Diver Missing - Aliwal Shoal

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ShoalDiverSA

Contributor
Messages
795
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Location
Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
# of dives
50 - 99
Quoted from today's (16 March 2004) edition of The Mercury newspaper:

Diver Listed Missing

The police have listed Brazilian Magareth de Souza-Nascinengo, who vanished on Saturday while diving off the Aliwal Shoal, as missing.

Police spokesman Zandra Hechter said three days of airborne and underwater searches had proved unsuccessful.

-Mercury Reporter

The story I have heard thus far is that the group was diving a feature of the Shoal known as Cathedral. Cathedral has a maximum depth on the sand of 26 to 27m. The top of the reef is around 17 to 18m deep at this point depending on the tide.

The diver indicated to the DM that she was having trouble and would ascend to the surface, effectively aborting her dive. When the group ended the dive later, they discovered that she had not surfaced (or had not been spotted by the skipper).

This is truly a tragedy. The regulars on the Shoal are shocked over this loss. I really hope that they manage to find her soon.

Please correct any inaccuracies if you get further information.

Andrew
 
Sure...They just let her go off by herself. Figures.
 
There are just not enough details of what transpired to start forming opinions on the actions of the DM, the charter or the diver. I was told that she signalled to the DM that she was aborting the dive due to some problem. I cannot guarantee the veracity of this statement. Maybe she signalled that she was ending her dive as she was low on air or had had enough for one dive, who knows? I have seen divers end their dives solo for these reasons before with every dive charter I have dived with thus far. I personally prefer to end the dive with my buddy. We also don't know what the conditions were like (vis + current) on Sunday as this would also have affected the actions and decisions taken by the divers involved.

I will say one thing, though, as the dive was on Cathedral (26m), I expect that she is at least an Advanced diver. I really hope that this was not another one of those "Open Water divers hover on top of the reef" dives. IMO, this is a dangerous practice on a reef that is 5km out to sea which can have strong currents on the bottom.

Perhaps in the next few days more information will be available on the actual events. As with all diving accidents, the details right now are sketchy at best (refer to the RB forum).

For now we can only hope that she is found.

Andrew
 
ShoalDiverSA:
There are just not enough details of what transpired to start forming opinions on the actions of the DM, the charter or the diver. I was told that she signalled to the DM that she was aborting the dive due to some problem. I<snip>

I don't want to pass judgement in this case based on zero real evidence but I will say that I can't think of any circumstances under which it would seem logical to me to send a diver with a problem solo diving.....:

Let's get one thing clear for posterity sake:


For beginning divers...when you have a problem you NEVER abort alone!

For budding DM's....when a diver has a problem they NEVER abort alone!

For instructors....please for everyone's sake teach your students when the have a problem NEVER to abort alone!


Sheesh!

For now we can only hope that she is found.

Indeed.

R..
 
My first thought when I read the original post was why the **** is she going up alone or being allowed to go up alone? So what should have happened? (serious question, I'm looking for an answer). The DM aborts everyones dive and sends everyone to the surface with the diver and refunds their money? At the very least I would think her buddy should have gone up as well.

Bill.
 
Lightning Fish:
<snip> So what should have happened? (serious question, I'm looking for an answer). The DM aborts everyones dive and sends everyone to the surface with the diver and refunds their money? At the very least I would think her buddy should have gone up as well.

Bill.

Hi Bill,

The first option isn't practical on a guided dive. Recalling an entire dive-group is only usually done in the case of an emergency, which it didn't look like this was until aftre the diver had left the group.....

The second option is practical if you have functioning buddy teams, assuming an appropriate level of dive experience and whatnot but without getting too long winded about it, the buddy system isn't usually taught well and the expectation that you can put two total strangers together in a buddy team and that they will stick together and act as a team is unrealistic much of the time. Maybe this diver had a buddy, maybe not. As a DM you have a measure of control over this but you can't train people to be good buddies during a dive briefing. You can insist that they do it and give tips for staying together etc but that's about it. Most resort boats I've ever seen are very slack in this department.

