For those who still think they run a dive taxi

[Wookie]

you still don't get it. This is a game changer, the administrative law judge found the vessel master negligent. My lawyer (David Concannon) says that this would be impossible to overturn in a civil court. You as a master are responsible for the diver from dock to dock.

Craig Jenni represented Becky at her hearing. I do not use Craig, but he is very well respected in the dive community as being a pit bull (and I know he reads the forums... ) and if he couldn't make the administrative law judge see the light, I'm afraid we're all hosed.

Coast Guard hoses a Captain who did it right, in my opinion

This is not a case about Kevin's cause of death, nor is it a case of what the Coast Guard investigations branch knows about diving (which they will admit is nothing). This is a case of the Coast Guard is tired of investigating reports of diver fatalities and seeing that the dive boat had no procedures, or had inadequate procedures, or just didn't follow the procedures that they had.

Read carefully the findings of fact. The SPV Miss Lindsey had some procedures, had conducted drills, and had one experienced (albeit not very experienced) and one trainee deckhand, and one experienced captain. The first ding was that the Captain did not ensure that training was completed properly for her crew. How would she do that? I would be overwhelmed as a day boat captain with a volunteer crew, but the answer is that drills must be conducted and logged periodically, and the highest value drills are the ones that are conducted with realism. Fire Extinguisher training should be conducted when something is on fire. Man overboard training (in essence this was treated as a man overboard, as the man overboard dummy cannot help itself) must be conducted by actually rescuing a 185 lb dummy that can't climb the dive ladder. Conducting this training is expensive, time consuming, and if you have a large number of crewmembers from all over, means that you have to gather them up to get the training conducted. Training periodicity are:

Abandon ship drill - Must happen every voyage within 24 hours of departure.
Fire Drill - Weekly, and must be a different drill scenario each week, rotating.
Man Overboard - Must happen monthly

How many dive boats can afford to use a fire extinguisher ever week or month or whenever a new crewmember steps onboard, but that is the requirement. If you violate the requirement, you may get your license yanked.

The second ding was that the master did not require her crew to follow written vessel procedures, nor did she follow those procedures herself. She was in the galley when she should have been watching for approaching vessels and for divers surfacing away from the boat. The Coast Guard admits that they don't know what goes on on a dive boat, and I would certainly go make lunch (I'm never on deck when divers are jumping off the boat) when divers are jumping. But the procedure in place said that the captain would watch for approaching vessels and for divers making free ascents. She also failed to follow procedures when she had her mates go attempt to rescue Kevin without following established Man Overboard (MOB) procedures. MOB is something fairly common to all vessels and every vessel procedure has the first responder wear a floatation device and take a float with them. I don't know any dive boat that actually does this, but the procedures are very clear. The Coast Guard hates it when you have a procedure and you don't follow it.

If you don't follow your own written procedures, you may get your license yanked.

The third ding was based on the first 2, and found the master negligent for putting her crewmembers at risk, by sending them to perform a rescue without proper floatation themselves. Remember rescue class? the first rule is not to become a victim yourself. Again, I don't know of any dive boat that keeps a PFD available for the rescuing crew to use at a moment's notice, but I'll bet a few dive boats are about to change where they stage their gear. Mine included.

If you don't protect your crew from harm, you might get your license yanked.

The 4th ding was that the SPV Miss Lindsey didn't have specific emergency diving procedures in place to respond to a diving emergency. The Coast Guard has said numerous times in the past that generic procedures for crossing hazardous bars, MOB and fire are not sufficient for vessels engaged in unique sports that carry unique hazards like diving, and they give parasailing as another example. Every vessel that carries passengers must adhere to a set of rules, and if you carry weird passengers like divers and snorklers, you gotta write your own rules.

If you fail to, you might get your license yanked.

