Malaysia: Missing Instructor swims 30 Km to shore

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DandyDon

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Good outcome but the story is more of n accident than an oops so I'll post it here. I don't know if I could walk that far in a day? My first reaction would be to tie all together in a group but he was trying to be the hero. Glad all came out ok. Nearly 20 miles and he swam back to his own resort! I want to take his navigation class...!!

Missing diver returns to shore after 30km swim
KUCHING: A dive instructor who was presumed lost at sea swam ashore to the Damai Puri Resort beachfront yesterday morning, astonishing not just reporters but search and rescue personnel.

Sunburnt, tired and emotional at times – but speaking coherently – Hishashi Koze, 39, said he swam non-stop for close to 24 hours since Saturday afternoon.
Safely back to shore: Makoto (right) being helped out of the fishing vessel which rescued him and Ngu on Saturday night.

He was part of a trio reported missing by the boatman who had taken them to the site of a Japanese shipwreck, about 50 minutes from the Santubong peninsula.

The other divers – Satoo Makoto, 40, who works for a Japanese company here, and his friend from Kuala Lumpur, Ngu Teck Hua, 52 – were found by a fishing vessel at 8.37pm at Tanjung Sipang the same night.

The duo were rescued following efforts led by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and were released from the Sarawak General Hospital yesterday after staying overnight under observation.

On Saturday, a routine dive to look at underwater relics quickly turned into a nightmare at about noon.

After two successful dives, Koze, Makoto and Ngu decided to dive for a third time.

“The third dive lasted for about an hour. We surfaced and I saw the boat was quite far away,” Koze said.

The boat had drifted with the current, and the boatman panicked, having earlier lost sight of the trio’s air bubbles, which is a common safety indicator between divers and boatmen.

“I left the two to get the boat to pick us up. But when I could not see the boat nor the two divers, it was my responsibility to get rescue.”

“I swam (backstroke) against the waves. I think it was like 30km, through the afternoon, through the night, until this morning (yesterday) when I came ashore at about 10am.

“I kept thinking I needed to survive,” he said.

Koze, who has 15 years of experience as a dive master, manages a dive shop for Damai Puri Resort.

He said as light faded he swam “following the stars,” adding that “I had to be calm.

“The direction of the current told me I was in the right direction. I also had a compass.”

On whether he would dive again, the average-built Koze said: “Yes, maybe after a week or two.”
 
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Wow, thirty kilometers is quite a swim, even--as I assume it was--with the current. I don't think it was a prudent choice to "get rescue" unless land was close by--certainly within sight. The standard advice is to stay together, and in this case that would have led to a better outcome. Nevertheless, he is a stud, and I'm glad everybody came out okay.
 
Wreck dive... static site.... would indicate that it was definitely the boat which drifted away.

Surprised that they wouldn't anchor, or buoy the site. If the boat found the site in the first place (visual reference, gps etc), then it's ridiculous they wouldn't be able to stay on top of it.

If nothing else, Instructor/Guide and Boat Crew communicate the dive plan/time... and boat crew knows to be alert and on top of the site at a designated time.

Watching 'bubbles' is not sufficient...and still doesn't explain how the boat drifted from the wreck site.

Sounds to me like the boat crew (as often happens in the tropics) went to sleep...

No mention of DSMB/Sausage. Bad.

Not sure how the instructor allowed himself to be separated from his customers once drifting. Again.. bad. Should have kept the group together.
 
can't tell exactly happened, but my guess is the inexperienced boat crew, or maybe the leader forget to instruct the crew what do next after they jumped in......:(

It is a dive center run by some Japaneses, wonder any one try their service before??
 
the boatman panicked,

WTH!!! So, not knowing where the divers were he left? Didn't radio for help? Didn't initiate a search pattern? As Andy said, how'd he find the dive site to begin with?

I'm glad the swimmer is safe, but this is just a 'cluster' that turned out ok.
 
WTH!!! So, not knowing where the divers were he left? Didn't radio for help? Didn't initiate a search pattern? As Andy said, how'd he find the dive site to begin with?

I'm glad the swimmer is safe, but this is just a 'cluster' that turned out ok.

santubong peninsula in sarawak, My guess is they chartered a local fishing boat to take them out there, not really any one to radio in a relatively remote part of borneo, even if a fishing boat had a radio.. which i also doubt...

Edit: after re-reading the story it seems he swam to penninsular malaysia, so he was at least smart enough to realize it was safer to swim towards where he would hit land for sure, rather than try and swim for borneo and risk the possibility of ending up in open ocean. Certainly a fascinating story.

Edit edit: i was misreading again, he swam for kuching, the others were rescued by a boat based off peninsular malaysia.
 
Wow, that's a hell of a swim. That could have ended up a lot worse but everyone made it and it is an experience to look back on for improvements.
 
I also think they were very forunate to have good weather,favorable current,no wind, no hungry sharks,for being relatively fit enough to cope with swimming non stop for that long,for being able to keep on course and mostly to not panick......30 kilos from the coast you won't still see land....especially if you are swimming- you will have to know where to go or be able to use your compass well.

Wel done guys for keeping it together for that long & for making it !
 
I also think they were very forunate to have good weather,favorable current,no wind, no hungry sharks,for being relatively fit enough to cope with swimming non stop for that long,for being able to keep on course and mostly to not panick......30 kilos from the coast you won't still see land....especially if you are swimming- you will have to know where to go or be able to use your compass well.

Wel done guys for keeping it together for that long & for making it !
I think the article plainly explains that they did not stay together. There are only 8 posts before yours so it wouldn't take long to read the article and replies already given. :shakehead:
 

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