 1 DM, 2 students learning Deep Dive, 3 students for Deep Dive refresher course (these 3 students who are on refresher course have previously learned Deep Dive form this dive school, because we have a wreck dive in October, these students were there to practice the whole procedure etc.
C : 1 DM, 3 leisure divers
After the 1st check out dive, the boat arrived at Pulau Chebeh, group B then started their Deep Dive course. Their plan was to bring 9 bottles of air for 7 pax. Main aim is to have maximum bottom time and still have enough air for safety stop.
On this divesite, the lowest water temp was 24 degrees celsius. This is uncommon at Tioman as normally the water temp should be 28 degrees and above. Despite wearing a 3mm wetsuit, coupled with a hood, I still find myself shivering at times. In addition, visibility was a mere 5m or so. But there is no underwater currents, if range 0-10 points, should be between 0 to 1 point.
My dive was on 23rd June, 1237hrs. Maximum depth is 30.4m, average depth was 14.3m with a bottom time of 48mins. When we surfaced and reached the boat, Group B's DM has already been seperated from the group and headed to the boat by himself.
Following are the spate of events that this DM encountered for discussion purposes:
6/24
12:23 PM --- Entry，Headed East
12:25 PM --- Descended to 22m，Carry on heading East
12:33 PM --- 31m，instructor let students perform a skillset
12:36 PM --- No current，and as it was approaching decotime, ascended，while following the bubbles.
12:36 PM --- underwater no currents, because is near to hitting the Deco time, we ascend, follow the bubbles.
(think meaning not ascend faster than the smaller bubbles?)
12:47 PM --- Seperated from the group，Searched around for a minute or 2 at 29m，began to ascend.
13:07 PM --- Completed safety stop, headed to boat.
13:34 PM --- After the boat has picked up groups A and C, they circled the island to try to locate Group B. The boatman also informed boats in the vicinity about the missing divers.
14:19 PM --- 1 instructor and another DM dived and attempted to look for them, to no avail. There was still no current underwater.
15:00 PM --- A GUE vessel arrived at the dive site, as our searching radius was around 40m, we requested their twin tank divers to help in the search.
15:00 PM --- Instructor and 2 more DM re-entered the water to search, me and my buddy also decided to join in the search, 3 of them went their own ways to search while me and my buddy were allocated another place to search. We found nothing. But found that the currents towards the north. If range 0-10 point, it should be 2 point. (think he trying to say very mild current)
15:55 PM --- Another boat came to join in the search.
16:20 PM --- Began to contact the next of kin for all the missing divers. Began contacting DAN to ask for help.
18:14 PM --- My buddy and I entered the water once again before nightfall, found nothing.
After nightfall, the day's activities were halted. We went back to the island to rest. Everyone was under a lot of stress, everyone was silent.
As there were a several boats at the same dive site, we guessed that one of the boats may have already picked them up. Also, the possibility of 6 divers going missing all at once seems improbable. The police reports were made around 2am. The Malaysian Coast Guard deployed 2 boats to the scene at around 3am. There were also 8 naval divers who came and prepare for next day's search and rescue.
After reaching the island, we got in touch with the China Embassy, the Malaysian Government was also notified, hope that they will carry on the search even after nightfall.
6/24
09:50 AM --- My buddy and I went back to Chebeh to search again, we found no one.
11+，as we were at the jetty awaiting to head back to Singapore, we received phone calls from the police and the islanders, saying that there was a vessel who found the divers and that they were all safe and sound. The Malaysian Navy deployed a speed boat to transfer them to the island for checkups as the speed of the tugboat which located them is slow. They were found to be fit and there was no need to stay on for observation.
Interpretation:
Based on the various translations of the Chinese language post, it looks like Group B planned a deco dive but had designated the DM as a kind of safety diver who would stay within the NDL. So when the DM approached his NDL at 12:36 p.m. he ascended a little and kept track of the group by watching their bubbles. He couldn't see the divers themselves because the visibility was reportedly very poor. At 12:37 he apparently lost sight of the bubbles and decided to search around for a couple of minutes, and then, unable to locate them he ascended to his safety stop. It took him approximately 15 minutes to do the quick search, ascend and complete his stop, boarding the boat at 13:07.
Speculation: The student group and their instructor may have noticed that the DM was no longer with them, but as he was a staff member, they may have thought he'd be okay on his own, so they didn't go looking for him or worry about him, but simply went on with their dive.
Based on the various translations of the Chinese language post, it looks like Group B planned a deco dive but had designated the DM as a kind of safety diver who would stay within the NDL. So when the DM approached his NDL at 12:36 p.m. he ascended a little and kept track of the group by watching their bubbles. He couldn't see the divers themselves because the visibility was reportedly very poor. At 12:37 he apparently lost sight of the bubbles and decided to search around for a couple of minutes, and then, unable to locate them he ascended to his safety stop. It took him approximately 15 minutes to do the quick search, ascend and complete his stop, boarding the boat at 13:07.
Speculation: The student group and their instructor may have noticed that the DM was no longer with them, but as he was a staff member, they may have thought he'd be okay on his own, so they didn't go looking for him or worry about him, but simply went on with their dive.
There is one simple thing to learn from this event. If you are going to dive in the open ocean buy a PLB (personal locator beacon). I am sure each of the six people would have said that this could have never happened to them. It can and it does.
Lets stop trying to look closer into things and trying to explain what happened. **** happens and you can never have thought and prepared for all the possibilities. Take responsibility for your welfare and get a PLB.
All the SMB's and whistles in the world are not going to be enough if the boat can't hear them or is not looking for them. The currents can and do change with no notice and your going to find yourself in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand. The group is lucky that a Tug boat found them it could have just as easily sailed right past them.....under power it would be impossible to hear a whistle and it would be likely the captain could be watching a DVD and unlikely that they are monitoring the VHF emergency channel.
Lets stop trying to look closer into things and trying to explain what happened. **** happens and you can never have thought and prepared for all the possibilities. Take responsibility for your welfare and get a PLB.
All the SMB's and whistles in the world are not going to be enough if the boat can't hear them or is not looking for them. The currents can and do change with no notice and your going to find yourself in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand. The group is lucky that a Tug boat found them it could have just as easily sailed right past them.....under power it would be impossible to hear a whistle and it would be likely the captain could be watching a DVD and unlikely that they are monitoring the VHF emergency channel.
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