Divers hit - Thailand

[DandyDon]

Two similar but different stories at first...

Phi Phi scuba divers mangled by speedboat

“I was taking 30 tourists to Ao Maya when it felt like we struck a submerged object. I turned the boat around and saw scuba diving tanks, and the water began to fill with blood,” said Adisorn Benmamood, the 22-year-old captian of Sunsan 2. “The tourists were conscious and floating to the surface, but severely injured.”

Russian nationals, named by police as Sergei Dmitriev, 30, and Dmitry Kurynov, 48, were rushed to Phi Phi Hospital. Mr Dmitriev lost a leg in the accident, and both were bleeding heavily, confirmed Phi Phi Police Chief Jetsada Junphum.

“The men were originally taken to Phi Phi Hospital by the diving boat they were with. I can’t remember the name of the boat at the moment, but it was a local Phi Phi operation,” said Lt Col Jetsada. “There was not enough blood at the hospital, so both men were transferred to Krabi Hospital.”

Police, who have yet to confirm whether or not the divers were using a surface buoy at the shallow depth in which they were struck, are investigating the incident.

“We will speak with the speedboat driver and witnesses further before filing any charges,” explained Lt Col Jetsada.

Phuket News: Russian diver’s leg slashed off by speedboat propeller on Phi Phi diving trip

Sergei Dmitriev, 30, and Dmitry Kuryanov, 48, were struck by the propeller of the speedboat Sunsan 2 when they resurfaced from their dive at Maya Bay at about 10:30am, said Nitiphat Mongkolpradit of the Krabi Tourist Rescue Centre.

“The captain of the dive boat that the two men were diving with said that he took tourists to Phi Phi Lei on a diving trip and let the the divers into the water in pairs, Mr Nitiphat told The Phuket News.

“The divers floated buoy to warn people that they were surfacing, but when the two men floated their buoy, a speedboat came into the area to check what was going on.

“That was when the two divers came up and were hit by the propeller,” he said.

Mr Dmitriev and and Mr Kuryanov were rushed to Phi Phi Hospital.

“We have yet to question the victims about the incident because both were badly injured,” said Krabi Police Chief Col Sompong Thip-arpakul.

“While at Phi Phi Hospital, the victims lost so much blood that they were transferred here to Krabi Hospital. Officers are questioning both speedboat and dive boat operators,” he added.

Krabi man Somchai Jitlang, who owns the Sunsan 2, has already presented himself to the police for questioning, Col Sompong said.

Adisorn Benma, 22, who was driving the Sunsan 2 when the propeller slashed the divers has been taken to Phi Phi Police Station for questioning, he added.

 

[CuzzA]

What more can a diver do? They deployed an SMB and the speedboat decided to investigate it. I hope their boat is seized and they get punished appropriately.

 

[Oldbear]

Where did the dive boat go? It appears that it was not near the divers (or their float/smb) at the time of their ascent.

 

[CuzzA]

It sounds like they were close enough to offer their version of events. From the report it sounds like this was a first hand account from the dive boat captain. Of course that may not be true, but even still... If a boat sees an SMB pop up, anyone with common sense would have to consider someone is below it and we should stay away or at least cut the engine/take it out of gear. NOT move your boat to the SMB.

 

[richdrogpa]

I'm in Krabi right now and I just heard about the accident today from a local tour guide here in Ao Nang, where the tour boat was from and the news traveled quickly. All I gotta say is that knowing the crazy numbers of tour boats in and around Koh Phi Phi during high season, it is just plain nuts to dive there... I really feel bad for the divers. I wonder where was their diving boat? To keep an eye on the topside traffic and alerting fellow boat captains that there were scuba divers below...

 

[Jack Hammer]

Not enough info to guess what really happened. News stories are unreliable.

 

[Wingy]

It is not a surprise to a friend with a dive op in Krabi. I was diving there a few weeks ago and the increase in the amount of speedboats, diveboats and snorkelers in the last 5 years is incredible. Id hate to see high season. Seems it doesn't take much or cost much to get a tour boat licence. The dive operator was doing the right thing apparently.

 

[Edward3c]

It's not that unusual for inexperienced boat users to come and investigate this thing that's just surfaced. My DSMB has "Divers Below" written on it.

 

[DandyDon]

Driver of a speedboat ferry charged: Speedboat skipper charged, diver flown to Bangkok

And: Scuba-diving areas demarcated after tourist accident - The Nation

 

[madprops]

I'm in Krabi right now and I just heard about the accident today from a local tour guide here in Ao Nang, where the tour boat was from and the news traveled quickly. All I gotta say is that knowing the crazy numbers of tour boats in and around Koh Phi Phi during high season, it is just plain nuts to dive there... I really feel bad for the divers. I wonder where was their diving boat? To keep an eye on the topside traffic and alerting fellow boat captains that there were scuba divers below...

I have not posted on here in years but I just had to reply to this. I used to teach on Koh Phi Phi and I have done a lot of diving on Koh Phi Phi Lay. This is just a guess but, the dive boat captain has done nothing wrong, same with the divers. 100% of the blame is on the speed boat "Driver" (ill never call him a captain). When I was teaching there, the speed boat drivers were idiotic. I was almost killed when a speed boat ran right over top of me in 7 feet of water. I could hear it getting louder and louder and I pushed my students down and used my rear dump on my BCD. my two students said that the prop missed my ass by about 1 foot. I was in a roped off area used for dive training and the boat ran right over the ropes. for lack of better wording but I lost my cool and had a chat with the driver. The "cops" came and told me they would let me off with a warning for diving outside the ropes. At this point I lost my SH!T and everyone else start yelling at the cops. Then they just walked away with the driver and that was the end of it. there is just no rules there when it comes to speed boats and the drivers don't care what they are doing.