Live Aboard Capsizes

[Scared Silly]

So, despite the fact that they lost three ships in three years, all is OK since they treat the customers well after their boat was sunk! Did I fall off the earth and wind up on a new planet? Since when is that kind of safety record even remotely satisfactory?

Actually, it is four ships. Oriental and Mandarin Siren in 2012, Turk Siren in 2014, and now the Palau Siren.

You should do a bit of research on what was the cause of each of these accidents. Were they because of safety issues? Were they truly accidents. Etc. I am willing to give them a pass as I see each being an accident rather safety. Make what you want of it. But at least educated yourself before spouting off.

The Truk Siren was driven onto a reef from a typhoon, damaged, then looted and burned by locals. Something similar happened to another ship, the Odyssey. Not too mention the infamous Belize accident - that killed multiple divers and was preventable.

It is suspected that the Oriental Siren was damaged because it collided with a submerged cargo container or other submerged debris. That has sunk other liveaboards, one in Thailand that sunk in minutes.

The Mandarin Siren caught fire due to an electrical fault in a clothes dryer. That has happened to several other liveaboards also one Thailand. Ever try to maintain an electrical system in an salt water environment?? I just had to deal with an electrical fault in a spa at my house - no fire but the potential for electrocution.

The cause of the leak that caused the Palau Siren to sink remains to be identified.

Now contrast that to some liveaboards that went a ground on reefs, been hit by another boat (was on the receiving end of that one), etc.

How a company deals with things when it all goes under makes a big difference.

 

[Worldwide Dive and Sail]

We are slightly concerned as there are some strong factual inaccuracies in the article quoted in the post and we have already contacted the Island Times, as we were not contacted for a statement at any point. We have contacted them already requesting the article be updated, however we have not yet heard back from them.

To clarify the incident, during our current cruise Palau Siren was blown by unexpectedly strong winds overnight on the 3rd-4th August, while on anchor, onto a submerged reef.
While there was no immediate sign of danger, all guests aboard were safely evacuated, as per WWDAS/Siren Fleet safety procedures, and transported to Koror. On requesting assistance we were told that we needed to wait for daybreak for help to move boat from the reef. Unfortunately, as the tide dropped overnight and the wind speed increased the boat began to list in the shallows, enough so that she began to take on water. By day break, when the first support was available, she had become partially flooded and immobilised.

Thankfully no one, guest nor crew, was injured during this incident or was in any danger of injury. We commend our crew for their swift handling of the situation and remain thankful that through a combination of internal safety procedures and thorough staff training, including regular drills, we have been able to avert a potentially more serious crisis. We would also like to thank Palau Aggressor for their assistance during the incident and evacuating our guests to Koror.

Our central operations team is already in Palau, assisting our local team, assessing the full extent of the damage and repairs to Palau Siren required. A representative of our insurance company is also present assisting the team and assessing the situation.

The good news is that it appears that the hull is undamaged and, though repairs will obviously be required, she is expected to be fully operational again. However, at this point, we are still working on time scales. Our guest and crew safety is always the number one priority and every check will be made to ensure Palau Siren is fully functional before we welcome new guests aboard.

If anyone is due to travel aboard the Palau Siren our team will be contacting you shortly, if we feel that your cruise will be affected, if they have not done so already.

As it has been mentioned in the comments, Worldwide Dive and Sail would like to note that in regard to previous incidents our insurer has sent out an investigating surveyor on each occasion and felt that they were isolated, unrelated incidents in which the crew followed correct company procedure resulting in guests being evacuated safely.

We thank everyone for their patience, understanding and kind words over the last few days and remain grateful that this situation was not of a more serious nature.

 

[Bison]

Free wreck diving course with every cruise.

 

[Wookie]

Let's keep this in perspective. When you are the biggest fleet, you are bound to have more things happen on your boats. I have no idea if WWDS or Aggressor/Dancer are bigger, but the point is, it's kind of like AP rebreathers. There are more AP rebreathers out there than any other brand. It kind of follows that there are more accidents on APs than the others. It has nothing to do with the design, or in this case, operation of the boats, it has to do with sheer numbers. Back in the halcyon days of the late 90's, when I carried a lot more divers per year than I do now, I had a lot more diving accidents, and wrote a lot more incident reports to the coast guard. Now that I carry many fewer divers, but of higher quality, we have a lot fewer incidents.

 

[Hintermann]

I have been on 19 liveaboard cruises to date, including once on the Philippine Siren. Nothing really went wrong during our cruise but both my wife and I agreed that we would not be over keen to use the company again. I got the distinct feeling there was a certain amount of disagreement between the crew members and on more than one occasion we could see the senor divemaster and the captain arguing about something or the other. Also, I have always felt that WWDS is far more geared towards groups and semi-pro divers and is not very individual recreation diver friendly when compared with other liveaboard operators. The Philippine Siren to date is the only boat where I was glad to disembark at the end of the trip.

I am not claiming that any of the above contributed to what happened in MY Palau Siren but when one company suffers more than its share of mishaps, the diving public are entitled to ask probing questions, even criticisms. Glossed over explanations really do not do anyone any good in the long term.

 

[RJP]

So, despite the fact that they lost three ships in three years, all is OK since they treat the customers well after their boat was sunk! Did I fall off the earth and wind up on a new planet? Since when is that kind of safety record even remotely satisfactory?

I was on the Truk Siren the week prior to the week the typhoon hit. I have been on multiple liveaboard trips from all of the major liveaboard fleets, and I am as critical a customer as you'll ever come across. Especially when it come to dive operations and safety. The Truk Siren was one of the most well-run ships I'd ever been on. If I had to choose a boat from a liveaboard fleet to be on in the face of an impending storm... I'd pick that boat and that crew.

I'm not sure what you would suggest that the boat, the crew, or the company could possibly do to avert being slammed with a direct hit by a storm like Maysek.

To tag WWDS with something like that as being reflective of their "safety record" is, quite frankly, beyond absurd.

 

[Altamira]

I guess some of us will agree to disagree on what is reflective of a company's safety record. It is quite likely that as a retired professional pilot, I have a different perspective on the subject and the impact of human decisions and actions preceeding accidents. I'll leave it at that.

 

[Hintermann]

If I had to choose a boat from a liveaboard fleet to be on in the face of an impending storm... I'd pick that boat and that crew.

To tag WWDS with something like that as being reflective of their "safety record" is, quite frankly, beyond absurd.

You can charter the whole boat or their entire fleet if you want to but just as you have the right to express a supportive opinion, so have the others to be critical. And things like electrical fires and boat leaks do not exactly speak well of any operator. Also, they did not exactly sail to waters where no one else dared to go. Plenty of other liveaboards in those areas.

Cannot comment on Truk Siren but I have never seen a crew who bickered more among themselves than on the Philippine Siren on my trip. The only really cheerful and friendly chap there was the chef.

 

[RJP]

Cannot comment on Truk Siren but I have never seen a crew who bickered more among themselves than on the Philippine Siren on my trip. The only really cheerful and friendly chap there was the chef.

You need to spend more time on Caribbean boats for "the usual suspects" fleets. Those boats are like soap operas...

 

[KathyV]

You need to spend more time on Caribbean boats for "the usual suspects" fleets. Those boats are like soap operas...

I don't know what you mean? I have been on about a dozen Bahamas/Caribbean liveaboards over the years - different operators (Blackbeards, Nekton, Hughes Dancer, Aggressor, and others) and I don't recall any bickering among crew members or soap opera behaviors. I have seen some of that type of behavior among the passengers, but not the crew.