Four European divers missing - Mersing, Malaysia

[Kay Dee]

Thanks @The Wolf and @Miyaru for answering my previous questions.

But @Centrals, I have to respectfully disagree with your position on she should not have left the group and swam for help. I could understand if no land in sight, then sure stick together, but if land in sight then I would be all in favour of one person swimming for it, but I realise that one size does not fit all situations, and each to his own of course. But a similar circumstance - although not a course dive - happened to us after a night dive off Tulagi, an island over from Guadalcanal in the Solomons, where the boat would not start to come pick us up and we were drifting away down Ironbottom Sound. A local expat decided to swim for the island (as he could speak pidgin and had more chance of getting help from a islander). He made it ashore and some hours later we were picked up. At the time there was no SAR in region (is there even now?), PBL's were not really availble in diver carry size, but local knowledge (of currents) and a strobe sure pointed the rescuers right to us.

But in some instances, as 'the wolf' says, and as you no doubt yourself know having dived in the Asian region, strobes are something most fishing boats there would generally avoid.

EDIT. I do feel for the instructor though as she may be in for a rought time from several angles.

 

[Hou s4m]

3 short 3 long signal is quite common isn’t it?
Even my cheap video light has it - light, strobe, sos, red filter.

 

[Kay Dee]

3 short 3 long signal is quite common isn’t it?
Even my cheap video light has it - light, strobe, sos, red filter.

Quite common to your 'run of the mill' Asian fishing boat skipper / crew? I dont think so, unfortunately.

 

[Dan]

3 short 3 long signal is quite common isn’t it?
Even my cheap video light has it - light, strobe, sos, red filter.

My video lights have that too. I have 2 of them for backup, among other things.

 

[Vicko]

Guys, even the most reckless, ignorant, out of shape diver on this forum is more informed and better equipped than the average scuba diver. Just the fact that we chose the engage with other divers on line almost ensures that.
Don't hold other divers to a standard that is not realistic, it's very easy to think of better things you could have done while sitting down with a mug of coffee in your hand.

 

[Centrals]

But @Centrals, I have to respectfully disagree with your position on she should not have left the group and swam for help. I could understand if no land in sight, then sure stick together, but if land in sight then I would be all in favour of one person swimming for it, but I realise that one size does not fit all situations, and each to his own of course. But a similar circumstance - although not a course dive - happened to us after a night dive off Tulagi, an island over from Guadalcanal in the Solomons, where the boat would not start to come pick us up and we were drifting away down Ironbottom Sound. A local expat decided to swim for the island (as he could speak pidgin and had more chance of getting help from a islander). He made it ashore and some hours later we were picked up. At the time there was no SAR in region (is there even now?), PBL's were not really availble in diver carry size, but local knowledge (of currents) and a strobe sure pointed the rescuers right to us.

But in some instances, as 'the wolf' says, and as you no doubt yourself know having dived in the Asian region, strobes are something most fishing boats there would generally avoid.

EDIT. I do feel for the instructor though as she may be in for a rought time from several angles.

We are here to give our own opinion based on what have been reported. I certainly never expected everyone to agree what I had said.
Strobe can mean danger(fishing net) so boat keeps away.

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Torch is better.

 

[Dan]

It can't be that hard to secure the other guy's octo to your shoulder d-ring.

Looking back to what just happened, you made a good point. Had the father done this to his son, the three of them would have been found together, regardless the son was dead or still alive, even though the boy was very very weak. Just being closed together with the father would encourage the boy to survive.

There are other ways to strap each other, other than using DSMB line or the above method. I can unstrap my BCD right shoulder strap, loop it around my dive buddy BCD left shoulder strap, for example. The straps are adjustable for comfort too.

 

[fantarara]

They won't. That's the one thing about police investigations in Malaysia.

They should get the relevant dive organizations involved (i.e. PADI/SSI) to give a professional opinion and to conduct a professional investigation but....they won't.

I hope they prove me wrong./

I just learned about this case, it's not been reported in any Indo media that I know of. You seem to have followed the case closely. You can actually report to Divers Alert Network (DAN) - they compile dive accident database and it will be a valuable learning experience for the dive community. Anyone can send in a report, and send it in anonymously (news clipping and corroborating information need to accompany your report). Crowdsourcing data. If they have enough information, they will do an analysis and case discussion of an accident.

 

[Centrals]

I just learned about this case, it's not been reported in any Indo media that I know of. You seem to have followed the case closely. You can actually report to Divers Alert Network (DAN) - they compile dive accident database and it will be a valuable learning experience for the dive community. Anyone can send in a report, and send it in anonymously (news clipping and corroborating information need to accompany your report). Crowdsourcing data. If they have enough information, they will do an analysis and case discussion of an accident.

The only people(x3) who have the "story" to tell are probably still recovering in the hospital. Other than that there is nothing to be reported.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

It's very scary stuff. Absolute nightmare for the father. He's going to replay this situation over in his head a billion times. I know I would.

I have limited experience diving with my kids (12, 15, 17, 23). Less than 30 dives with any one them. They're all different. The 15 year old is the most cautious but also the most nervous. His ability to act rationally when panic gets the best of him goes out the window. I can 100% see that if him and I were in this situation trying to get him to survive just wouldn't work. He would burn himself out with panic. In the blink of an eye he would go under in the dark, too week from anxiety, and that would be it.

My condolences to the father and to the family. It's heartbreaking because you know that they were just starting to go on adventures together, and really it was no fault of their own that this happened. You're in a class, you think you're relatively safe.

Probably going to hug my kids a lot tighter tonight.