Fire on safari boat Suzana in Egypt (Red Sea Aggressor)

[scubadada]

I heard about their broken boats (Sri Lanka & Oman Aggressor), but not the captain assaulting a female diver. You have a link to such news? I remember reading about a peeping tom captain lurking into female cabin window, but I think that was in another boat, not Aggressor.

Galapagos Aggressor Sexual Assault and Aggressor's Irresponsible Response

 

[Dan]

Galapagos Aggressor Sexual Assault and Aggressor's Irresponsible Response

Thanks! That is it. My memory had failed me.

 

[outofofficebrb]

It's kind of ironic that the fire happened to an Aggressor boat as supposed to other liveaboard. I thought Aggressor safety standards are more stringent than other liveaboard companies. For example, I have been on two Aggressor boats (Palau Aggressor 2 and Maldives Aggressor 2). They have rule of no charging camera & video light batteries in the cabin to minimize fires due to charger short circuiting while no one is in the room (going diving). The charging stations are on dive deck, outside on the rear of the boat where crew would come around and inspect. Other non Aggressor liveboards that I have been on (13) allow guests to change their batteries in the cabin or in the camera room.

I think this is an important reminder to us all that no matter how safe a boat is given their safety features, how updated their electrical may be, how many night watches there are, etc., all boats have the possibility of being completely decimated by a fire. It can happen to any boat, anywhere. Do not let this give you a false sense of security. Crap happens. We need to be aware of our egress options and prepared.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

It's kind of ironic that the fire happened to an Aggressor boat as supposed to other liveaboard. I thought Aggressor safety standards are more stringent than other liveaboard companies.

Let's not make the leap that because something bad happened, there MUST be deficiencies in protocols or whatever that ALLOWED it to happen. Bad things happen to good people. Accidents happen even with the most stringent safety standards in place.

When Reef Seekers was open as a brick-and-mortar, we ran local day and multi-day boat trips most weeks of the year for 18 years, 20-35 divers/trip. I will simply state that our briefings, DM protocols, and safety attitude were second to none and could withstand anyone's scrutiny. Yet, we still had two fatalities. One was a heart attack on the surface while swimming back to the boat (after giving three OK signs) and the other was a diver who went to 156' despite admonitions not to exceed 100' and basically (we think, based on his air consumption profile from his computer) scared himself to death. Both of these occurred despite protocols in place to prevent them from happening.

You can't make anything 100% safe or foolproof. Just because something bad happens, it doesn't automatically/necessarily mean someone else is at fault or to blame.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Let's not make the leap that because something bad happened, there MUST be deficiencies in protocols or whatever that ALLOWED it to happen. Bad things happen to good people. Accidents happen even with the most stringent safety standards in place.

When Reef Seekers was open as a brick-and-mortar, we ran local day and multi-day boat trips most weeks of the year for 18 years, 20-35 divers/trip. I will simply state that our briefings, DM protocols, and safety attitude were second to none and could withstand anyone's scrutiny. Yet, we still had two fatalities. One was a heart attack on the surface while swimming back to the boat (after giving three OK signs) and the other was a diver who went to 156' despite admonitions not to exceed 100' and basically (we think, based on his air consumption profile from his computer) scared himself to death. Both of these occurred despite protocols in place to prevent them from happening.

You can't make anything 100% safe or foolproof. Just because something bad happens, it doesn't automatically/necessarily mean someone else is at fault or to blame.

I wholeheartedly agree. Also, under the same light, a budget boat can have sufficient safety and protocol and a luxury boat can also have insufficient safety and protocol. Do not be fooled in thinking that one or the other is exempt, so to speak. Both are susceptible to fires. Do your due diligence. Ask questions about their equipment, protocols, and SOPs.

 

[SoFlaDiver954]

If you make something completely idiot-proof, the world will make a bigger idiot.

Not saying anyone had any culpability in this incident, or that we should stop trying to make our trips as safe as possible within reason.

 

[jodylynn007]

I for one, am NEVER going to go on a liveaboard again. There sorry, but I've said it. I wonder how many others feel the same. It is such a shame, but I am scared, for myself, for my family, my friends, and for diver friends I hope to meet one day in my travels.

I went on one amazing liveaboard trip aboard the Nautilus Swell near my home in beautiful British Columbia, Canada and I was smitten with the idea of taking a 2nd trip...

Then I booked what I thought was going to be my dream liveaboard trip ever - to Tubbataha, Philippines and of course now after reading about this event and the Conception fire in California, we got off easy. My detailed SB review of that hellish trip is here:

BAIT AND SWITCH: Oceanic III Liveaboard sold by All Star Liveaboards, Tubbataha

But really... this is all too much, too many accidents, on well respected and popular boats. I am so sad for those that have lost family, friends and loved ones in all of these needless tragedies.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I for one, am NEVER going to go on a liveaboard again. There sorry, but I've said it. I wonder how many others feel the same. It is such a shame, but I am scared, for myself, for my family, my friends, and for diver friends I hope to meet one day in my travels.

I went on one amazing liveaboard trip aboard the Nautilus Swell near my home in beautiful British Columbia, Canada and I was smitten with the idea of taking a 2nd trip...

Then I booked what I thought was going to be my dream liveaboard trip ever - to Tubbataha, Philippines and of course now after reading about this event and the Conception fire in California, we got off easy. My detailed SB review of that hellish trip is here:

BAIT AND SWITCH: Oceanic III Liveaboard sold by All Star Liveaboards, Tubbataha

But really... this is all too much, too many accidents, on well respected and popular boats. I am so sad for those that have lost family, friends and loved ones in all of these needless tragedies.

It is unfortunate but we're in far more danger driving to the airport.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

I for one, am NEVER going to go on a liveaboard again. There sorry, but I've said it. I wonder how many others feel the same. It is such a shame, but I am scared, for myself, for my family, my friends, and for diver friends I hope to meet one day in my travels.

But you'll likely continue driving. You'll likely continue crossing streets. You'll probably continue to get on an airplane. You are 10 times more likely to die in a fall than you are in a fire (let alone a fire on a dive boat). So will you stop standing up so you're "safer"?

I'm truly not trying to make fun of or minimize your concerns. You've got to do what you're comfortable with. But, despite these two accidents happening two months apart, the statistics compared to number of boats worldwide or other metrics, that this is a rare occurrence.

And let's not lose sight of the fact that in this case, there were 30 survivors (18 passengers, 12 crew) and 1 fatality (passenger), not the other way around.

 

[Edith]

I booked an upcoming holiday on this very boat and was notified by Aggressor of a change in vessel due to the fire. No additional information was provided about the incident, or about what measures are being taken to mitigate this from happening again so I reached out to Aggressor to see if I could get more information on the incident. I specifically asked if there were any fatalities and was told, after a pause: "there's one passenger still missing." Something about that conversation did not feel right. Immediately after I hung up the phone, I did a search online and found reports from 3-4 days ago stating that a US tourist is, in fact, not missing, but dead. Now either Aggressor has kept its employees in the dark or they're just outright lying to their customers. Luckily we live in the age of the internet and social media. I also tried to leave a comment on Scuba Diver Magazine's story about this incident where I talk about Aggressor's lack of transparency, and in just a few minutes they took my comment down. Notice the article only named the vessel, but not Aggressor the company. I wonder how much Aggressor pays Scuba Diver Magazine in advertising dollars to have them censor any comments that may lead to negative publicity. If you have more information, please share!