7 divers missing off Indonesian island

[bubbleBob]

7 Japanese divers missing off Indonesia?s island - thenews.com.pk

By AP

February 15, 2014 - Updated 941 PKT
From Web Edition




BALI: Indonesian police say seven Japanese tourists have gone missing while scuba diving off the resort island of Bali.

Chief of Nusa Penida police Maj. Nyoman Suarsika said the group, including two master divers, left Friday morning on a boat they hired. They were diving around mangroves in Crystal Bay when strong winds and heavy rains hit the area and have not been seen since Friday afternoon.

A list provided by police shows the group includes one man and six women.

The search for the missing divers started Saturday morning involving police, the National Search and Rescue Agency and fishermen, guided by the two Indonesian skippers from the divers´ boat.

Nusa Penida is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east off Denpasar, Bali´s capital.

 

[Peter69_56]

Do we know who they were diving with? This is the exact reason I have spent $600 on a PLB in a container so if this occurs to my group we have a good chance of being found quickly. What is my life and others worth? I do hope they are all found well and ok, even if scared.

 

[humuhumunukunuku]

is the PLB supported in all countries? hows it work?

 

[DandyDon]

Excerpting from 7 Japanese divers missing off Bali since Friday - ????

The body of a woman was found in waters where the Japanese scuba divers went missing near the Nusa Penida area in southern Bali, but her identity has yet to be confirmed, police said.
A Bali police spokesman later said none of the Japanese women had been found.
Local police chief Nyoman Suarsika said the seven Japanese -- five tourists and two diving instructors -- left for Nusa Penida on Friday morning.
They began diving in Nusa Penida's Crystal Bay mangrove area at 1 p.m. and never appeared to have surfaced, he said.
"The weather was extreme at the time. The wind was strong with heavy rain," Suarsika said.
According to the Japanese consulate general in Denpasar, the two Japanese diving instructors are based on Bali.
Japanese diplomats said the seven Japanese -- aged between their 20s and 50s -- chartered a boat for the diving trip.
According to the Indonesian skipper of the chartered boat, the boat owner said the Japanese dived twice in the morning and failed to return to the vessel after they went out for a third outing, in the afternoon.
Local police authorities began searching for the Japanese divers Friday after they received a report about the missing Japanese.

 

[buddhasummer]

I'll keep an eye on the news here over the next few days and see if they have any more info. Very sad. 7 ???

 

[Redshift]

Could they have come up far from the boat and not be seen due to the bad weather conditions?

 

[Peter69_56]

is the PLB supported in all countries? hows it work?

My understanding is it reports back to the Australia Rescue Centre in Canberra so even if I am in a 3rd world country, at least someone in the civilised world knows where I am. It may be a few hours and phone calls/radio calls but hopefully someone in the area will get told where I am.

 

[Redshift]

But then won't we have to trust that the local authorities have the means and the will to go and check out the signal?

 

[chillyinCanada]

How do SEVEN divers not come up again?!?! Bad gas? Bad captain?

 

[WetPup]

How do SEVEN divers not come up again?!?! Bad gas? Bad captain?

One of the links provided indicates they were diving at Crystal Bay. I've dived in the region a bit and there can be some fairly serious current there - especially down-currents. If they were inexperienced divers I could forsee a tragic set of circumstances where they got caught in a down-current and the DM's trying to rescue them to no avail.

Obviously all speculation, but I have seen some questionable practices by dive companies in Bali taking newly certified divers to what I would consider some fairly advanced dive sites. Crystal Bay is not a suitable dive site for novices IMO.

Interested to read more about this incident as more details come to light.