Error Chinese diver (temporarily) lost off dive boat in Maldives

[coldwaterglutton]

Yikes! Told to continue a dive after primary regulator failure!

Chinese Diver Drifts for 40 Minutes After Being Left Behind in Maldives - The Scuba News

A Chinese diver was left drifting in the Maldives for about 40 minutes after being separated from her dive boat during a recreational dive arranged through a local resort

www.thescubanews.com

 

[Steelyeyes]

Wow. When we were diving there we had our own emergency locator radios, as well as one provided by the Blue Manta live aboard, and everyone had SMBs. We did have a current related incident that scattered divers from three different operators but everyone was recovered in a reasonable time.

 

[Espresso Explorer]

From the original article: "
After the dive, as the group attempted to ascend, the instructor failed to deploy the surface marker buoy (SMB), a crucial safety device used to indicate a diver’s location to boats on the surface.

Instead, he simply raised one hand and waved, hoping to catch the boat’s attention.
.....
When the instructor realised that waving was not working, he tried to deploy the SMB, but it was leaking air and failed to stay upright."

One (broken) SMB for the group, diving with a backup regulator only... Wow!