FullThrottle
Contributor
No there doesn't need to be "some kind of law". But boaters and divers need to inform themselves, take responsibility for themselves, and be diligent in considering all the things that could possibly go wrong.Sounds like there needs to be some kind of law banning unattended boats or some such. People won't stop doing it if they aren't forced to. Sure, THIS group of people probably won't do it again for a while. Most will continue the practice.
I wonder how much it cost for a helicopter or two, plane, and possibly other USCG vehicles to search for these buffoons.
Divers to whom the norm is paying to go diving on a dive boat with a professional captain can't imagine leaving a boat unattended, but that's the norm for divers with their own boat. And those divers that always hire a dive boat might assume all private boaters are irresponsible, which certainly some are, but not all or even most.
Diving from an unattended boat can be done safely by conscientious, diligent, and informed divers and boaters. As previously mentioned this boater likely didn't use adequate scope, especially considering they knew the weather was deteriorating. And any boat that goes so far offshore that vhf contact is questionable should definitely have an ELT or PLB. And divers that far from shore diving off an unattended boat should definitely have a PLB too. They're only $250.
Checking the anchor set, using adequate scope, swimming up current, diving only when currents are mild, and generally being responsible and knowledgeable boaters and divers can prevent this sort of incident.
Irresponsible and uninformed people will end up in the accident reports no matter what sort of laws are passed.