Diver killed by props - NSW, Australia

[DandyDon]

[h=1]DIVER DIES AT CURRARONG [/h]

A NORTH Nowra man in his 20s has died following a boating accident at Currarong Thursday morning.
The man was spear fishing in an area known as Little Beecroft when he was allegedly hit by a boat propeller.

He sustained extensive injuries.
The man was taken by boat to the Currarong boat ramp.
Ambulance paramedics arrived on scene and CPR was performed.
The Ambulance Rescue helicopter was also despatched to the site with the doctor on board declaring the man deceased.
Four boats, one which the victim was believed to have been in and three others that carried possible witnesses, were detained by police, who established a crime scene at Currarong boat ramp.
Detectives arrived on scene to speak with a number of people in the area.

According to one witness the man was using a buoy and dive flag.
A police investigation is continuing.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Terrible news. Interesting to know how far he was from the boat ramp when hit. It is not uncommon to see spearos in the channel and they can be hard to see in sloppy seas (like today may have been based on weather in Sydney).

 

[DandyDon]

The news article seemed to say he was diving from a boat. How far he was from the ramp, his boat, or his dive flag is not given.

 

[JBRAT]

Diver had a float and flag!! At the moment there are big schools of kingfish around the headlands of beecroft which has fishos, spearos and scuba divers tryin to work the same area. Myself I do all 3 and find there is a lack of respect between clubs. My experience has had fishos pulling up within 10metres of the dive boat with two flags and starting jigging big bits of metal with 2 hooks while flipping us the bird!! Have also been on dive boats that will pull up between several fisho boats and set their flag and whinge about the fishos. I am very careful when spearfishing and the slightest sound of a boat will have me looking around as i have had boats fly past within 10 metres of me. I now if a boat comes within distance hold my gun high out of water. This was an accident waiting to happen. hope this might make boaties a bit more cautious!! thoughts with family of spearo

 

[danvolker]

Personally, the way they are used now, I think the dive flag laws are absolutely a waste of time.....The only reason I would tow a dive flag in Florida, is so that I would not get a ticket from the Marine Patrol....this is entirely a revenue generator, and for boats going 20 mph or better, a dive flag is highly unlikely to be seen until it is far to late to change course.

What we do in Florida, if we don't want to be run over, is we have a dive boat follow us. They could follow a milg jug or a torpedo....but if those floats did not have flags on them, they would generate dollars for the State.

Again, every diver needs to "get" that towing a dive flag is absolutely NOT going to protect your from anything other than the marine patrol. If you can't dive off a charter boat, then you can drag a kayak--boaters can see it from a distance, and most would be afraid they would damage their props if they ran over something as big as a kayak. Dive flags are often not seen, and when seen often ignored, or used as something to aim at.....in other words, for the small number of fast moving boats in the area that might see your flag---as many would be likely to steer closer to the flag, as would veer off, barring a commercial charter boat sitting off your flag to scare off the ignorant.

The dive flag law should be changed, as it kills divers (or leaves them maimed) by providing a dangerously false sense of security. It is a law that should be considered as criminally negligent, for the results it creates.

 

[themagni]

Again, every diver needs to "get" that towing a dive flag is absolutely NOT going to protect your from anything other than the marine patrol. If you can't dive off a charter boat, then you can drag a kayak--boaters can see it from a distance, and most would be afraid they would damage their props if they ran over something as big as a kayak.

Go to a surplus store and make your own dive flag out of a WW2-era contact mine. Nobody will aim for that.

They're kind of heavy out of the water but no moreso than cold water gear.

 

[Reck Diver]

Here in South Florida, Dive Flags are an absolute necessity. There is no substitute. This is an area where fishing boats out number dive boats at least 10 to 1. Milk jugs, sausages, lift bags or torpedoes are no substitute. In fact some fishermen might mistake them for debris in the water and head over to investigate (especially for those diving at the limits of AOW or deeper). Boats will more than likely approach an apparently "abandoned or lost" kayak. Most fisherman will however, avoid a dive flag WHEN it is seen.

I don't see how a boat with divers in the water could allow another vessel to get anywhere near his/her divers. And what about the diver? When we are coming up, we are listening for boats, if we hear one approaching we make certain that it stops (that would indicate it's our boat), or continues past our location and we could continue the ascent.

If you are a captain and can't remain in close enough contact with your divers to avoid collisions with other boats, you shouldn't be operating a vessel.

One final comment. If your vessel only flies the 24" dive flag which meets the Florida law requirements, you are putting your divers at increased risk. You can purchase a a 3' X 5' dive flag, attach it to a long enough piece of PVC to be seen 360 degrees, and you will a notice a major difference how much sooner approaching vessels change course. I have seen them at the SCUBA Center in Delray.

 

[danvolker]

Most of the divers I have heard of that were maimed or killed by boat props, were not on a charter boat, but were either anchor diving off of a private boat--ie. not being protected by their own boat....or, they were diving off a beach and their sole protection and identification was the tiny dive flag they towed.

My points relate to the high speed boat traffic, not so much to the slow trolling fisherman. A fast boat just can't see a dive flag until it is too late, if the waves are much over a foot high. Diving off a charter boat, your captain will put his boat between you and oncoming fast traffic, so that the fast approaching morons will not run over you.

If you have no boat to intercept for you, the towed kayak is the next best option, because it can been seen from a much greater distance, and it can have a very high masted dive flag, and much larger dive flag flying on it, than a diver is going to be towing with any traditional towed dive flags.

Amazingly, Reck Diver and I both agree on the Captain of any dive boat needing to be able to maintain close enough contact to always be able to intercept a fast approaching boat that is aimed at one of his diver's flags.

Also.... Every diver should be listening for boat traffic as they sit on their safety stop....and if they hear the doppler sound pattern, and there is any liklihood the approaching boat is near them( you tell this from the doppler shift), then you don't surface....If there is any chance you are no where near YOUR dive boat, and are unprotected, the diver that is best suited to blasting up from ten feet, and being able to instantly get back down if needed, is the one that goes up and then signals OK to the other divers with him.

 

[Oldbear]

This article indicates that he did have a Dive Flag with him but was still hit by a recreational boat.

?He loved life, he loved diving, he loved music? | South Coast Register

So sad...my condolences to his family and friends.

~Oldbear~

 

[peterbj7]

Sound just like what happens when cars hit cyclists - "I didn't see him". As if that's an excuse.