New safety rules for liveaboards in the Red Sea

[samaka]

Press Release from CDWS

Egyptian Chamber of Diving & Watersports announces new regulations requiring use of tracking devices on all dive safari boats operating in remote locations.
Following recommendations from the Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS), the Egyptian Minster of Tourism has issued a decree stating that all safari boats operating in remote areas must carry on board an approved diver-tracking system. Remote areas are currently defined by the CDWS as the Brothers Islands and any site further south.
The decree has been issued in a bid to help prevent cases of lost divers in remote and current-exposed areas, such as the southern most dive sites of the Egyptian Red Sea. Such systems are already being used by some safari boat operators in these areas as an extra safety measure.
All safari boat operators have now been given until then end on June 2010 to implement the new system. Any tracking device that meets the following criteria may be used:
* those approved by the NTRA (National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority): www.ntra.gov.eg
* those tested and approved by CDWS
To date only the SeaSafe system has completed the approval process, with two other products currently undergoing a series of tests. The results of the latest approvals will be announced to CDWS members once completed.

.......anders.......

 

[Thalassamania]

Is there really a need (based on cases) or is this just another boondoggle?

 

[ArthurGerla]

In the past years a number of divers have been lost at sea after being swept away from the reef by currents. In one famous case a single diver from a group of five swam to shore all the way from Elphinstone. The others were never found.

IMHO, making divers carry a radio beacon is overdoing it a bit. A torch and a sizable SMB should do just fine.

 

[=C=]

In the past years a number of divers have been lost at sea after being swept away from the reef by currents. In one famous case a single diver from a group of five swam to shore all the way from Elphinstone. The others were never found.

IMHO, making divers carry a radio beacon is overdoing it a bit. A torch and a sizable SMB should do just fine.

When I read about that case the single diver alerted rescurers to the group and the made it...

The Czech's are on the loose end in terms of saftey and I have herd of two cases from people who were on trips. Its normal that there are other boats at the popular sites and in both cases the divers just returned to port on another boat. If this happened on a remote site it would be a big problem.

IMHO I think SMB and a diver IN/OUT system is enough.


Or... Maybe we could tie a string to the big toe of every diver and then reel them in at 18m a min at the end of 30min. If we limit the lenght of the string then we dont have to worry about deco either!

 

[Jai Bar]

When I read about that case the single diver alerted rescurers to the group and the made it...

The Czech's are on the loose end in terms of saftey and I have herd of two cases from people who were on trips. Its normal that there are other boats at the popular sites and in both cases the divers just returned to port on another boat. If this happened on a remote site it would be a big problem.

IMHO I think SMB and a diver IN/OUT system is enough.


Or... Maybe we could tie a string to the big toe of every diver and then reel them in at 18m a min at the end of 30min. If we limit the lenght of the string then we dont have to worry about deco either!

Unfortunately, there were a few more cases. For example on with the whole group lost, another incident a single diver made it to the beach- the rest of the group never found and the last incident- not long ago- single diver made it ashore and the rescuers modified the location of search accordingly and found the rest of the group-> happy end..

If you look in CDNN, you'll find other incidents some with happy end (divers found after 12 hours drifting in current) and others with less luck..

At least in 1-2 of the cases (and probably more), rescuers apparently were searching in the wrong place (wrong estimation of currents?), and not searching at night at all, so both SMB and torch are not enough. Beacon is the way to go if it covers a range of 30-40 km.. More chances to find someone after several hours.

Pity that these gadgets are relatively big and thus are some sort of annoyance during a dive...

Oh, and tying a string won't help- some of the unfortunate cases the group was held together by the instructors/guides, and all of them were lost "tied together"... At least that's what the single survivor said.

 

[miketsp]

In the past years a number of divers have been lost at sea after being swept away from the reef by currents. In one famous case a single diver from a group of five swam to shore all the way from Elphinstone. The others were never found.

IMHO, making divers carry a radio beacon is overdoing it a bit. A torch and a sizable SMB should do just fine.

I looked at some of the Seasafe products on the quoted site but didn't see any product with a depth rating beyond 10m. Did anyone see one with a rating of at least 40m?

 

[Crowley]

Sadly Thal, a small minority of idiots have justified the requirement for the tracking devices (at least in the local regulatory body's mind) where in the majority of cases, yes an SMB and LISTENING TO THE DIVE BRIEFING would suffice.

Safe diving,

C.

 

[InTheDrink]

When I was there (Brothers) last year they recently had some divers drift from little brother to big brother, a fair bit away. And while I was there we did have to examine in detail debris that could have been a diver in the distance. Although I didn't find the currents there particularly strong, some people don't seem to know how to deal with them and seem to get into trouble frequently. We had to get several tired divers from other boats that were exhausted trying to make their way back (aside: there were oceanic white tips around too, visible, when these tired divers were swimming - you can only imagine my shock and horror when one of these tired divers was pulled on to the boat with only one leg!!! I thought he'd been bit but I was wrong, he was simply an amputee, so it's not terribly surprising he struggled in that current)

The EPIRB I was given in Cocos wasn't particularly obtrusive so I'd have no objection wearing one in the Red Sea. Do I think it's strictly necessary? No, but it's probably a good idea given the frequency of these dislocation events.

J