My Week on The Socorro Aggressor
- Thread starter mcohen1021
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BDSC
Contributor
Wow. Looks nasty.
The Aggressor fleet has a reputation of putting boats in service that aren’t ready. This seems to be part of that pattern.
The Aggressor fleet has a reputation of putting boats in service that aren’t ready. This seems to be part of that pattern.
Carlos Diver
Contributor
I am extremely disappointed that the CEO of Aggressor doesn't personally tour each boat after a drydock. I had an amazing time on the Kona Aggressor, but I dont think you could get away with certain things like this in certain places. This puts your entire brand under a very large microscope. Im still considering who to book for my next trip, and this throws my confidence in their brand into serious reconsideration. I am not flying 10,000 miles to get a boat that could potentially be like this.
OP
mcohen1021
Contributor
Pasted from the other thread:
Yes, we were not sure if we were going to complete the trip.
Now after the California boat caught fire, I am thanking God we did not catch fire. I actually have a video of the short circuiting of the lights, I am sure Aggressor would not appreciate if I posted it.
Someone said something about this boat being repurposed or Canadian, it is not. On our boat were 17 Hungarians who told me the boat used to be on the Red Sea, and the electrical sockets definitely support it.
Maybe the guy in the thread bashing Cantamar had valid complaints/concerns.
Yes, we were not sure if we were going to complete the trip.
Now after the California boat caught fire, I am thanking God we did not catch fire. I actually have a video of the short circuiting of the lights, I am sure Aggressor would not appreciate if I posted it.
Someone said something about this boat being repurposed or Canadian, it is not. On our boat were 17 Hungarians who told me the boat used to be on the Red Sea, and the electrical sockets definitely support it.
Maybe the guy in the thread bashing Cantamar had valid complaints/concerns.
OP
mcohen1021
Contributor
sadlertravels
Registered
The Red Sea Aggressor I was fantastic, and I would go on the Red Sea Aggressor II and the Oman Aggressor since they are owned by the same man in Egypt. He has the boats custom built, and they are very similar if not the same and provide a very comfortable and reliable experience.
OP
mcohen1021
Contributor
I sent Wayne Brown an email raving about how awesome the RSA I was last year
He wrote me back thanking me for the feedback. In his email, he said "Never hesitate in the future to contact me if you have any questions or concerns."
So in light of the accident on the Cali boat, I decided to write to him again provide a little feedback and share concerns we had on the Socorro boat.
We'll see what I get back, but most importantly, I pray my feedback could help save 30+ lives.
He wrote me back thanking me for the feedback. In his email, he said "Never hesitate in the future to contact me if you have any questions or concerns."
So in light of the accident on the Cali boat, I decided to write to him again provide a little feedback and share concerns we had on the Socorro boat.
We'll see what I get back, but most importantly, I pray my feedback could help save 30+ lives.
Ministryofgiraffes
Contributor
OP
mcohen1021
Contributor
On Sep 20, 2019, at 3:14 PM, Mark C wrote:
Wayne,
Hello from Texas!
I did end up booking another Aggressor adventure, this year was to Socorro on your fairly new to you Socorro Aggressor (April 25-May 2, 2019).
Overall, the trip was fantastic. I will say, you guys have awesome crews and great food, despite serving tuna twice (I just don’t dig on tuna)…
The reason for my email to you was that I can’t stop thinking about the liveaboard that burned in California… And how that could have been us on the Socorro Aggressor. We had two issues on the boat:
1. A pin on the anchor winch broke and we were planted at sea until they could get the anchor up… Even without an anchor, I did not feel that was a safety concern.
2. While we were stranded, anchored, there was an electrical short that burned the main circuit breaker and so the anchor could not be lifted until that was repaired. We were without electricity the rest of the day. It was restored by dinner, with the exception of the air conditioning, which came back by noon the following day.
Your engineer on that boat is great and the crew was 1000% sure he could repair anything.
