Oh come on NW, I didn't say it was perfect! I agree about taking novice divers to the BH, and in fact I once (several years ago) talked to a girl on the boat going out there and learned that she wasn't even a certified diver - she'd done a resort course with the op that ran the boat just the day before!
But that was then. I haven't heard of anything like that since, nor have I often witnessed divers running out of air. It has happened, granted, but that says far more about the diver than about the operation. Divers have vanished in the BH, but again not for quite a few years.
The dive boat accident when it burned and sank was just that - an accident. Whether different maintenance might have prevented it is not known, but a high pressure oil line came off a transmission and sent a fine oil mist over the turbochargers. They were very hot and the oil ignited. The boat was regularly maintained by the main agents for Caterpiller, and there's not much more the operator could have done. Once the boat started burning the evacuation and rescue was exemplary.
Another boat run by another operator had a less catastrophic accident when a similar transmission oil line parted. Luckily there was no fire, but with just one engine at a critical moment the captain lost control whilst traversing the reef and ran aground. Neither the captain's nor the owner's fault. Though as this was also on an engine maintained by the Caterpiller main agent one or two questions start to come to mind. This was a virtually brand new American-built boat with new engines etc, and such an occurrence could hardly have been predicted.
A DM fell off a boat when the boat was proceeding very slowly in shallow water and he was on the bow watching for obstacles. The boat hit something and the jolt threw him off. Is that evidence of unsafe practices?
I've dived in many areas of the world and the most effectively regulated diving and boating anywhere I've seen has to be in Britain. Perhaps oppressively regulated, but very effective, and accidents are very rare despite there being a vast amount of diving. Second was the USA, where government regulation exists but is much more relaxed. I've seen someone die in America in circumstances that would have been most unlikely in Britain. But Belize is pretty good for a third-world country, with a good balance between regulation and freedom to operate. There is a tour guide system here that is unequalled in design and execution in any other country I've visited. No, it's not perfect, but it's about as good as it gets.
Just seen Don's post. The incident he may be referring to was when a large dive day boat was moored just off Long Caye, for the last dive of the BH day. The wind was strong and the seas fairly wild, and the direction of the wind was blowing the stern of the boat towards the reef only around 100 feet away. Not their choice - there are fixed moorings that they are obliged to use. All the divers were underwater and the boat empty except for the captain, who was down on the dive deck. Suddenly the mooring parted, and the captain just had time to get to the bridge and start one engine before the stern hit the coral. Nothing he could have done. The boat was stranded very high and dry for over a week and in the end was lifted off by a crane on a huge barge - they had to wait for calm conditions before they could attempt this.
It turned out the fixed mooring had parted at the seabed, probably weakened by a big liveaboard (Belize Aggressor) being tied up there only a couple of hours earlier in the same bleak conditions. It was very lucky that the liveaboard wasn't the one wrecked.
But that was then. I haven't heard of anything like that since, nor have I often witnessed divers running out of air. It has happened, granted, but that says far more about the diver than about the operation. Divers have vanished in the BH, but again not for quite a few years.
The dive boat accident when it burned and sank was just that - an accident. Whether different maintenance might have prevented it is not known, but a high pressure oil line came off a transmission and sent a fine oil mist over the turbochargers. They were very hot and the oil ignited. The boat was regularly maintained by the main agents for Caterpiller, and there's not much more the operator could have done. Once the boat started burning the evacuation and rescue was exemplary.
Another boat run by another operator had a less catastrophic accident when a similar transmission oil line parted. Luckily there was no fire, but with just one engine at a critical moment the captain lost control whilst traversing the reef and ran aground. Neither the captain's nor the owner's fault. Though as this was also on an engine maintained by the Caterpiller main agent one or two questions start to come to mind. This was a virtually brand new American-built boat with new engines etc, and such an occurrence could hardly have been predicted.
A DM fell off a boat when the boat was proceeding very slowly in shallow water and he was on the bow watching for obstacles. The boat hit something and the jolt threw him off. Is that evidence of unsafe practices?
I've dived in many areas of the world and the most effectively regulated diving and boating anywhere I've seen has to be in Britain. Perhaps oppressively regulated, but very effective, and accidents are very rare despite there being a vast amount of diving. Second was the USA, where government regulation exists but is much more relaxed. I've seen someone die in America in circumstances that would have been most unlikely in Britain. But Belize is pretty good for a third-world country, with a good balance between regulation and freedom to operate. There is a tour guide system here that is unequalled in design and execution in any other country I've visited. No, it's not perfect, but it's about as good as it gets.
Just seen Don's post. The incident he may be referring to was when a large dive day boat was moored just off Long Caye, for the last dive of the BH day. The wind was strong and the seas fairly wild, and the direction of the wind was blowing the stern of the boat towards the reef only around 100 feet away. Not their choice - there are fixed moorings that they are obliged to use. All the divers were underwater and the boat empty except for the captain, who was down on the dive deck. Suddenly the mooring parted, and the captain just had time to get to the bridge and start one engine before the stern hit the coral. Nothing he could have done. The boat was stranded very high and dry for over a week and in the end was lifted off by a crane on a huge barge - they had to wait for calm conditions before they could attempt this.
It turned out the fixed mooring had parted at the seabed, probably weakened by a big liveaboard (Belize Aggressor) being tied up there only a couple of hours earlier in the same bleak conditions. It was very lucky that the liveaboard wasn't the one wrecked.
