Unknown Two abandoned drifters rescued by ferry, one hospitalized - Western Australia
- Thread starter DandyDon
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As a Perth diver, I can confirm that many of the local divers are both appalled and very pissed off with the nonchalant attitude of both the wildcat crew and the PDA comments. It feels like very basic safety procedures were totally ignored. We await the report from AMSA...
Puppeteer
Contributor
I'd recommend waiting to see the AMSA report before jumping to any conclusions as to what happened on this one. The media likely doesn't have all of the facts about what did or didn't happen on board the boat or during the dive.
clownfishsydney
Contributor
Don't need the AMSA report to know that they left the two divers behind. Clear as it possibly could be. They were back in port when the ferry contacted them and told them they had found two of their divers. DID NOT EVEN KNOW. This is clear from the VHF radio recordings. Doesn't matter if the divers totally stuffed up, they were left behind.
DownUnderwater Dan
Contributor
One article quoted the dive op as replying to the discovery: “I don’t mind if you want to put them back in the water and we can pick them up.”
‘Put them back in the water’: Rottnest ferry rescues divers ‘stranded’ by tour boat off WA coast
Two men were allegedly left behind during an organised diving tour, stranded for hours before help arrived.www.watoday.com.au
A pretty shocking, & out of touch with reality of the situation, response from the dive op.
"...put them back in the water...", They were 3 nautical miles off the coast!, it wasn't like they were near shore, or anywhere near within eyesight from dive op! And most of all, they had already been missing for hours.
The story says, "The men, who were experienced divers," ... Very fortunate that they were at least experienced, and were in possession of and able to deploy SMB at least on surface, could've been so much worse. Also, fortunate to be found in daylight hours, probably not far off from night time.
As a Perth local, I've done plenty of dives & trips to Rottnest Island over the past few years, and it's actually a real surprise that something like this has happened in 2025. I've never dived with PDA before, and it's too early for me to make judgement before all facts known. But I couldn't imagine this would happen, with any of the other dive charter operators in Perth, that I would regularly go with.
Maybe he won't make such a statement after he loses his license.
ABC posted a new article quoting the incident from the divers' and ferry point of view. Not much new from what's been published already, but I guess a bit more detailed.
www.abc.net.au
'Treated it like a joke': Divers left behind off Perth coast furious at company
Two brothers who were left behind in the ocean during a diving expedition off the Perth coast say they feared they wouldn't survive the ordeal.
www.abc.net.au
ABC posted a new article quoting the incident from the divers' and ferry point of view. Not much new from what's been published already, but I guess a bit more detailed.
'Treated it like a joke': Divers left behind off Perth coast furious at company
Two brothers who were left behind in the ocean during a diving expedition off the Perth coast say they feared they wouldn't survive the ordeal.
Smh
Blackcrusader
Contributor
DownUnderwater Dan
Contributor
ABC posted a new article quoting the incident from the divers' and ferry point of view. Not much new from what's been published already, but I guess a bit more detailed.
'Treated it like a joke': Divers left behind off Perth coast furious at company
Two brothers who were left behind in the ocean during a diving expedition off the Perth coast say they feared they wouldn't survive the ordeal.
Pretty damning & shocking information from the 2 brothers who were left behind. I can totally understand if they're "furious" at Perth Diving Academy. It's complete unprofessionalism from the dive op, and that they weren't conducting post-dive headcounts makes one wonder, if they were actually trained to know the basics, or worse, if it was gross negligence on behalf of the crew.
What looked like a beautiful day underwater, could've changed drastically, into a worst nightmare. The fact they at least were better equipped than the average diver, with strobe lighting, shark shield and SMB, probably actually prevented a potential tragedy.
It's not like it was a couple of recreational divers going out in their own boat & time to dive, it was a dive service that they put their trust in, with standards, guidelines and laws that appears to be totally flaunted.
A "3m shark" lurking below, one hopes it was just a grey nurse, kudos to the divers coming prepared with a shark shield. Out of my dozens of dives in Perth/Rottnest, I've only seen it twice, and only engaged at the safety stop near surface.
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