Reading "No Safe Harbor"

[robint]

I am reading No Safe Harbor, the story of the disaster of the Peter Hughes Belize liveaboard in 2001. Amazon.com: No Safe Harbor: The Tragedy of the Dive Ship Wave Dancer: Joe Burnworth: Books
I have known about the book and heard great reviews ever since it came out. I have not wanted to read it because I was afraid it would cause me to be afraid of liveaboards.

It is such a good book for many reasons I wanted to bring it up here. Any liveaboard diver should get this book and read it right now. It might scare you away from liveaboards, but I am taking this a huge learning experience for the industry. Too many mistakes were made on this trip by the liveaboard operator and it resulted in many deaths. I do believe that lessons were learned, a bit too late for the 17 people who died, but if they hadn't died this time it would have happened eventually on some other boat. Read the book and you will see what I mean. I am so glad that the book was written (by someone who was there).

Anyhow, I started the book Friday afternoon and I will finish it sometime today, that's how good it is. It is an easy read, some scuba "lessons" for the non-diving reader, and lots of things that have made me think about my upcoming trip and what I would do in such a situation. I think, by reading this book, I will be more prepared than I was before reading it.


robin

 

[Desert_Diver]

I will be interested to see if you think blame was apportioned appropriately after you finish the book.

I enjoyed the book. I am a big fan of Nekton liveaboards, although it's been a couple of years since I've dived with them. I am signed up for an Aggressor liveaboard in Palau later this year. But I have to admit, I feel uncomfortable with the idea of diving of a Peter Hughes boat now.

Please post after you finish the book. I'd be interested in your opinion.

Art

 

[drbill]

My #1 dive buddy, Andrea, was crew on the Wave Dancer until shortly before this incident. She returned to the States and was replaced by another local diver and friend, Aaron Starck. He lost his life on the Wave Dancer, returning to the cabin to try to rescue passengers. Very sad loss. At least he died doing something he loved... but it shouldn't have happened.

 

[moneysavr]

Yes the book was good-liveaboards are great-
Captains fall in to a vicious cycle of being at the mercy of the Master of the vessel (OWNER)and responsible for the crew and passengers.
In all it was a tragic loss of life and the Captain of the Wave dancer is at fault as IMO the other boats The Captains TOO! for not offering other tie off options-extra lines and so on.What really hits me hard is when the owner fly 's in he walks by basically blows off survivors of his wrecked ship-sad!

 

[robint]

okay, the weather was crappy here today so I just finished the book. I am angry that so many things went wrong all at the same time. Yes, I am a bit angry at the Aggressor capt for not helping them more with tying off, but I am more angry at the Peter Hughes corp altogether. They really *******edup big time. I feel bad for the guests and the crew who knew that bad things were about to come to a head and couldn't help out in fear of losing their jobs. I am mad that the boat "owner" didn't seem to care at all about these poor people and only cared about covering his bumm, never took responsibility, and was rude to the survivors. He should have walked up to them and hugged them and cried with them. Instead he backed away and started pointing fingers. The captain was incompetent, the crew hated him and wanted off the boat, and the boat had all large pieces of equipment (freezers, dryers, compressors, etc) just sitting on the floor not bolted down (so when the boat tipped they slid and made the boat capsize), and a CAT 4 HURRICANE was headed straight for them. Horrible set of circumstances ---- all at once.

Okay, for those of you who haven't read it, go buy it. It is a real eye-opener of how things can spiral out of control and cause a tragedy. The survivors and the family members of the dead didn't get squat as far as compensation either. Not even a penny from PH corp for their gear that got lost! I think the whole tragedy should be blamed on PH corp ultimately. The guests were snowed into believing the capt when he told them they would be fine and diving the next day if they stayed on the boat. I hope he has nightmares the rest of his life.

I know that Peter Hughes doesn't own the company anymore, they just use his name, but every time I see an ad for their liveaboards I will think about this tragedy. Sad, so so so very sad.

robin

 

[almitywife]

wow... ive heard of the wave dancer but i still cant imagine such a horror. ive just ordered the book

 

[Allison Finch]

Just remember that the Aggressor boat made the SAME decisions. They were tied up together. It is just bad joss that the accident happened to the PH boat. It could have happened to any of the boats tied up in that river.

I have dived PH boats many times and will again, at every opportunity.

Also, books are one person's reflection of any incident. Let's not open up, YET AGAIN, another PH smear campain. PH boats are owned by seperate owners. To smear PH is to, unjustly, affect many different people who had no part of that tragedy.

 

[drbill]

Agree with Allison to the extent that individual boats are under separate ownership.

I would not categorically rule a PH boat out of the running for a liveaboard dive trip. However, I would certainly research the individual boat in question (as I would any other liveaboard I considered using).

 

[mike_s]

Its easy to blame the captain based on his incompetence and inexperience, but just remember he was hired by the owner.

It's easy to blame the owner also, as he hired the inexperienced captain and maintined a boat that didn not meet safety compliance.

I don't see how Hughes doesn't shoulder some of the fault though as he franchised his operation to a boat that wasn't maintained properly and hired inexperienced captain.


I do agree with Allison though that this book is the view of one person and should be read that way. Of course Hughes would not publish his account as it would definately be used as liability against him in any legal proceedings.

For a more independent reading check out the IMARBE Report from the investigation from the accident.

 

[robint]

Just remember that the Aggressor boat made the SAME decisions. They were tied up together. It is just bad joss that the accident happened to the PH boat. It could have happened to any of the boats tied up in that river.

I have dived PH boats many times and will again, at every opportunity.

Also, books are one person's reflection of any incident. Let's not open up, YET AGAIN, another PH smear campain. PH boats are owned by seperate owners. To smear PH is to, unjustly, affect many different people who had no part of that tragedy.

Yes, the Aggressor boat made the same decision to ride out the storm there, but they arrived several hours earlier AND had adequate ropes to tie the boat to the dock. The Aggressor didn't flip for that reason AND the fact that the PH boat had all heavy equipment just sitting on the floors, not bolted down - which means when the boat snapped its lines and tilted at a angle from the storm surge, ALL the heavy equipment slid to one side. This made the boat rock violently over and capsize. I blame the PH corp for that.

The book isn't just one person's opinion of an event. He interviewed everyone involved and he was on the Aggressor when it happened. He spoke to people right there during the event and helped with the body recovery. I don't think anything in the book comes accross as accusatory towards anyone. The reports printed in the book about the state of the boat, showing all the things that contributed to its flipping are right there. You can't dispute them.

I am not trying to trash PH boats. I just wanted people to read the boat and LEARN some lessons from it. As I have said, I think many things went wrong and I hope ALL liveaboard operators have read this book and LEARN from it. I hope all divers who plan to go on a liveaboard read this book and learn from it.

robin