Now, my own opinion. I think Becky (whom I don't know) did everything in her power to make sure that Kevin would survive the dive. The Coast Guard doesn't feel that way. I understand the dive business, and know how dive boats work, and the Coast Guard knows what is in a book. The operate vessels with many crew onboard to take care of problems as they crop up. Dive boats are limited financially and room wise to carrying fewer crew, and 99.999% of the time, the crew that boats carry is sufficient. The Coast Guard has a "zero injuries" policy when it comes to the operation of small passenger vessels, and, while zero injuries would be a nice goal to attain, and we can all strive to attain it, it just isn't realistic that no one will ever die on a dive boat again.

This should serve as a wakeup to dive boat operators (myself included) that the days of being a taxi ride to the dive site (a term my investigator hates passionately, BTW) are over. Operators have a duty to their passengers throughout the entire voyage, from dock to dock. I've said that for years, and I maintain it today. The taxi ride to the dive site just doesn't cut it anymore, and it really never did. The excuse has been used for so long, especially on the NorthEast boats that the Coast Guard just showed us how wrong we are.

Oh, and for the Florida Keys dive boat operators who drag a captain out of bed to take the boat out, and pick up a DM off the street to fill a deckhand spot on the boat? Lt. CDR Capelli (Florida Keys Investigations branch cheif) is looking at you, specifically.

 

[nolatom]

Frank and I have exchanged emails on this. I think diver distress underwater, out of air at depth, nitrogen management, and all things underwater will still remain a diver-responsibility thing.

But a person (passenger) in distress on the surface, is something the Coast Guard does understand, though maybe not in exactly the same way as divers do. Here the Captain looked for a "dive" solution (sent the deckhand in, try to get BC inflated, led a rope--without lifering-- to victim). The Coast Guard saw this as a "passenger overboard" situation, even though us divers are intentionally "overboard". they wanted to see the life ring, or at least a couple of lifejackets, thrown to victim, or to his in-water responders. And indeed what are the life rings for??

Accidental man-overboards are simple, you know he needs rescue from the get-go. Divers who "become" distressed on the surface are anything but simple--what is it? OOA? Heart attack? DCS? Or just nervousness? Viewing it as "simply" an MOB is not a stretch for the Coast Guard, but leads a rather harsh result for this captain. And ensuring safety drills are done at the required intervals is straightforward for a regular captain, but what of the captain who is the occasional fill-in?

 

[Tortuga James]

Great advice Frank. It certainly will cause me to tighten my processes up a bit. I wasn't aware that I needed to maintain a "Emergency Checklist" on board and document exactly how we were going to address what I think are common sense situations. The problem with uninspected vessels is we don't have them inspect our compliance, and unfortunately we will find out after an accident. I have been through the local Ft Macon sector OUPV Examination twice, and have been boarded at sea by the crew of the Cutter Vigorous out of Cape May, NJ and got the complete "going over". Then I got that again by the Masonboro CG after a medical incident. None of the 3 different sectors pointed out even 1 non compliant issue.

I think we better get prepared for a crackdown on all dive operations. I get the feeling here in Morehead that the local MSO wouldn't miss us at all. They see us as a drain on their resources. But on any given day in the middle of the season, with 5 crew boats and 4 six packs running we may have 125 divers in the water. That is a substantial impact on the local economy. But rarely does federal policy enforcement take local impact into consideration.

 

[Wil]

My initial intent reading this over and over again was to not post a reply but now here I am.

Just one person's opinion, mine. The penalty to the Master of the Miss Lindsey wasn't enough. The ALJ should've revoked the credentials permanently. The Master/Operator of a vessel has a unique position of authority and responsibility (with that comes absolute accountability). The Master or Operator's responsibility doesn't take a holiday at the dive ladder.

I'm familiar with the Miss Lindsey and have dove it many times. I was also a friend of Kevin Kraemer. However, I wasn't present on the day of the mishap. Kevin wasn't the first casualty on the Miss Lindsey, it's happen before on more than a few occasions over the years. That alone would cause one to wonder why they wouldn't have procedures and training in place after a number of previous deaths.

