Equipment Woman loses lower leg to prop - Maldives liveaboard

[RB7]

It does not have to be clipped, if there is slack in the rope, you can still get entangled. I see often divers. trying to get their reel sorted at the surface when waiting for the boat with a lot of slack.

That make sense. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RB7]

Did not happen in our case.

The two liveaboard trips I did in the Maldives.. the first dive in both, the guides asked us to practice deploying SMBs... And it made sense as there were numerous times we had buddy pairs separate from the main group as they ran out of air or NDL and had to unhook from the deep reefs in current and start getting shallower .. so it was very common for one buddy to inflate the SMB while the other kind of helped ensure they didn't get pulled up or help out in case of trouble... And all this while in a current..so practice was needed for sure.

 

[Dan]

It happened in the Victory wreck, not in Fish tank. I did dive it few times nice dive.
At least Male is nearby hopefully victim was transported to the hospital quickly.

Yes. as stated in the news, it happened in the Victory wreck. Shark Tank has sandy bottom, no wreck, as shown in my video. I just mentioned that I was on Maldives Aggressor II last month. They seem to be safety conscious. One of the crews would always at the bridge to give a hand when we move in / out of the Dhoni & the mother boat.

This is my 2nd trip on Maldives Aggressor II. The first one was in December 2018, Trip Report - Maldives 9 - 16 December 2018 TripReport. I wouldn’t come back to Maldives on the same boat if I think their operation is unsafe. So, this must be an accident beyond their control.

 

[Pearlman]

Even if an inflated DSMB was clipped to her BCD (around the upper body typically), how would the propellor hit the victim only around the knee? Unless she found herself getting pulled in and tried to swim away…

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

Unless she found herself getting pulled in and tried to swim away…

I guess (!) that is what happened: SMB line got entangled in the prop and dragged her toward the boat. Reaction to avoid injuries would have been to put feets/fins toward the prop and trying to swim away.

 

[runsongas]

you aren't going to swim away from being basically winched in. fast reaction with a cutting tool (emt shears/trilobite) or unclipping would have been required if already in a bad situation due to it being clipped to bcd.

 

[tarponchik]

The two liveaboard trips I did in the Maldives.. the first dive in both, the guides asked us to practice deploying SMBs... And it made sense as there were numerous times we had buddy pairs separate from the main group as they ran out of air or NDL and had to unhook from the deep reefs in current and start getting shallower .. so it was very common for one buddy to inflate the SMB while the other kind of helped ensure they didn't get pulled up or help out in case of trouble... And all this while in a current..so practice was needed for sure.

In our case they just gave orange sausages (no strings) to everyone who did not bring their own SMBs. I kept mine zipped in the BCD pocket and never used it. A guy in our group (4 divers + DM) came with a real SMB and he deployed it on every dive ("just to practice it", he said).

 

[Dan]

I have been diving in Maldives 5 times (Maldives Aggressor II twice, Emperor Leo, Carpe Vita, Blue Horizon III), on the checkout dive, DM wanted to see how everyone launch our DSMBs. A few times I had to launch DSMB for my group when we stayed a bit longer in Kandu diving while the rest of the group already drifted to the shallow.

To make a quick launch, I have a dedicated low pressure hose to fill up my DSMB quickly so I don’t get dragged up by the DSMB.

 

[Pearlman]

A guy in our group (4 divers + DM) came with a real SMB and he deployed it on every dive ("just to practice it", he said).

Exactly what I also do … but I have been careful never to clip it on my harness D-Ring anytime. Last year just after I deployed my DSMB a school of large bumpheads came up real close to me at the safety stop and I wanted to shoot a video. Rather than clip it, I swam to the dive guide whom I had requested never to deploy his DSMB for any dives with me (because I would be the one doing it) and handed over my DSMB - after which I started shooting the video of a lifetime that I wanted.

 

[brownie]

Pre-Covid I did dozens of liveaboards all across the globe (Maldives included) from 2005 through 2019. We were never required to deploy our DSMB as part of our checkout dive.

September 2022 I was booked on the Naia (Fiji liveaboard) and was pleasantly surprised when we were all asked to deploy our DSMB on our checkout dive. I thought, at the time, that was a very smart initiative on the part of Naia crew.

I dive frequently in Cozumel where there is lots of boat traffic and often, lots of current. I make a habit of deploying mine on most dives. I use my drysuit whip to inflate: fast, safe and convenient. My DSMB is attached to a spool with about 100 feet of line. I like to deploy it at depth. Upon inflation and releasing the surface marker, the spool spins on my thumb--easy to cast aside in case of an emergency. Slack in the line is not good--always maintain tension to avoid entanglement.