Fatality on Rosalie Moller wreck

[vjongene]

why did the operator not have a DM monitor this buddy team instead of turning them loose on their own?

i dove this wreck as part of a northern itinerary and the operator had all divers that were on single tanks and not certified for deco to be escorted in groups of 4 by a DM. the other teams on doubles or ccr and appropriately experienced were allowed to plan their dives as they saw fit within a maximum run time.

iirc, there are fixed down lines to the wreck where stops can be done while hanging off, so no drift deco is required.

The fixed lines have been ripped out by fishermen. There are pieces left hanging above the wreck.
Each operator has different policies. There was a thorough briefing and four of the 17 guests on board decided to call the dive. I actually recommended to my two "buddies" (actually more like charges) not to go, and they didn't.

 

[vjongene]

Perhaps not. The whole thing sounds bad to me. I was just realizing that they took 28% to a planned depth of 60m? Did I calculate it right, they planned on ~1.7ppo2? There was more badness going on here than meets the eye.

Planned depth was 35m. Max depth for Nitrox 28 with a ppO2 of 1.4 is 40m.

 

[dmaziuk]

And I use 4 kilos in a drysuit. This is one aspect of diving that is baffling to me.

Yep. The Boss is 1.79m to my 1.85 and up until a couple of years ago we could wear the same pants, and she often takes twice the lead because she really needs it.

 

[MrVegas]

What are the thoughts as to what happened when she was looking for the weight? Out of air? Oxygen toxicity? This was an experienced diver -- what do people think drove the logic to go after the weight (which would have been at least 10-15m further down or possibly more) rather than take a chance on a potentially rapid ascent starting somewhere between 20m and the surface?

Terrible tragedy. Always hard to read these.

 

[Streydog]

What are the thoughts as to what happened when she was looking for the weight? Out of air? Oxygen toxicity? This was an experienced diver -- what do people think drove the logic to go after the weight (which would have been at least 10-15m further down or possibly more) rather than take a chance on a potentially rapid ascent starting somewhere between 20m and the surface?

Terrible tragedy. Always hard to read these.

We are only experienced to what we have been exposed to. Who knows the logic used for going after the weights, could even be monetary.

 

[Mod63]

What is 30-40-60?
I deco dive and doing “a little” deco routinely on an aluminum 80 (which is really only 77 cu ft) is a terrible idea IMO.

After each dive you have to fill out a log (at least on all the boats Ihave been) with your dive data. There is a combination of (alleged) government rules, boat rules and guide rules; and apparently, sometimes those logs are checked. So to avoid any discussions, all dives end with 30bar in your tank, were not deeper that 40m and not longer than 60min. So for certain parts of the trip (think the days at Brothers, Deadalus and Eliphinestone), all dives look the same.
And I fully agree that it is a terrible idea, but nevertheles it is done

 

[KenGordon]

why did the operator not have a DM monitor this buddy team instead of turning them loose on their own?

i dove this wreck as part of a northern itinerary and the operator had all divers that were on single tanks and not certified for deco to be escorted in groups of 4 by a DM. the other teams on doubles or ccr and appropriately experienced were allowed to plan their dives as they saw fit within a maximum run time.

iirc, there are fixed down lines to the wreck where stops can be done while hanging off, so no drift deco is required.

You don’t go to Egypt to be nannied by a DM. If there are DMs in the water they will either be general guides or concentrate on particularly inexperienced divers. The customers are mostly European and not used to being institutionalised.

 

[Miyaru]

...
The dive guides found her about an hour later, laying on the bottom (50-55m) next to her lost weight pocket. She was still negatively buoyant.

I'm baffled....and at the same time I can understand it. A situation like this can be the sad end result of being taught on your knees, with enough weights to keep you on the bottom.
There's a difference between a weightbelt and a suicidebelt. And that extends to weightpockets. Harsh to say, but with 200 dives the victim should have known better.

 

[Vicko]

Why does everyone assume that 200 dives makes a diver experienced? Not comfortable with equipment, not comfortable with blue water, not comfortable with weighting, not comfortable with holding depth, does any of this sound like a experienced diver?

 

[Mod63]

I was informed by a reputable dive operator that CDWS requires a tec instructor to be present any time a decompression dive is conducted in Egypt. I have also been told by a liveaboard operator that the tec instructor also needs to CDWS certified to do a decompression dive from a liveaboard, but I am unsure if that that is accurate.

There are rules and there are "rules" . If they would enforce those rules (which I'm not sure are in place that way), a lot of people would be unhappy and the boat would end up on the list of "nanny boats" best left alone.