Oakville Dive Death Sept 1

[roastbeef]

I've also heard all 3 on board were diving which included the charter operator this is a big no, no in running a charter these days.

 

[NorthernPike]

Its possible that they were friends, one of whom owns the boat, and were not engaged in a charter. Condolences.

 

[roastbeef]

When your boat is registerd and insured as a charter boat regardless of relationships you are responsible 24/7 for whomever rides in and dives off of it.

 

[jjones9527]

I agree, especially in a case that I would consider a "Tech Dive", there should always be some sort of surface support in case something goes wrong.

 

[Stoo]

When your boat is registered and insured as a charter boat regardless of relationships you are responsible 24/7 for whomever rides in and dives off of it.

I certainly agree that having a responsible person tending the boat is mandatory, but if this was three friends out diving together, one of whom happens to own a charter company and the boat, I don't think that there is an regulation that would require him to be in the boat, assuming that they aren't paying passengers.

My understanding is that the liability of a charter operator is to get his passengers to the dive site and back again. What happens when they are diving is not his responsibility. Admittedly, I am a little rusty on these regulations...

Whether any of this is remotely applicable in this case is yet to be determined I think.

 

[roastbeef]

True but the owner or a dive mster not being in the boat to give immediate assistance in case of an emergency such as in this case kind of changes things and I'm sure this will definitely be looked at by that divers family and there lawyer. I do believe many of the charter operators have insurance through diving agencies such as PADI that have very strict requirements pertaining to dive boats, instructors and dive Masters.

 

[Stoo]

True but the owner or a dive mster not being in the boat to give immediate assistance in case of an emergency such as in this case kind of changes things and I'm sure this will definitely be looked at by that divers family and there lawyer. I do believe many of the charter operators have insurance through diving agencies such as PADI that have very strict requirements pertaining to dive boats, instructors and dive Masters.

I'm not sure why we're even discussing this since we have no idea what the circumstances if this dive were. Regardless, the comments above make sense IF they were paying passengers.... If not, then they're irrelevant I suspect. I doubt that there is a law or "rule" that would prevent this operator from diving from his boat with friends.

 

[roastbeef]

Ya! your correct a little of topic.

Cheers

 

[jjones9527]

From what I hear, so take that for what its worth, 1 diver went down alone while the other 2 waited, completed his dive with no problems, then ascended and got back on the boat.

The deceased and the RB diver then went down for their dive, while the first diver waited on the boat. When the first diver noticed that the other 2 were over due, he descended to find the deceased divers mask on the bottom and the RB diver doing a search pattern.

So the boat was only left unattended when there was the potential that there was an emergency in progress.

 

[Michael_Lambert]

For what it is worth, according to the OUC report thus far from first hand knowledge of the accident. The diver showed signs of distress and was escorted to the surface with his buddy. Seems during the accent the diver then lost vital signs.

During the dive the victim who was on open circuit SCUBA indicated that he was in distress. This
necessitated his being helped to the surface by his buddy.
Following the ascent, the rebreather diver who had boarded the boat notified authorities of the
incident via marine radio prompting a large response by Toronto, Peel and Halton marine units.

Taken from here