Vessel Indo Siren Fire?
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Kendall Raine
Contributor
Ask before booking. Check after boarding. It just takes awareness and motivation.
John Bantin
Contributor
Some typical Undercurrent articles dealing with safety aboard:
John Bantin
Contributor
I worked on a British-owned liveaboard in 1992. Our day rate for pax was $150. When the Egyptians came into the market, they used a day rate of $60. Guess the difference! The foreign operators could not compete and left the Red Sea. Every liveaboard tends to work to the prevailing pax/day rate. Coming into the market with a SOLAS registered vessel and commensurate day rate would be a certain business failure if the boat was not operating somewhere unique to it. Safety is usually the first casualty of a price competition. The Truth boats were incredibly cheap to go on. I turned back from Santa Barbara once when I saw the sleeping accommodation!
You seem to have missed the point of an earlier post. The Red Sea Aggressor passengers did ask about a night watch, and the crew assured them there would be one. They were lying.
If you ask ahead of time if a boat will have a required roving watch, of course they will say they will. A crew that routinely violates that requirement will have no qualms about lying about it.
ontdiver
Contributor
Which brings us back to the problem of determining - with confidence - that the operator is responsible; has a well trained crew; and will ensure that safety measures are not only in place but will be executed when required.
Kendall Raine
Contributor
I think Undercurrent has done a good job discussing this topic, and should be commended-one reason I have subscribed for years. It has certainly contributed (along with the fires on Conception, Waow and Red Sea LOBs) to increasing my awareness and sensitivity to fire safety measures.
What surprises me is the general lack of focus on fire safety in LOB reviews by traveling divers. That's a generalization, but also generally true. Along with praising the DMs, cooks, and boats in general, I would expect some mention of preventative protocols (especially lack thereof) as part of thorough reviews. I have written several Undercurrent reviewers (who's reviews were otherwise glowing to inquire about this). There just seems to be a low level of diver awareness of the topic.
Kendall Raine
Contributor
I don't think so. My post was general/conceptual in nature, not specific to the Red Sea post. Nor was it my intent meant to infer the Red Sea divers ignored the basic principle of due diligence. One can only do what one can do. In the Red Sea case it seemed they did all they could do. The fact the vessel operator lied and the vessel caught fire does not detract from the imperative of asking beforehand and checking once on board and holding the operator accountable for deceptions/deviations.
If the vessel operator lies, or the crew does not live up to the operator's representations, then that should be determined once on the vessel and written up on various review forums (legal/formal action against a foreign operator isn't likely to accomplish anything). In that case not only is the operator engaged in shoddy safety practices, but they're unethical slime bags, as well. At least then informed divers can make an informed decision and eventually, hopefully before someone dies, the operator will reap the (economic) consequences of sloppy/unscrupulous/dangerous practices.
We as a community need to police ourselves as best we can. The Conception is a perfect example of that even in a highly regulated country such as the US.
Howard Baker
New
I have had trips on Indo Siren and Indo Palau this year. I also have reasonable knowledge of marine safety having owned boats, sailed offshore and have a son qualified as OOW on super yachts.
Having done numerous small boat and ship cruises I was very impressed with the safety briefings (1 general and 1 specific for fire) on the Indo boats. They were the only boats where they did a specific fire one. They also advised that a Crew member is on watch at all times.
I have no qualms about going with Master Liveaboard again. Next trip is in April.
One thing that does concern me is the number of Lithium batteries that end up being charged often on random charging points and adaptors. Does everyone take their equipment specific chargers with them on trips? Lithium fires are very challenging to put out.
Having done numerous small boat and ship cruises I was very impressed with the safety briefings (1 general and 1 specific for fire) on the Indo boats. They were the only boats where they did a specific fire one. They also advised that a Crew member is on watch at all times.
I have no qualms about going with Master Liveaboard again. Next trip is in April.
One thing that does concern me is the number of Lithium batteries that end up being charged often on random charging points and adaptors. Does everyone take their equipment specific chargers with them on trips? Lithium fires are very challenging to put out.
Dan
Contributor
You meant Palau Siren:
Palau Siren liveaboard
The Palau Siren liveaboard is a 40-meter vessel that offers luxury diving holidays and scuba itineraries around the islands of Palau
masterliveaboards.com
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