Live Aboard Capsizes

[Hintermann]

I've dived with them several times and won't hesitate to dive with them every opportunity I get!

Understood. Each to his/her own. I believe that divers are usually more sensitive than other travellers to anything that goes wrong, probably because of the nature of the holiday activity. Therefore, both positive and negative reviews can be biased by personal experience.

For instance, I had a super time on a 11/12 cruise of Raja Ampat on board the MSV Seahorse. But I noted that only a few months later another diver reported (in these forums) a very bad experience on the same boat and probably the same crew for the most part. This can happen.

My decision to avoid the Siren Fleet after just one trip was not based on anything that went wrong (nothing did) or lack of professionalism among the crew (no complaints there) but rather their attitude towards the guests and the overall atmosphere. I got the impression that they were being patronising and occasionally hostile and while most of us preferred to keep quiet, an American guest (very justifiably) had a major altercation with them. To be honest, of the 19 liveaboard cruises that I have been on, the Philippine Siren is the only one where I was glad to leave the boat despite some great diving.

I can understand and accept that not all diver guests feel the same or even have similar priorities. But one can only speak from and make decisions based on personal experience and with me and the Siren Fleet, it was a very decisive "never again!".

 

[soundfield]

Has anyone heard what they are doing for customers that had deposits down on upcoming trips on the Siren? I have not heard anything from them and I have a deposit down for 2016?

 

[Cali_diver]

Has anyone heard what they are doing for customers that had deposits down on upcoming trips on the Siren? I have not heard anything from them and I have a deposit down for 2016?

They said they would contact anyone who had a trip that would be effected during the repair period so I would assume that the boat will be fine for your trip. If you have concerns I would contact them personally.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm sorry this has happened to Siren fleet again.

Yes, they're handling exigent times well. Like Malaysian Air, they're getting lots of opportunity to get it right.

I don't know what is going on but maybe Siren needs to quit hiring for "niceness" when it comes to shipboard engineer, pilot and captain.

 

[smooboy]

Has anyone heard what they are doing for customers that had deposits down on upcoming trips on the Siren? I have not heard anything from them and I have a deposit down for 2016?

We just got an email today that our Jan 26th 2016 trip is cancelled and they are offering us a refund on our deposit. They may also try and help us rebook our diving in Palau since we already have plane tickets and a week in Yap planned after Palau. We'll see how long it takes for the refund to come through

---------- Post added September 9th, 2015 at 08:30 AM ----------

When doing incident/accident analysis it is rarely just one thing that causes the “big one,” rather a cascading series of little mistakes. That is a well known tenant in the investigation of these things. I am seeing a cascade start with regards to Siren Fleet. That is all I am saying. If they have a good risk manager, then they already recognize this pattern and should be initiating plans to stop the cascade.

Your first statement is absolutely correct, but I am not at all certain you understand the concept of a cascade of events. Without getting too far into chaos theory, I do not see how you can link hull damage in Thailand, an electrical fire in Raja Ampat, a Typhoon in Truk and heavy winds in Palau.

 

[mikeycanuk]

2 Paragraphs from the latest Undercurrent issue

But five major liveaboard disasters in six years? Maybe it is pure dumb luck, but statistically that’s some-
thing other than just being unlucky . How many other non-Siren boats have been hit as hard during that
time? Besides the Truk Odyssey and three liveaboards that sank within three weeks in Thailand, WWDAS’s
home flag country (read our article about that in the March 2014 issue), surely there have been others we
don’t know about . But if even a fifth of all serious liveaboard disasters in the past five years have been Siren
boats, that’s beyond statistical probability for bad luck .

No one can pinpoint the precise cause of every failure or predict the future, but for a fleet -- whether they
are fishing boats, whale-watching vessels, ferries, or cruise ships -- to lose nearly two-thirds of its craft in six
years raises a big red flag . It sure gives me second thoughts about paying big bucks to be on a Siren cruise .
Sure, no divers’ lives have been lost, but a lot of vacations have been spoiled .

Won't catch me on any of their boats.

 

[smooboy]

Even if Almighty Poseidon is hella pissed a WWD&S and that is the underlying cause of all of these events, that would make them linked but in no way could it be called a cascade.

 

[barbaroonie]

Actually the Siren Fleet has not had the best of luck in the past three years as they also lost the Oriental and Mandarin Siren in 2012. That said, it is my understanding that the operators took very good care of their clients. Much much better than another well know live-a-board operation that shall remain unnamed.

They also lost the Indo Siren in 2011. I watched it burn in the Dampier Strait in January in Raja Ampat.

 

[markmud]

I guess some of us will agree to disagree on what is reflective of a company's safety record. It is quite likely that as a retired professional pilot, I have a different perspective on the subject and the impact of human decisions and actions preceeding accidents. I'll leave it at that.

Hi Altamira,

Thanks for your comment. Sometimes sanity and rationality are hard to find.

As a former tug boat and fish boat captain who piloted vessels from the Gulf Coast to Glacier Bay Alaska, this record seems troubled.

1) Are Siren Fleet vessels inspected by a USCG type organization?
2) Are Siren fleet vessels built to ABS or similar certification standards (American Bureau of Shipping)?
3) Are siren fleet vessels manned and designed to SOLAS standards?
4) Are the officers in command of Siren vessels licensed by a governmental organization?

A clothes dryer that catches fire should not create a Constructive Total Loss for the insurance company. Proper vessel design combined with a trained deck watch usually eliminates the loss of a vessel for such a minor accident.

Hurricanes? Yeah...dodged a few of those; but sometimes your luck runs out with hurricanes. We would try to maintain a 500 nm minimum to 1000 nm buffer between us and the hurricane.

Minor electrical fires...yeah dealt with those.

A coworker suffered an engine room fire while half way to Africa--the CO2 system failed to stop the fire. All fuel valves and batteries were switched off. They had to ensure that all water tight hatches to the compartment were closed/sealed as the crew had to suffocate the fire. The engine room was shot, but the vessel was salvaged and returned to service with no loss of life.

Having an unlucky day at sea is when Dallas (US hunter/killer nuclear powered submarine) snags your tow wire while surfacing and drags your tug boat underwater in 5 seconds. Then, you have to swim to your barge without a PFD during winter and at night. This incident happened to two of my co-workers. The third crewmember, the engineer, was later found in his stateroom when the tug boat was recovered.

Here is an article: Palau Siren Grounds and Floods: Undercurrent 09/2015

The triple 7 incident at McCarren airport in Vegas proves that a trained crew, while giving excellent service in the good times, is actually trained and onboard for the day when the crapola hits the proverbial fan!

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search...81.tb.18-08.us.avg._._&p=777+fire+at+McCarren

markmud

 

[Wingy]

1) Are Siren Fleet vessels inspected by a USCG type organization?
2) Are Siren fleet vessels built to ABS or similar certification standards (American Bureau of Shipping)?
3) Are siren fleet vessels manned and designed to SOLAS standards?
4) Are the officers in command of Siren vessels licensed by a governmental organization

markmud

Considering the Fiji Siren is flying a Mongolian Flag that should give you a hint to the answers to your questions.