So, consider me harsh, I have the privilege of 35 years of Naval service, am a recently Retired Navy Captain, and former Commanding Officer. I've also had the opportunity to Skipper a commercial Dive Operation like all of you do now.

Captain Spalding (Bryson) had the credentials, the training, the experience, the authority and responsibility to respond properly and direct her crew to respond properly. They just didn't. And, all that falls on the Master/Operator...it goes back to absolute accountability.

Safe Diving,
Wil

 

[CaptJT]

My initial intent reading this over and over again was to not post a reply but now here I am.

Just one person's opinion, mine. The penalty to the Master of the Miss Lindsey wasn't enough. The ALJ should've revoked the credentials permanently. The Master/Operator of a vessel has a unique position of authority and responsibility (with that comes absolute accountability). The Master or Operator's responsibility doesn't take a holiday at the dive ladder.

I'm familiar with the Miss Lindsey and have dove it many times. I was also a friend of Kevin Kraemer. However, I wasn't present on the day of the mishap. Kevin wasn't the first casualty on the Miss Lindsey, it's happen before on more than a few occasions over the years. That alone would cause one to wonder why they wouldn't have procedures and training in place after a number of previous deaths.

So, consider me harsh, I have the privilege of 35 years of Naval service, am a recently Retired Navy Captain, and former Commanding Officer. I've also had the opportunity to Skipper a commercial Dive Operation like all of you do now.

Captain Spalding (Bryson) had the credentials, the training, the experience, the authority and responsibility to respond properly and direct her crew to respond properly. They just didn't. And, all that falls on the Master/Operator...it goes back to absolute accountability.

Safe Diving,
Wil

Wil that is your 35 yrs of Navy drilled into your head coming out. It is also why there are so many deaths IMO in the Navy during training as those at the bottom don't give a flying crap because they know the guy at the top will take the biggest fall, it's the Military way of dealing with it. I've had zero deaths on my watch and can't understand why so many Captains talk about other boats. I remember this one Captain talking to me about a death on the Va Mae back in 96' "Saying they killed one" and then again later talking about another boat "Saying they killed another one". I informed him that neither boat killed anyone. And there are only two kinds of Captains, those that already have and those that are about to. That Captain now has had three deaths on his boat and speaks totally different. I'm not saying I don't care what happens, I say do all you can to save them and in this case they did.

You were lucky Kevin didn't die on your boat when he did the same thing, no one on your boat had any training what so ever for that at the time. It was a make up trip from post on this site for a fun trip with a collection of lets say not as experienced as most who work the boats, one is now my mate(and I still have to tell him what to do). You were Kevins buddy and luckily you guys didn't get separated going down the anchor line (which happens so often) and you were there to assist him. Andy and Bobby you left in charge on the boat neither knew how to operate it and they did the same thing the Miss Lindsey did which was drop a line and start pulling him to the back. That my friend is called luck.

Also you guys should know the judge let telephone testimony of a witness and let the CG do testimony of a mystery informant during this tribunal. Just think guys now any Captain you don't like you can say anything you want about him true or not through CG testimony as a mystery informant and it will be used in court.

And FYI in the transcript the boat did hold training and had a procedure, they just did not have it written and posted which is why the CG went with the standard MOB procedure they have as the requirement for this case.

Link to Kevin Kramer(same diver who died on the ML) mishap on Wils boat http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/mid-atlantic-states/331012-va-beach-trip-report-4-11-10-a.html

I must admit that I had two incidents with Kevin on my boat but I was clued in by Bobby(my mate now) about the above on your boat and he was never allowed to be alone in the water at anytime.

 

[Akyla]

Will,

I too was going to remain silent on this matter, but your post needs some redress.

First, I am sorry that you lost your friend Kevin to a dive accident. I too have lost friends in trajic accidents, diving included, and know it hurts. However, Kevin's death was not caused by the Miss Lindsay, the crew or Captain Bryson's actions, they were caused by the diver himself, Kevin's actions were what caused Kevin to drown.