So, once all of that was repaired, the crew was determined to show us a good time and I felt like the issues were isolated. However, they were not. On the last night of the trip, we were having the awards, and singing happy birthday to my wife. The lights were off as they presented her with a cake. When the lights came on, we heard a loud POOF, an overhead light blew and threw sparks down, which could have caused a fire…
I happened to catch it on video – here is a link to it. The video only captures a single spark, but I assure you there was more.
Short_Circuit - Streamable
When we heard about the boat in California, we both instantly thought about how that could have been us and how lucky we were.
Now, I am not writing you to complain at all. I am writing to you to tell you about it so that in case you are not aware, that the boat has issues that should, In my opinion, be addressed sooner than later before there is another such accident like in California.
Again, the diving, the service, the crew, food, everything was amazing, but I felt the boat was nowhere near the safe/nice level of the Red Sea Aggressor I that we were so impressed by last summer.
I just wanted to provide this feedback as I do not wish to one day read about another dive boat burning and people being killed.
Best Regards,
Mark C
Wayne,
Hello from Texas!
I did end up booking another Aggressor adventure, this year was to Socorro on your fairly new to you Socorro Aggressor (April 25-May 2, 2019).
Overall, the trip was fantastic. I will say, you guys have awesome crews and great food, despite serving tuna twice (I just don’t dig on tuna)…
The reason for my email to you was that I can’t stop thinking about the liveaboard that burned in California… And how that could have been us on the Socorro Aggressor. We had two issues on the boat:
1. A pin on the anchor winch broke and we were planted at sea until they could get the anchor up… Even without an anchor, I did not feel that was a safety concern.
2. While we were stranded, anchored, there was an electrical short that burned the main circuit breaker and so the anchor could not be lifted until that was repaired. We were without electricity the rest of the day. It was restored by dinner, with the exception of the air conditioning, which came back by noon the following day.
Your engineer on that boat is great and the crew was 1000% sure he could repair anything.
So, once all of that was repaired, the crew was determined to show us a good time and I felt like the issues were isolated. However, they were not. On the last night of the trip, we were having the awards, and singing happy birthday to my wife. The lights were off as they presented her with a cake. When the lights came on, we heard a loud POOF, an overhead light blew and threw sparks down, which could have caused a fire…
I happened to catch it on video – here is a link to it. The video only captures a single spark, but I assure you there was more.
Short_Circuit - Streamable
When we heard about the boat in California, we both instantly thought about how that could have been us and how lucky we were.
Now, I am not writing you to complain at all. I am writing to you to tell you about it so that in case you are not aware, that the boat has issues that should, In my opinion, be addressed sooner than later before there is another such accident like in California.
Again, the diving, the service, the crew, food, everything was amazing, but I felt the boat was nowhere near the safe/nice level of the Red Sea Aggressor I that we were so impressed by last summer.
I just wanted to provide this feedback as I do not wish to one day read about another dive boat burning and people being killed.
Best Regards,
Mark C
OP
mcohen1021
Contributor
I received a response today:
From: Wayne B. Brown
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2019 12:29 PM
To: Mark C>
Subject: Re: Aggressor Adventures News
Mark,
Thanks for letting me know but glad to know the cage diving was fantastic!
Since the California incident we have been reviewing all our procedures, emergency exits and plans and all fire equipment and detection. While I will get with the Socorro owner today, I actually have an inspector going out there next week and will make sure they look into this issue as deeply as possible to find out what is going on and if they have a permanent fix.
Let me know if you have any questions about any other destinations including their safety and emergency procedures.
Thanks again!
Wayne B. Brown
CEO Aggressor Adventures™
From: Wayne B. Brown
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2019 12:29 PM
To: Mark C>
Subject: Re: Aggressor Adventures News
Mark,
Thanks for letting me know but glad to know the cage diving was fantastic!
Since the California incident we have been reviewing all our procedures, emergency exits and plans and all fire equipment and detection. While I will get with the Socorro owner today, I actually have an inspector going out there next week and will make sure they look into this issue as deeply as possible to find out what is going on and if they have a permanent fix.
Let me know if you have any questions about any other destinations including their safety and emergency procedures.
Thanks again!
Wayne B. Brown
CEO Aggressor Adventures™
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