What *is* possible is to double team a group with 2 or more guides. In this case, for example, you may have one DM responsible for the navigation and dive profile and another responsible for sorting out problems or something along these lines. The 2nd DM would have been able to escort a buddy-less diver with a problem to the surface and make sure she was taken care of by the boat etc. before rejoining the group again. If the boat has a tender like a zodiac this can help enormously and can be very effective.....it's also more expensive for the dive operator so ...... You guessed it, it's rare to see it.

Does that address your question?

R..
 
One thing that I have had real experience with is the inability to find divers on the surface. Last year I was involved in a search for 3 missing divers who had gone missing because they came up from a drfit dive in rough conditions without a SMB or adequate means to get the captains attention. This may not be what happened in this case but it is something that can help avoid similair situations.

Stay visible.

I am sorry to hear about the loss of any diver.
 
Feel bad for all involved. Must be horrid to loose a diver. Who knows who is really to blame at this stage. If I were the DM I would be very worried about a potential court case.... he/she had better have a bloody good lawyer and insurance package as letting even an Advanced diver abort a dive solo MAY be considered gross negligence.... even though of course as a certified diver you are responsible for yourself and have signed waivers etc. The DM had better just thank their lucky stars she was not an American.

Theoretically SHE should have known better than to abort the dive solo and should have signalled to a buddy to come with her. However, courts may see it differently.

If I was that DM I would be worried about my own liability. Eeek! However, right now he/she is probably feeling bad enough about what happened without the worry of going to court.
 
diver567:
... they came up from a drift dive in rough conditions without a SMB ...

I believe that an SMB is essential equipment on the Shoal and both my wife and I carry one. While this and a whistle are probably the cheapest pieces of SCUBA equipment, it is surprising how few people possess them (or any better alternatives).

As stated earlier, this reef is subject to strong currents at times. I have surfaced up to 300m away from the boat after a dive due to high surface currents dragging me away during the ascent. That's a long way to shout after a dive (or for the Skipper to see one of my blue fins), particularly if there are big swells running. A surface signalling device is a necessity.

Lightning Fish:
... So what should have happened? (serious question, I'm looking for an answer). ...

I believe that the correct way to deal with a diver who is experiencing problems is for the DM to attend to the diver and assist them to the surface if needs be. The buoy line must be handed over to the next most experienced diver in the group who will then end the dive and return the group to the surface if the situation warrants it. If not, this diver will then sit tight with the group until the DM returns. I dive with a good friend of mine who is a DM, and this procedure forms part of every pre-dive briefing. The person to whom the buoy line will be handed in the event of an emergency is identified at the briefing. The decision to select someone is not only made on qualifications, but also whether the person is familiar with the Shoal. If there is no-one suitable to take the buoy line, the plan for emergency situations is changed to a group abort. This is decided and discussed up front every time. He has been accused by customers of being anal about safety in his briefings, but he always comes back with his entire group. That says enough about him for me. It is rare for a group to not have at least one Rescue or Advanced diver, so this should be practical to implement.

Cheers,

Andrew
 
ShoalDiverSA:
There are just not enough details of what transpired to start forming opinions on the actions of the DM, the charter or the diver. I was told that she signalled to the DM that she was aborting the dive due to some problem. I cannot guarantee the veracity of this statement. Maybe she signalled that she was ending her dive as she was low on air or had had enough for one dive, who knows?

When turn pressure is reached the whole buddy team ends the dive.
I have seen divers end their dives solo for these reasons before with every dive charter I have dived with thus far.

We all have and when are people going to learn?
I personally prefer to end the dive with my buddy.
Me too.
I will say one thing, though, as the dive was on Cathedral (26m), I expect that she is at least an Advanced diver.

As far as I'm concerned OAW and $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee.
Perhaps in the next few days more information will be available on the actual events.

Andrew

I'm not going to hold my breath.
 

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