Will, I do not consider you harsh, just misinformed and not looking at what is really going on here.

The reality is that the Lindsay crew acted pretty quickly and went to the aid of Kevin immediately. He was clinging and clamoring on the anchor line in a paniced state and a crew member saw this as it was happening. They notified the other crew members and encouraged self rescue then tossed him the first thing available, a line from the foredeck, to get him to a better position. Kevin took the assist line and was being moved to the stern for extraction. During the tow to the stern a crew member saw Kevin was in serious distress as he had shut down was apparently not breathing, turning colors, and about to let go of the line so he spontaneously jumped in to try and help him, joined shortly by the newer crew member. One got the reg into the mouth, but it was rejected by Kevin. The bcd couldn't be inflated as inflator was apparently jammed down between the stage bottle and other gear. They were trying to get the BCD inflated when Kevin let go and sank. One crew member with him then couldn't dive down to grab him as he was too buoyant in the wetsuit pants. They immediately did a search dive and brought Kevin up in a very short period of time and did everything to try and resuscitate him.

All this action took place very rapidly and the crew is accused of not throwing a buoyant device over the side as required in the "man overboard" procedures. The captain is accused of allowing her crew to assist a "man overboard" without first donning a buoyant device and rescue line. The issue of no training is not fully founded in the transcript and the records submitted by Lindsay did show training over time they just were not detailed. The new crew member was on his first official trip and had not attended any formal training so she gets gigged for that (though he had actually dived the boat many times and was a certified lifeguard). CG makes several other allegations, but they really are spurious and just BS to try and make their case bigger. The ALJ actually rejected several of them.

I suggest that if they had left the fore deck to go get a ring buoy, which the CG says is the majic rescue device is for this situation, Kevin would have gone down at the bow instead of alongside at amidships. A paniced diver clinging to the anchorline cant do it for very long. But if they had just tossed a ring buoy over the side toward him, no trial for the captain and crew, nobody for the CG to blame. I also proffer that there would have been no different outcome for Kevin, a ring buoy would not have tipped it in his favor. What happened to him underwater is what caused the panic state and the cascade of events and we will never know what that really was.

I have read the entire transcript of the CG hearing and also have heard facts of this event from other sources. The information presented in this hearing was limited to that which the CG and he AlJ allows to be presented. Much of the information and evidence presented by the CG prosecutors would have never been allowed to be entered into evidence in a regular court of law. The testimony from somewhat questionable expert witnesses - the CG expert testifing about T boats had not ever even seen the Lindsay, had never inspected her or any other dive boats. The "expert" dive boat captain made some somewhat questionable statements about what they would have done and how he had run and manned the Lindsay on previous occasions. All fairly self serving statements and clearly previously discussed with the CG to highlight their findings. Several witnesses testified over the telephone which is far less than optimum if you are interested in getting at the truth of any matter and then testimony was accepted that was clearly double hearsay and conjecture from a couple of witnesses. All of this was objected to by the counsel for the defense. The defense attempted to cross witnesses and enter evidence but it was fairly clear the ALJ had a direction to go and couldn't be bothered to hear testimony that might add some time to the trial schedule.

The short issue for dive boat captains is pray you don't find yourself in the hearing room in front of a CG ALJ. The deck you are playing with doesn't have all the cards... The outcome seems predetermined and it would be a miracle to avoid license suspension or loss.

Now as for Lindsay being a boat that has experienced a number of casualties that is true. It is also true of any other operator that has run a lot of divers across the deck. It is very safe to say that Olympus, Discovery, many, many other operators big and small and yes even myself have had fatal dive accidents. There are simply two categories of dive boat captains, those that have had dive accidents occur and those that will. We cannot control the actions of the divers once they jump off the boat. We can only try to rescue them and sometimes they just cant be rescued.

Will, if you run dive charters long enough it is going to happen to you. Even with your years of service and command, the response won't be textbook. I guarantee it. I have the training and real world dive experience, having saved more than my share of Kevin's over the years, to know what I am talking about.